My parents always knew I was different.

I mean, obviously if you get dropped off as a newborn at someones doorstep, in a basket with a note, you'd think you were different too.

Yes, that's how I was adopted. I literally got dropped off at someones front door.

Cheesy much?

I know it happens it in fairytales and movies and stuff, but come on. People don't actually do that!

But, in a way I'm happy that's how it happened. I now have two caring guardians, Katrina and Richard, who I can happily call my mum and dad. It even worked out for them as Katrina can't have children.

Anyway, back on with the different thing. I could smell, hear and see better than my parents, at first I thought it was because they were older than me. But if you could smell a rotten dumpster five kilometers away, you'd be a little concerned.

And that's what my parents were, concerned.

But all out questions were answered at twelve o'clock on my thirteenth birthday when I woke in my sleep with a searing pain in my back.

I screamed for mum and dad, who had no idea what was happening to me. Then, the next minute, I'm standing on four legs and I felt pointy teeth as I slid my tongue along them.

Mum and Dad were frozen in shock and I walked to the mirror.

I was a tiger.

Yes, you heard right.

A tiger.

I had pure white fur and dark black lines running around my tiger's body, my eyes were a beautiful bright amber with hints of gold that flecked through them.

I know what you're thinking. You probably think I'm crazy and need to be escorted to a mental hospital pronto.

But that's what I am, a weretiger. Well, that's what I call myself anyway.

And that's why we are leaving this big town, I watch in the back window of our car as our small house disappears in the distance.

The reason why we are leaving is because of one stupid mistake I made two nights ago. I was on a run in the forest, and then a dozens hunters came out of no where, ready to kill me. I fled for my life, I really don't want to die yet, and told mum and dad. The next day the hunters were on a rampage trying to find the 'monster tiger'. That's right, monster probably because I'm about the size of a large horse when in my tiger form.

So now we've left, going to a new home and start fresh.

"Samara!" Mum snaps her fingers in the front seat.

Oh yes, I forgot to introduce myself. My name is Samara Banks, but most people call me Mara. I'm seventeen and I have honey blonde hair that I have grown to my waist, my blue eyes usually draw people in because of how, well, blue they are. I have tanned skin and I stand at about 5'6.

"Sorry, what did you say?" I ask.

She sighs but lets out a little laugh, "I asked how you are feeling about all this." She repeats.

I'm just happy that my parents accepted me as a weretiger, I was scared they would run and scream to the nearest police department and tell them their daughter is a tiger. I could just imagine the police officers face.

"I think it's good, we could do with a new start. So where exactly are we going again?" I ask.

"Crescent Falls. It's a tiny town in the middle of lots of other small towns, not many people live there, but I think that will make it easier to fit in." Dad smiles at me through the mirror.

"Alright then." I reply.

I roll my head in a circle and lay back, closing my eyes.

'I'm excited!' My tiger, Snow, says in my head.

Snow is so nice, she knows exactly what to say and keeps me company.

'Me too! A new change of scenery could be good.' I reply.

'I feel like this is a good thing.' She says.

'How so?' I question.

'I'm not sure, I just have this feeling that something exciting is going to happen there.' She smiles.

'Guess we'll just have to wait and see.' I smile.

'Guess so.'

I zone Snow out and lean against the car door, falling into a soft sleep.

••••*••••

"Mara, dear, we're here." Mum says, shaking me a little.

I open my eyes and look out the window as hundreds of trees fly past. Soon, we go past a giant, wooden sign that says Welcome to Crescent Falls. The town of strength.

"The town of strength?" I ask, furrowing my eyebrows.

"Oh yes, I read about this. Apparently each town around here has a quality, obviously our town's is strength." Dad explains.

"huh." I say as I look back out the window.

About five minutes later, we turn into the driveway of a small house. It has two stories but it's still small in perimeter.

The moving truck that has been following us stops along the curb.

I get out and mum and dad go to the staff that are getting out of the truck to explain where things go and what-not. Suddenly, I hear a door open and I look to our neighbours house to see a middle-aged women and man come out.

She smiles warmly when she sees me and I return the gesture. The man looks a little confused at first, did I see him sniff the air?

Oh well, they approach the small fence that separates our houses and I go to meet them.

"Hello dear. My name is Mary and this is my husband David." Mary says.

"Hi, I'm Samara, but you can call me Mara. And they're my parents, Katrina and Richard." I reply as I point to my parents.

"It's lovely to meet you. We haven't had any new people in this town for years." Mary laughs.

"Really?" I ask.

"Oh yes, Crescent Falls is tiny. Not very well known." Mary winks.

I laugh a little and notice mum and dad approaching.

They introduce themselves again and soon are in a friendly conversation.

"You two look quite young, how old were you when you had Mara." Mary asks.

"Oh, Mara isn't biologically our child. We adopted her at a young age." Dad says, pulling me to his side.

My parents are quite young, which is why they get asked that question a lot. My mum is thirty-seven while my dad is thirty-nine. Meaning that they were twenty and twenty-two when they adopted me.

"Well, that makes sense. I don't see much similarity between you." David smiles.

"Do you have children?" Mum asks.

"Yes, just one. A girl, she seventeen too Mara. She's with friends right now, but when she comes back I'll get her to come introduce herself." Mary smiles.

I guess it couldn't hurt to know someone before school.

I politely exit the conversation and grab one of my boxes, the house is nice inside with the rooms being a comfortable small size. I go up stairs and open a door into a room that looks like a nice sized bedroom, with it's own bathroom and a walk in closet. I smirk and put down my box, marking the room as mine.

Snow starts jumping around excitedly and begs to go on a run.

I grin and agree, going back outside, mum and dad are still talking to Mary and David.

"Mum, I'm just going for a walk." I tell her.

"Alright, be back in half an hour." She replies.

I nod and am about to walk off when I hear David.

"Just be careful and don't go too far in, there are lots of animals." He warns.

I nod and Dad replies, "Yes, be smart Mara." He says, I see the smile in his lips but, he knows I'll be fine.

I laugh quietly and make my way into the forest, once I feel I'm a safe distance I shift into my tiger and run.

Snow laughs as we run and I end up joining her.

Once she's happy, I shift back and sit down. I was surprised when I first shifted that my clothes were still on when I shifted back into my human form, so I don't have to worry about spare clothes when I shift. It's helpful.

I sigh and look at the time on my phone. Yes, somehow that stays in my pocket too.

I notice I only have five minutes so I start walking back. With my tiger instincts, it's easy to find my way back to the house because I remember the scent of it.

Suddenly I hear a growl, but don't think too much of it. It's probably just an animal, which I can easily kill or it will avoid me.

But I'm surprised when a girl appears out of no where.

She has light brown hair that goes to her collar bone and she has pale skin, it still looks gorgeous though. She's wearing a black tank top with some denim shorts.

"What are you doing out here?" She asks, a little confused.

Even though I can only see her, I feel another presence.

"I could ask you the same." I reply, lifting an eyebrow.

"I asked you first." She matches my stare.

I shrug, "I was taking a walk, I just moved here." I reply.

"No way! We haven't had anyone move here in years." She smiles at me. Well that was a change of emotions.

As she smiles, I notice that she looks a lot like Mary and David. She also smells a bit like them, "Are you related to Mary and David?" I ask before my mouth can stop me.

She looks a little taken aback, but quickly recovers and smiles again, "Yes, I am actually. I'm their daughter. Do you know them?" She asks.

"I'm your next door neighbour then. I just met them." I smile.

She jumps up and down before coming to me and linking our arms, "Come on! Lets go back. You probably don't know where to go." She says as she pulls me along.

Well, I do know where to go. But I'm not going to tell her that.

She looks behind us quickly and then turns back, smiling at me.

When we get to the house, I see that my parents and the girl's parents are still talking. How do adults have so much to talk about?

I realise I don't know my new friends name.

"So, what's your name?" I ask.

"Mandy." She smiles, "Yours?"

"Samara. But you can call my Mara."

"That's such a pretty name. It's matches you so well, with you being gorgeous and everything!" She says.

I blush a little at the comment, I'm not used to be called gorgeous.

"You can't really talk. You're so pretty." I reply.

She beams at me and winks, "I think we're going to be really good friends."

"I hope so." I reply.

When we get to the parents we introduce ourselves again, well more Mandy introduces herself, and then she turns to me.

"It's nearly lunch time and I was going to meet my other friends at this really yummy diner. You should come too, they will love you and you will already know us before you even start school." She says.

"That sounds like a great idea. You should go Mara." Mum says.

I nod and smile at Mandy.

Wow, my cheeks are starting to hurt from smiling so much.

'I don't think you smile as much as Mandy though' Snow giggles.

'No I don't think so.' I laugh too.

"Okay, well I meet you back outside in twenty minutes. Sound good?" Mandy asks.

"Perfect." I smile.

"Great, see you then." She waves and we go into our houses.

As I walk in the door, mum shouts to me, "The movers are going to set up your bed, just put your clothes away for now."

"Okay." I shout back.

I climb the stairs and quickly put my clothes away, like mum instructed. I decide not to change what I'm wearing, I think I look fine. I'm in my old shorts, they are frayed around the hems, but it makes them look cute. Well, I think so anyway. I have a baggy white t-shirt which has pretty patterns on the front on, and I've tucked it into my shorts. I pull on my converses and take my hair out of it's low ponytail, letting the natural waves flow down my back.

Once my twenty minutes is up, I go downstairs and shout to mum and dad that I'm going. When I open the door Mandy is standing there smiling at me.

Wow that girl likes to smile.

I return it and follow her to her car. We only have to drive about five minutes before we reach the diner. We hop out and she leads the way into the diner. My nerves start creeping up on me and I take a deep breath.

'They'll love you.' Snow promises.

'I hope so.' I reply.

'I know so.' She says before vanishing.

Mandy beckons me to follow her and she approaches a booth of four people, two girls and two guys.

"Hey guys! I'd like you to meet someone." Mandy says, standing at the front of the booth, I awkwardly stand next to her.

They all stare at me with emotionless faces, their nostrils flare like they're sniffing the air. I start to panic that they don't like me, but then they all smile at me, I find myself returning the gesture and relaxing a little.

"So this is Samara." Mandy says.

"Call me Mara." I add.

"Hi, I'm Bailey." a short brunette says, she has gorgeous brown eyes that capture my attention straight away.

"I'm Layla." The next girl says, she has deep red hair, obviously dyed, and pretty green eyes.

"Hey, I'm Trent." The next guy says, his shaggy, dirty blonde hair falls over his forehead.

"And I'm Josh. Why don't you sit here pretty little thing." He says, patting the seat next to him.

I'm a little hesitant, but sit down.

Josh has short black hair that is shaved a little more on the sides of his head. It's looks very attractive on him and I'm not going to lie that he is hot.

So is Trent, but by the way he has an arm protectively around Layla, I assume he's not available.

"So, what's brings you to this drab old town?" Josh asks, slinging an arm over my shoulder.

I laugh a little, "My old town was going crazy, we decided to move. But it was because of a safety issue too." I reply.

They're about to ask more, but the waitress comes and takes our orders.

"So, what's the highschool like?" I ask.

"It's pretty nice. I mean, for a highschool." Bailey giggles.

"Do you want a ride tomorrow?" Mandy asks.

"Sure, if you don't mind." I accept.

"Do you guys live close to each other?" Trent asks.

"Next door neighbours actually." Mandy replies.

"So you took over Cam's old house then." Layla says.

"Who's Cam?" I ask.

"This guy that used to go to our school. But he moved or something." Josh says. I notice his arm is still over my shoulder.

I slightly smile and look around the diner. It has is own personality, it's very rustic. There are old newspapers in frames hanging on the walls and a small stereo is humming music gently in the corner. Only a few people are sitting at tables or booths.

"So, is this all your group?" I ask.

"Oh, there's Ryder Jackson too. But he couldn't make it." Mandy replies.

"Probably taking interest in some girl, I'm guessing." Layla rolls her eyes.

"Nah, not this time. He said he's got stuff to do with his dad." Mandy replies.

"Well that's understandable." Josh nods.

"What's he like?" I ask.

"He's used to be quite a player, our Ryder. But he's slowly coming out of it, I mean not completely but he's coming to realise that he need to start maturing." Mandy says.

"And you're fresh meat, very pretty fresh meat, so watch out for his charming ways of really only getting you in the sheets." Josh says.

We snicker a bit at his statement.

"Will do." I reply.

Something tells me there is more to Ryder Jackson, I get this weird feeling in the pit of my stomach when they say his name.

I guess I'll just have to find out tomorrow.

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