•Mara's POV•

The next day has, so far, passed without any sign of Ryder. Trent and I have just finished Sport and we are heading to the cafeteria.

"Hey Mara." Layla smiles and then greets Trent.

A few 'hey Mara's' go around and I take a seat next to Bailey. I notice Mandy isn't here.

Suddenly, Snow feels excited for some reason. I look around and turn to a smirking Ryder who takes a seat next to me.

"Why have you been turning up at lunch?" I question when he sits down.

"Stuff to do, people to see." He shrugs.

"Uh-huh." I nod and pierce my salad with my fork.

I went vegetarian when I was thirteen because Snow said she doesn't cope well with meat. I don't know if that's a tiger thing or just Snow.

You'd think with me having an inner tiger, I would love meat. But, that apparently isn't the case.

Bailey turns to me and tilts her head.

"What?" I ask.

"You have a certain scent on you." She says, narrowing her eyes.

I notice everyone visibly stiffen.

"Do you mean, like a perfume scent?" I ask, confused.

"Yeah, that's the one." She smiles.

With my tiger hearing, I hear everyone let out a held breath.

Okay then.

"So, do you use perfume?" She asks.

"Sometimes." I shrug.

"It smells like, the jungle or a rainforest or something." She says.

I put on a fake smile, "It's probably this one my mum got me ages ago. It didn't say what the scent was but it smelt nice." I lie.

'That's kind of weird for someone to say.' Snow says.

'I know. But then again, I have learned lots of weird things about these people.' I giggle.

'Too right.' Snow laughs.

"Are we missing something?" Josh asks, looking at me.

I realise I'm smiling from the conversation with Snow.

Crap, think of something.

"I was just thinking about how weird you all are." I blurt.

'Nice." Snow says sarcastically.

'Shut up.' I reply and zone her out.

They all look at each other and then smile.

"Yeah, but that's why you love us." Layla smiles.

"Hey guys!" Mandy comes to the table, waving something around. I looks like a page out of the newspaper or something.

"What's up?" Ryder asks, he hangs his arm around my shoulders. I can't help but think of how Josh used to do that, but for some reason it feels better when Ryder does it. Like it's more of a protective gesture than a friendly one.

"Check this out." She puts the page on the middle of the table. I read the headline.

'Monster Tiger: A Threat That Must Be Destroyed'

I gulp and tense, I think Ryder notices a little but he lets it go.

"Well go on, read the article." Trent says, they all seem very interested.

"Okay!" Mandy says, grabbing the page.

She clears her throat and begins:

"Last Friday, a dozen or so hunters were walking through the forest of Valleyfield. There were reports of a wild animal stalking through the forest a few nights before."

She stops when Ryder intervenes.

"Valleyfield? Isn't that where you came from Mara?" He asks, looking at me.

Suddenly, everyone's eyes are on me.

"Uh, yeah." I reply.

"Did you see it?" Layla asks.

"What? Of course not." I reply, shaking my head.

"Wait. Is that why you moved?" Bailey asks.

"Part of the reason." I purse my lips.

"Whoa. Continue Mandy." Josh says, sounding excited.

"As the hunters were walking, suddenly a giant white and black tiger appeared. It was so big that it stood about two metres from the ground to the top of the head and was an estimate of three metres long from nose to tail. The hunters tried attacking, but it seems as though the tiger escape unscathed. We recently talked to the lead hunter, James Kunder:

"The tiger was nothing like I've ever seen before." He starts, "It was huge and it had the brightest eyes, they were amber with flecks of gold through them, I was amazed. But, even though the tiger fled and escaped, we still believe that it is a threat. It is very unusual and dangerous for a tiger to be around these areas, so therefore, we have a proposition for the public.

"Anyone who can bring the tiger to us, whether it be dead or alive, will be rewarded with a life-changing $100 000. Just be aware that this tiger is capable of anything and could take your life."

Mandy stops reading and scans the page quickly with her eyes.

"And then it's nothing important." She states.

"Whoa, one hundred thousand dollars, could you imagine what you could do with that?" Josh asks, I drown the rest of the conversation out as I sit in shock.

I'm speechless. It sounds like these hunters are going to stop at nothing until they catch me, but I have an advantage, I can shift. I just need to be more aware when I'm on a run, go further than I normally would.

These hunters may have to reconsider, because there is no way they are catching this 'Monster Tiger'.

••••*••••

"Are you okay? You haven't said anything since lunch." Mandy says as she drives from dropping Bailey off.

I turn and smile at her, "I'm fine. Sorry, just been thinking all day." I reply.

We pull into the driveway and I notice Ryder leaning against his bike.

We hop out of the car and Ryder looks a little confused when he sees me.

"Thanks Mandy, see you tomorrow." I smile and turn to walk away when I crash into something hard.

I look up and meet the eyes of the one and only, Ryder Jackson.

I slightly smile and wiggle out of his hold, "Sorry, didn't see you there."

He chuckles, "It's no problem, maybe we should crash into each other more often."

Him and his rotten cockiness.

I roll my eyes and walk down the driveway to go around the fence, before walking up my driveway.

"You live there?" Ryder points to my house.

"Oh, no. I'm just walking up this driveway because it's fun and it passes the time." I sarcastically reply, "Yes I live here."

Mandy giggles while Ryder just glares at me.

"Relax, before you pull a muscle in your face or something." I wave my hand dismissively as I walk to the front door. I notice that my parents car is missing, they must be out.

I unlock the door and step inside, I am about to close the door before a pissed off Ryder marches in and slams the door behind him.

He pushes me against a wall, like yesterday, but this time he starts trailing small kisses along my collar bone and up my neck before whispering in my ear.

"You really shouldn't talk to me like that sweetheart."

I focus on not letting my trembling lips influence my voice, "Why should I listen to you?"

He continues trailing kisses along my neck, "Because you're mine."

•Ryder's POV•

As I sit at the kitchen bench, I watch my beautiful mate making something that smells delicious. When I said that she was mine, she looked very confused before getting out of my hold and asking if I was hungry, which I happily said yes to.

What? I love food.

As she cooks what looks to be a patty on the stove, I notice how there is only one cooking but two buns. I frown but let it go, curious to see what she was doing.

She switches off the stove and puts the patty onto one of the buns before stacking it with salad, she does the same with the other one, but that one doesn't have a patty in it.

She turns and hands me the burger with the meat patty.

"Why don't you have meat?" I ask.

"You were watching me cook." She frowns.

"Sweety, I could watch you all day." I smirk.

She rolls her eyes and turns away, but I don't miss the blush that appears on her cheeks.

She turns back with her veggie burger and sits next to me before pointing to herself, "Vegetarian."

Well this is news to me.

"Since when?" I ask, starting to bite into the burger.

"Since I was thirteen." She shrugs and lifts hers to her mouth.

"You didn't have to cook meat for me." I frown.

She shrugs again, "I don't have a problem with cooking meat, it's not like I'm against killing animals or anything. Well, that's not true, I don't like the sound of innocent animals being killed. But anyway, I don't eat meat because my body doesn't particularly agree with it."

"Well, you learn something new about you everyday." I grin.

"What about you? I don't know much about you." She says.

My wolf smiles a little at the sound of her wanting to get to know me, I feel likes she's warming to me.

"What would you like to know?" I ask.

"What's your favourite colour?" She asks.

Classic.

"Black." I reply.

"Black? That's such a deep, dull colour. Why black?" She asks.

Well, the real reason is because my wolf's fur is jet black, but I don't plan on telling her that.

"I don't know, I guess I just like it better than other colours." I shrug, "What about you, what your favourite colour?" I ask.

"White." She smiles.

"And you say mine is dull." I scoff.

She glares at me. I put my hands up in surrender.

She laughs and goes back to eating.

'Man, she's going to make a great Luna. Even if she is human.' Caleb says.

'I totally agree with you.' I reply.

"What's your favourite sport?" She asks.

I think about this one, "Running." I reply.

"Well, I guess that's a sport. I've never heard anyone say that." She laughs.

"You?" I question.

She purses her lips and her eyes get deep in thought. Boy, she's looks adorable.

"Probably hurdles." She replies.

I chuckle, "That isn't really a sport either."

"Whatever." She smirks at me, "What's your favourite animal?"

"That's easy, a wolf." I reply.

"A wolf? Interesting." She nods.

"Why is that interesting?" I ask.

"Not many people's favourite animal is a wolf, that's all." She shrugs.

"Well, I'm not 'many people'," I say, adding air quotes, "What about yours?"

She smiles, "A tiger."

"Tigers? Hm, feisty, just like you." I smirk.

She gives me a glare and takes our plates to the sink.

I come around and stand behind her, she turns around and jumps a little from our closeness.

I smile, "You have a bit of sauce on your lips."

She brings her hand to her lips and tries to find the sauce, I chuckle slightly when she doesn't get it.

"Here." I say and smash my lips her hers.

She doesn't respond at first, probably because she's in a bit of shock. But it doesn't take long for her lips to move with mine, our rhythm perfectly in sync. Sparks fly and the feel of her lips against mine make my wolf howl in happiness.

I take one hand and cup her cheek, while the other wraps around her waist to bring her closer. Her arms reach up onto my shoulders and she tangles her hands through my hair. The kiss is soft and passionate, like we are testing each other.

I pull her up and she wraps her legs around my waist, I grab her thighs to hold her up. I walk to the kitchen counter and place her on it, not breaking the kiss, and lick her bottom lip, asking for entry. She happily obeys and I slip my tongue into her mouth, exploring her beautiful taste.

She lets out a soft moan, which makes me smile and I pull away. We don't want to get too carried away.

I rest my forehead on hers, our panting breaths mingling and our eyes still closed, thinking over what just occurred.

"Did you get it?" She whispers, relating to the sauce.

I chuckle and look into her eyes, which are now open.

"I think so." I smile.

She smiles to and is about to say something when we hear the door open and footsteps entering the house.

Mara jumps off the counter and turns to the sink like nothing happened. I chuckle when I realise that her parents are home.

"Mara? Are you in here?" Her mum walks in, "Oh, I didn't realise we had company." She smiles.

I smile back and Mara comes to stand next to me, not too close.

"Mum this is Ryder, Ryder this is my mum Katrina." Mara introduces us.

Katrina does something unexpected and pulls me in for a hug, I smile and hug her back.

"It's very nice to meet you Ryder." She smiles as she pulls away.

I realise that she doesn't look very old, maybe in her late thirties.

Mara's dad comes in next and looks at me in confusion, before it morphs into a smile.

"Dad, this is Ryder, my friend. Ryder this is Richard." Mara says.

Richard smiles warmly and shakes my hand firmly.

"Nice to meet you son." He nods.

"And you." I nod back.

"Did you want to stay for dinner?" Katrina asks.

"Oh, I wouldn't want to intrude." I shake my head.

"Nonsense! I insist." Katrina says.

"Well, okay then." I smile.

"Great! It will be ready in a about an hour." She says and walks in the kitchen.

Richard pulls Mara in for a hug and she kisses his cheek. He smiles at her and she grabs my hand, pulling me up the stairs and to her room.

It's quite plain at the moment, with just a queen sized bed with bed-side tables and some shelves which hold her books, but that's understandable since she's just moved here. The most amount of colour in the room is the bean bags sitting in the corner of the room.

I walk over to the book shelves as she sits on her bed, pulling her knees in and sitting cross-legged. I scan my eyes over the books and I pull one out to scan the blurb.

"So, what book did you borrow from Mandy yesterday?" I ask, interested.

I know that Uncle David has quite a few werewolf books, and I just want to make sure she didn't inspect one.

"Oh, just this book on mythology." She shrugs.

I tense a little, but Uncle David has a lot of mythology books, all on different types of things.

"What of?" I push.

She thinks a little before telling me, "Felines."

I frown and look over to her, "Like cats?" I ask.

"Yeah." She replies.

"Huh. Wouldn't have anything to do with that 'Monster Tiger' would it?" I smirk.

She looks a little panicked, but quickly covers it by rolling her eyes.

"Well, I did say my favourite animal is a tiger."

"Of course." I smirk and put the book back.

I walk over and sit next to her, pulling her into my lap.

She wraps her arms around my neck, but she starts to frown a little.

"What's wrong?" I ask.

She looks into my eyes before sighing.

"I know about your past, and how you were a bit of a player," She admits, her cheeks redden a little, "And I just want to tell you that I don't want to be another one of your 'girls'."

She looks at me with stern eyes.

I can't believe she's saying that.

"Mara, I would never hurt you, emotionally or physically. Maybe I used to be like that, but from the first moment I saw you, I knew you were different." I reply.

"Look, I'm warming to you. I don't know how I am so fast, but I am. So, I'm going to trust you on this one, alright?" She slightly smiles.

I hug her and pull her closer to me.

"You mean everything to me." I whisper.

I'm not sure if she heard it or not, but I don't really care. I just love the feeling of her in my arms.

_______________________________________________________________________________

Hello beautiful people!

I'm so happy with how many reads I have! Wow, I never thought this would happen so quickly :)

Just want to remind anyone that is reading this that you are awesome and thank you for reading my book!

Yay! Bye :)