Ben turned to find that he wasn't alone. A twig had sapped to find that he wasn't alone at the moment. It was another were at the moment. It was another were, though it wasn't part of Austin's pack as she came out from behind the trees to the side of him. It was a were female weretiger who had appeared before him. By her scent, Ben felt she as the daughter of the college's dean of of students. Unlike his parents and, Frances and Samantha, and their werecat lover Martha, whose were forms were based off of the Domestic House Cat, and their specific forms based off of specific breeds of cat, weretigers were very much like tigers. This female weretiger was big. She was well muscled in that while she retained much of the grace that Frances, Samantha, and Martha had as werecats, this weretiger could also match Ben and Nate in terms of raw power. And like the big cats, the weretiger's ears were rounded and she had round pupils. The point were she differed from her father though, is that while the dean's and his wife's weretiger forms were based off of the standard tiger's coloration, orange/red orange with a white under-belly and black stripes, their daughter was based off a white tiger. Her entire body was covered in white fur with faded brown/black stripes and ice blue eyes.
"I think you're a bit outside your dad's territory, Sarah," Ben said to her calmly.
"So?" the weretiger, Sarah, answered, "this area is part of Moon Lake's PUBLIC lands and I'm not hunting... mostly just out for a walk."
She gave a sort of smirk to him and swished her striped tail behind her.
"Besides... with my coloration... I don't really blend in until the snow flies," Sarah finished.
Ben slowly nodded. He wasn't quite sure as to whether or not deer or the other animals that predatory weres hunted could see in color or not, though all the weres could as a legacy of their mixed human/animal natures, and figured that Sarah's largely white coat would stand out against a green or brown background, even with her stripes.
"So, you're just out walking?" Ben asked.
"Yeah," Sarah nodded, "Daddy's a bit POed at some werevixen who decided to break all the rules... and I really don't want to sit around and watch him pace."
"Well... I don't think you'll have to worry about that," Ben told her, "She got herself caught trying to go after William Anderson again... thankfully, no one was hurt and his son, Nate, and I were there to help catch her."
"You okay?" Sarah asked, her large ice blue eyes looking concerned to Ben.
She slowly approached took careful note on his arms and shoulders. Ben eventually managed to pat her shoulder in a friendly way to assure her that he was fine. She was a year older than him, and like her parents had become a weretiger when they moved to Moon Lake, but they shared a couple of classes and got along well. Though, this was the first time Ben had actually met her outside of school and in a capacity that wasn't somewhat formal.
"Yeah, I'm fine," Ben answered, "Like some vixen could ever take three werecats, a werefox, and two werewolves."
"Well... so long as you're still confident," she said to him, "and daddy will be glad to hear that the vixen is back in jail."
Ben nodded in agreement.
"The thing... though... that I don't get is that this vixen was supposedly BORN a were," Sarah commented, "Like you... she wasn't a Normal who became a were like my family and me."
"What would that have to do with anything?" Ben asked as he lowered one ear in confusion.
"Well... those of you who were born weres seem to fully understand everything about it... including the dangers and threats," Sarah answered, "but... when my family and I changed... it was like being reborn in a way... and good part of me will never understand why we even had questions before we transformed. It's like we didn't want to hide what we'd become... it felt THAT good. So I would have expected most of the issues like this rogue to come from someone who was born Normal and became a were. They love what they've become and don't want to hide it without knowing the risks."
On some level, Ben did understand, remember Martha's announcement to Nate the morning after her first transformation, as well as Nate's response to being a were the morning after his first transformation. Normals commonly did have fears and concerns about were society when they were first informed, thanks to folklore and movies. Then once they changed and realized they didn't lose control over themselves and gained additional perks as well, they came to love what they become. The notion that a transformed normal might be willing do what Yvette had done because of coming to love what they'd become and not wanting to hide it. However, Ben also knew that Moon Lake did a lot to make sure that normals understood the laws and reasons for keeping themselves hidden from other normals, and from what he'd heard from Samantha from time to time that they did understand those reasons well.
"That makes some sense," Ben shrugged, "but that's why we also try to make sure normals who join were society understand Moon Lake's rules, and just because normals may have the great love of what they become..."
"That doesn't mean a were who was born a were may have the same love and pride in what they are," Sarah sighed.
Ben nodded, "and hopefully the police and the trial can explain what made the vixen decide to behave as she did."
Sarah then nodded in agreement and began to move on.
"Do you want me to walk you home?" Ben asked, wanting to be polite.
"Nah... I'm good," Sarah answered, "besides given present tensions... I'm not sure daddy will be too welcoming to a werewolf at the moment."
"Because I'm a werewolf?" Ben asked.
Sarah turned back to him, chuffed and actually rubbed her head to his, "No... more that daddy is so angry about what the vixen did. The only were-beast that he might get irritated at for its species would be a werelion."
Ben detected some tone of humor in her voice and figured she was joking. Mostly given arguments people had over who was the "king of beasts." Some said tigers and others lions,and Ben figured that that debate would spread to include werelions and weretigers as well, but as far as Ben knew, whatever rivalry there was between weretigers and werelions was actually rather friendly.
"See you in school," Sarah said to him.
"Yeah," Ben answered and pointed in the direction that he had last sen Nate, "Just for warning though... Nate is in that general direction and is enjoying some PRIVATE time. You might want to stay closer to the edge of the forest area on your way home."
Sarah looked, and then nodded, "Okay. Thanks. Wouldn't want to interrupt anything. Nice seeing you, Ben."
And with that she moved on and Ben resumed his own trek home, not noticing that Sarah had smiled to him as they parted ways.