BEFORE WE BEGIN...
The Masked Writer will be the first to admit that I honestly don't know what to do with the potential white furred weretigers story.
On one hand, Franknfurter69's Stovall sequence in "The Stovall's Morning..." was good, yet it makes more sense to keep everyone in and around Moon Lake for now, like the Unsigned Author of "The White Tiger Bares His Fangs" suggested, instead of possibly sending them off on a rescue mission to China. The China adventure can always be undertaken later.
Of course, whether or not Kai and Frieda Knight ever meet, let alone develop any kind of a relationship remains to be seen too.
So until a consensus can be reached on this matter, I'm sticking to non-weretiger story points.
Which reminds me: I perceive Benton and Amanda Knight as just stereotypical members of the 1%. Nothing more.
NOW, ON WITH THE STORY...
"Are you all right?" Eric Anderson and Spencer Lawson asked Frieda Knight, practically in unison, as the three of them hugged outside the school building.
"I'm Whole now," she replied, breaking the hug and smiling at her friends, while using the impromptu nickname for herself, since she coined the phrase Yin and Yang for Eric and Spencer, based on their contrasting fur colors when active weres. "We won't have much time except for in-between classes and my Freshman lunch break with Eric for the next two months, so that scuttles our plans for this coming weekend too. Dad's on the war path about this whole mess to begin with, but except for my involvement, which he seriously wants to downplay as much as possible; dad's already trying to figure out how to turn everything around to his advantage."
"Typical," commented Spencer, as Eric merely huffed.
"I got the extra line in your last text message to me and my dad warned the Skulk. He talked to Mrs. Tachibana personally," revealed Eric.
"Great. To do good and help others because it's the right thing to do is one thing. To do so strictly for profit and prestige is another. I've only known about his plans for a couple of days before everything hit the fan concerning Julie Stovall, and didn't know what to do with the information before sending it to you, but I dread what would happen to Tachibana Enterprises if my dad ever gained even a foothold in that company," revealed Frieda. "They at least help others because they can and should, not for the fame and glory of doing so."
"Well, we'll definitely keep your secret," promised Spencer, as Eric nodded in agreement, "but our folks are kind of worried about what an angry Benton Knight might attempt. We heard how he tried to get Samantha Twist fired and her wife's therapist license revoked just because they're lesbians."
"If something doesn't fit properly into his profit margins, then it's wrong, no matter what it is," explained Frieda. Even me.
"Well, besides our involvement with you, our parents having open marriages and both our moms being bi might not make them acceptable in his eyes either," pointed out Eric. "But how did your folks react to finding out you're bi?"
"Not good. Dad's beside himself at that revelation, let alone what we did in the upstairs day room yesterday, and all my mom could do was ask if I was sure about my sexual preferences," replied Frieda, to which Spencer rolled her eyes in disbelief.
"But the Skulk have already promised to help the Andersons if he tries to attack them, and my dad can take care of us, but what can we do to protect you?" asked Spencer, staring at Frieda.
Frieda Knight simply smiled and tried to hold back her tears, because for a moment there she was afraid her father was going to cost her another potential friendship, but she should have known better. Eric and Spencer truly were her friends!
"Two months is nothing. Might put a ding in my social life, and will definitely curtail my time with you guys, but it will be over before you know it," replied Frieda, trying to put on a brave face because in truth, she honestly didn't know what her father's long range plans were. "It is kind of a shame though, because I meant what I said earlier. If I weren’t grounded, I’d strip you both down and have you right here and now. Those outfits you're wearing look great, and they'd look even better on my bedroom floor.”
"Flattery will get you everywhere with us," teased Spencer, as the warning bell announced everyone had to be at their first period class within ten minutes or be considered tardy.
"Yeah, and right now it better get us to class," observed Eric.
With that, both Eric and Spencer gave their mutual friend a quick but passionate kiss, then the three of them entered the school together to face a new school day.
MEANWHILE...
Unknown to any of them, instead of immediately heading back to the Knight family's manor, John the chauffeur had parked the family's town car near the school and watched from the curb as Frieda talked to Eric and Spencer.
Even for a fellow werepanther, he was too far away to actually hear any of their conversation, and that was okay, since it was none of his business anyway. John just wanted to make sure his employer's daughter would be all right.
Benton and Amanda Knight simply treated everyone as employees. Give them instructions, react and pay them accordingly, but otherwise leave them be. Frieda actually treated all the household staff as fellow human beings, and never asked for anything more than to receive the same treatment in return.
Miss Frieda is happy here. She has true friends. I know it should remain simply a family matter, but if her father and mother try anything other than just grounding their daughter, they will discover themselves in the middle of an employee revolt! he vowed, before getting back in the town car and returning to the manor.