•Ryder's POV•

"Where did you hear that?" I ask Mara as I face her.

Her eyes are still a little red from crying and there are still streaks down her cheeks, but she still manages to look beautiful. I don't even know why she would hide something like being a tiger shifter from everyone. I think it's amazing.

She's amazing.

She sniffles before she answers, "I saw it when I was reading a passage on werewolves."

I nod and pull her along until I find a rock that is a fairly big size. I sit down and motion for her to do the same.

I pull her to me and wrap an arm around her waist while she rests her head on my shoulder as I begin.

"Because there are not as many werewolves as humans, the Moon Goddess created mates for us to make it easier to love and reproduce. A werewolf's mate is always somewhere out there, but it's not until our first shift at sixteen that we can tell it's our mate when we see them.

"In more specific terms, a mate is like a soul mate, our whole world revolves around them and their safety. Along with a mate, comes the mate-pull. Basically, it's the thing that draws you to your mate, it makes to want to hold them all the time and if it's really strong, you can feel each others emotions. Are you following?" I ask Mara, because her head is on my shoulder I can't see her face.

"Yes, continue." She nods.

I pull her closer to me, "Okay, when you find your mate, you usually follow the mating process. Males have to mark the female so that other males know that she is not theirs. It's basically a way to show off to everyone that they are your mate. Marking them also means that you can mind-link with each other, which I'll explain later.

"The next step of the mating process is well, mating with them. In other words, making love with them. But there is absolutely no rush for that." I add that part in for Mara's benefit. I already know that she is not ready for that and I am more than happy to wait for her.

"Any other questions?" I ask.

She sits up and faces me, "So mind-linking. Is that like reading each others thoughts or something?" She asks.

"Sort of, but it's not exactly thoughts. It's like talking through the mind." I reply.

She nods and looks away.

"What's wrong?" I ask, when I feel a slight sadness in the mate-pull.

She looks a bit hesitant, still not making eye-contact.

"You sound very confident when you say that. Have you already found your mate?" She asks.

I smile, "Yes, I have."

She stands up and looks at the ground.

"I should probably go." She starts walking off in the other direction.

I get up and go after her, "Mara!" I call and come around in front of her, holding her arms.

"What?" She asks a little coldly.

"I think I gave you the wrong message. You're my mate." I say.

She looks up, into my eyes, "What?" She repeats, this time in a whisper.

"You're my mate. The moment I saw you I knew, as soon as I got to know you I was already falling for you. You're amazing and beautiful and I couldn't ask for anyone better for a mate." I confess.

She doesn't reply for a second, she just stands there and looks at me. But then, she grabs my shirt and pulls me to her, kissing me passionately.

We battle for dominance in the kiss, but as usual, I win and move our lips in perfect sync. After a while, we break apart to catch our breath.

"So, you're okay with being my mate?" I ask.

She smiles, "I love being you're mate."

I smile and grab her hand, relief flooding through me.

"So, why does everyone call you Alpha?" She asks, as we continue to walk, hand in hand.

I grin at her, "Werewolves live in packs, only some are rouges, which were the ones that you fought." I say that last part with disgust.

"Which I fought with skill." She adds.

I smiles at her, "You were amazing."

She blushes and looks down.

"Anyway," I continue, "In each pack, there is an Alpha, who is the leader of the pack. A Beta, who is the Alpha's second in command. And a Third, who is the third in command, hence the name." I smile.

"So, you are the Alpha?" She asks.

I purse my lips, "Well I will be, now that I've found my mate. My dad is still the true Alpha, but I take over the role from him soon. Everyone still treats me like the Alpha though."

That reminds me, my parents are really bugging me about meeting Mara.

She nods, "So, you're kind of like the King?" She asks.

I laugh, "I guess. And you will be my Queen, or in werewolf terms, the Luna."

"Luna?" She frowns.

"It's the female Alpha of the pack. Everyone must show the same respect to you as they do to me." I reply.

She smirks, "Does that mean I get to order around Josh?"

I laugh, "That does, but Josh is my Beta. So he does have respect too."

She smiles, "So then who's your Third?"

"Trent." I grin.

"So are Trent and Layla are mates?" She asks.

"Yep. Trent knew straight after he shifted for the first time, but he waited for Layla to shift too before he made it clear that they were mates." I reply.

"Why?" She asks.

"I guess he just wanted her to feel what he, and every other wolf, go through when they first see their mates." I shrug.

She smiles, "That's sweet."

I stop as we get closer to the house and pull Mara to me by her waist. She gasps a little from the movement, but hooks her arms around my neck.

"Even though we're mates, I think we still need to clear something out." I say.

"And what would that be?" She asks.

"Samara Banks, will you do me the honour of becoming my girlfriend-slash-mate?" I ask.

"Why, Ryder Jackson, I think I'd love to." She smiles.

She gives me a quick peck on the lips, "Now I command you to give me a piggy-back ride." She says sternly.

I roll my eyes, but turn around and couch down a little so she can jump on, "You're going to use this respect thing to a big advantage, aren't you?" I ask as I hook my arms under her thighs to hold her up.

"Yep." She giggles.

I roll my eyes again, but start laughing.

•Mara's POV•

"Can we please go for a run? I want to see your tiger again." Mandy whines.

When we got back to the house, we explained to everyone that everything is sorted and that I accepted everyone.

I'm Ryder's mate.

I'm Ryder's mate.

That's pretty much all I've been thinking the past ten minutes.

"I second that." Bailey says, pulling me up.

The guys are somewhere in the house, I have no idea where though, this house is huge!

"We'll be back before the guys even know." Layla says.

"Before we know what?" Trent says, we look to side, where Trent, Ryder and Josh are standing with their arms crossed over their chests.

"Run!" I scream and I grab Bailey as we scurry out of the house. As we run to the forest, I hear the guys running after us.

Bailey shifts into her wolf first, it's a light brown colour with white socks of fur on it's paws.

Layla shifts next into a darker wolf, when her fur hits the sunlight, it shows a more bronze colour.

Then Mandy shifts into a fully dark brown wolf.

Just as I'm about to shift, a hand pulls me back in a hard chest. Bailey, Layla and Mandy stop a little into the forest. I'm near the edge, so close.

I'm still facing the girls, so I smirk and do a little spin, which rolls me out of Ryder's hold and positions me behind the guys. They turn, surprised so that they're backs are facing the forest.

I smirk, "Good try."

And then I quickly crouch and push of the ground, shifting into my tiger mid-air. I jump over the guys and catch a tree branch with my paws, pulling me up.

Mandy howls, mostly in laughter and then I jump down and we bolt. I hear shedding of clothes as the guys change as well.

We come to a clearing and a large lake, which blocks us off from running any further.

We turn and the guys emerge from the forest, now in their human form and wearing some basketball shorts.

Only basketball shorts. And to say I wasn't drooling at the sight of Ryder would be a complete lie.

"Come on girls, you're out. shift back." Ryder crosses his arms over his chest.

The girls growl, but go to the side of the clearing to shift back.

I, on the other hand, approach the guys.

"Um, Ryder. What is she doing?" Josh asks, looking a little scared.

But Ryder stays unfazed, smirking at me.

I shift back and pout at Josh.

"Joshy, why would you think I would do anything to you?" I ask.

He scoffs, "You wouldn't do anything to me."

I just smirk at him, causing him to gulp.

The girls reappear, wearing shorts and tank tops.

"Where did you get the clothes from?" I ask.

"We hid heaps of clothes all over the forest. That way we're prepared when we need to shift quickly." Bailey answers.

"Smart move." I nod.

But then I'm airborne and thrown over someones shoulder.

"Ryder! Put me down!" I yell, hitting his back.

I look over and see Layla screaming over Trent's shoulder and Josh has both Bailey and Mandy over his.

"No can do babe. You can't just go running off like that." Ryder answers.

I just huff and let him take me.

•Unknowns POV•

"Where's Ryan?" I demand into the phone.

"He's coming right over." Daniel answers.

I don't bother about saying goodbye, I just hang up.

It's been a week since I've seen that tiger. A whole week.

Surely it couldn't have gone that far in that long.

A knock comes from my door.

"Come in." I say.

Ryan opens the door and comes in.

"And where the bloody hell have you been all weekend?" I ask harshly.

He shrugs, "I went out of town to visit a friend."

I eye him suspiciously but let it go for now.

"I've asked some of the most well-trained hunters in the world to come join us." I say, as I type some things on my computer.

Ryan crosses his arms over his chest, "Why are you so determined to kill this thing?" He asks.

I give him a look and stand up, "You will be lead hunter soon Ryan, and when that time comes you need to be determined. When you see something you know you have to kill, you do it." I say.

Ryan just shakes his head.

I smirk at him, "One day son, you will be just like me."

He gives me a disgusted look, "No dad, I could never be like you. You are heartless and cruel. Ever since mum died you turned into a man I hardly even know anymore!" He spits.

"How dare you bring your mother into this conversation." I glare at him.

He just shakes his head and walks out, slamming the door.

I curse and punch the table.

I can kill this tiger.

I've done it once, I can do it again.

_______________________________________________________________________________

Hello everyone!

Dramaaaaa! Yay!

I think you could probably tell whose POV that last one was, but I put it as unknown just to spice things up a bit.

This chapter is dedicated to laurathomlinson69 for all the comments! Thank you :)

Pic of Ryder to the side (Played by Nic Westaway) ------------->

Thanks for all the reads! Please comment and vote xx