Therianthrope: A New Kind of Curse

Lily changed out of her work clothes into more comfortable clothing, a t-shirt, and jeans. She ran her hands through her dark hair, just glad to feel it down and loose again after a long day at work. Grabbing her keys, Lily left her apartment and drove to her adoptive parents' house. They invited her to dinner tonight, and for once, school and work didn't stop her from accepting.

As she pulled into the long driveway, a feeling of home washed over her. Lily smiled as the large, two-story ranch style house came into view. Andrew, her father, ran quite the profitable Architect company. Lily got out of the car and waved to her brother, Tony, once she parked the car and got out. Her brother was most likely the biggest heartthrob in town. He had the suave movie-star good looks, a muscular build, and an easy smile.

"How goes the life of busting crime?" He teased while that easy smile made an appearance.

"Oh you know, a lot of work and long hours," Lily said as she walked up the steps. "We've been getting a lot of overflow from other lab's overflow. It's mostly drugs that need to be verified that they are, in fact, illegal substances."

"You sound so CSI when you talk like that," he replied with a sly smirk.

"I know. It's the glamor of a forensic chemist - pure awesomeness," she teased back. She wrapped her arms around him and gave him a quick hug.

"Hey Lily," Elizabeth greeted her. She's Tony's wife or as the werewolves call it- mate. Lily broke the hug and took a step back. Elizabeth took the chance to wrap her arm around Tony's in a clear sign of possession. Her instincts couldn't accept that Lily and Tony were siblings, although they didn't share blood.

Lily gave Elizabeth a warm smile in hopes to disarm the territorial instincts of her sister in law. She couldn't help but feel flattered that the woman saw her as a threat to her claim to Tony. Elisabeth was everything a woman wished she could be. She had thick, dark hair, bright blue eyes, curves in all the right places, a face that would rival any runway model, and lips were made for kissing.

"Long time to see. How are you doing?" Elizabeth asked with an only slightly forced smile.

At least she's trying, Lily thought and returned the smile. "I am doing good, thanks, Liz. I see you're beautiful as always," Lily said, doing her best to disarm with flattery. "Well, I'm going inside. See you two kids later." She gave them a two-fingered salute and went inside. The sight of Andrew, her adoptive father, being kicked out of the kitchen greeted her. No doubt he was sticking his fingers into dinner and got caught by Sandy, his mate.

"Where have you been, young woman?" He said as soon as he saw Lily. "We've missed you!" He leaned down and gave her a fatherly kiss on her forehead. Tony looked a lot like his father with a few subtle differences. Both were blonde, and blue eyed, but Andrew's blonde hair was lighter, now streaked with gray. Also, his good looks went more towards the rugged instead of suave.

A smile spread across her face as she felt at home. Who could ask for a better family, she thought as she hugged him. Her adoptive family tried their best to make her feel like one of them, but she stuck out like a sore thumb. First, Lily was half Native American, though she didn't know which tribe. The Roberts were all blonde with blue eyes. Second and most obvious, the Roberts were actual werewolves. Andrew was their leader or the alpha as they called it.

Werewolves weren't like the legends and the Hollywood monsters one saw on TV. They were only a little bigger than the average wolf and Lily found her family to be like normal people. So they shifted into wolves at that delicate moment of the month but who was she to judge. Lily had a delicate moment of the month too, and hers lasted more than one night. She'd even go so far as to say she was worse pmsing than any werewolf under the full moon.

"I have been so busy," Lily told her dad. "Between school and work, I hardly have time to get a full night's rest."

Andrew's eyes narrowed and hardened as he gave her a stern, disapproving look. "Lily you shouldn't work so hard. It's not good for you!" He began to lecture her.

Lily nodded agreeing with him. "Yes, I know, but one has to do what one has to do right?" She replied.

He kept his stern look for a moment, so she gave him one of her best smiles and his face softened. "What am I going to do with you," he said, giving up and she gave him another hug in reply.

"Lacy is looking for you, and we have a guest joining us tonight too," he told her as he left towards the living room. Lily froze where she stood. A guest, she repeated in her head. Curiosity made her mind whirl. Who would they have invited while inviting her at the same time? Usually, when they had members of their pack over, she had to keep her distance. Not everyone liked that the Alpha had a human living with him.

She wasn't a big fan of other werewolves either. In fact, she did everything to avoid them. Shrugging, Lily decided there was nothing she could do about it now. She decided to find her sister and see what it was she wanted instead. "Hey Lac-" She called, walking into her sister's bedroom. Lily instantly turned her back and covered her eyes with her hands at the sight before her. Lacy and her boyfriend/mate, Chris, were in a heavy make out session.

"Oh, come on you guys! What are you, rabbits?" She demanded and heard them both laughing, but Lily didn't see anything funny about it. "I am not joking! You're going to scar me for life!"

"You're just jealous you don't have any of this," Lily heard Chris say.

Lily turned and peeked through her fingers. Seeing they were decent, she lowered her hands. Lily gave the smug brunette before her a glare. "Please! You're the sole reason I've sworn never to date a werewolf...like ever! Damn nympho," she shot back.

Chris smug smirk turned into a full-blown smile as he got up from the bed, smoothing out his clothes. Chris wasn't as tall as Tony or Andrew, but he was much broader with his muscled frame. His light brown hair cut short and brown eyes that always seemed to be on the lookout for a chance to cause mischief. "Right, keep telling yourself that. Denial is the first sign of jealousy you know," he said then gave Lacy a quick kiss.

As he walked past Lily he gave her a playful wink, and she rolled her eyes, shaking her head at him. Chris was a horrible flirt. It was a good thing Lacy didn't have the possessive issues Elizabeth had or Lily would've been in little pieces by now. "God, Lacy, why do you always fall for the cocky ones," she complained. Her tone was a false exasperated disapproval.