The Last of the White Tigers

Kayleagha and her party leave the community hall and head back home. Once on the open road back to the cabin Kayleagha leans her head back against the seat and falls to sleep.

*********************

Kayleagha lifts her head and looks around the clearing in Luna's forest. She scents the air finding that she is alone here for now.

She wonders to herself 'Would it be safe for me to explore this forest in my tiger form?'

'Yes my dearest Kay you can, I will let you know when he arrives.' A familiar voice stated.

'Thank you Luna.'

Kayleagha relaxes and shifts into her tiger form. Joints pop and bones lengthen before she settles down on the ground purring happily. Each shift seems to seem easier then the last.

Getting up Kay stretches then heads to the nearest tree. She contemplates which branch to jump to for a moment, then crouches before leaping into the tree. Exhilarated to be finally free enough to run without worry of discovery, she leaps and twists from tree to tree feeling more free then she has felt since before the change.

Finding a rather large sturdy branch on one of the largest tree's in Luna's forest she settles down to sun herself for the very first time. Thoughts of Don and his wolf run through her head. Kay wonders if he will ever be able to accept who and what she truly is.

'Lunette Kayleagh Millacent Howard Montgrew do not worry about him accepting you. He won't be able to help himself. Donavon and his wolf already love you.'

'Luna how can I ever be sure that he won't let the mistakes of the past destroy us?'

'He won't dearest. I would not have made him your mate if he was wrong for you. You just have to trust me.'

'But Luna it is going threw five hundred years of prejudice to be together. I am going to show them all that what they were taught to believe their whole lives is wrong.'

'We will discuss this later dearest it is time for you to wake up. You are almost home and there are more people for you to meet when you get there.'

***********************

Kayleagha opens her eyes and stretches looking out the window. Sitting in front of the cabin are four buses and thirty some cars.

"Oh what is going on, who do all these vehicles belong to?"

"Kayleagha that would be the rest of your pride."

"The rest of my pride? You are telling me there are even more?"

"Why of course Madam Alpha, your pride is now five hundred members strong not including the humans. Every outcast Were who lives in the territory that you are now Alpha to."

"Oh Luna, save me."

"Don't worry so much my darling Kay you can do this."

"You have to say that you are my Father."

"That really does not matter Kay, I say it because I believe in what you are capable of."

Kayleagha blushes and smiles. Everyone piles out of the car and she takes her first steps to facing her destiny. A destiny that is partly of her own making.

Susan waves at everyone and several small children come running from the place they were playing behind the cabin almost running into Kay in there haste.

Kayleagha drops down to one knee and looks over toward the seven boys and five girls that were in the group running around. "So who do we have here?"

The smallest of the children is little more than four years old. The older children shy away from the young woman before them but this tiny little boy walks right up to her.

"Hi my name is Adam."

"Well it is nice to meet you Adam. My name is Kayleagha but you can call me Kay."

"I like you, do you know this lady that the big people are talking about being the Alpha?"

"Yes little one I do." Kay leans in close to him and whispers close to his ear. "They are talking about me Adam."

"That is so neat. You don't look or act like the other big people."

"I will take that as a compliment little one."

Adam moves in closer to Kayleagha and sniffs.

"You smell different." He said astoundedly.

"I think I would little man because I am not like any animal you have ever met before."

With that statement all the other children move in closer to the pair.

"So what are you?" asks one of the oldest boys in the group.

"I know all of you have seen a tiger. Right?"

"Well of course we have seen a tiger some of us are tigers."

"That is good, but you don't have to get snarky with me young man."

The youth drops his head and softly speaks. "Sorry Ma'am."

"As I was saying, all of you have seen a tiger. But have any of you seen a white tiger?"

"No." all the children said in unison.

"My Papa told me they were all dead."

"Not all of them little one. I am the last."

One of the older girls looks at her, "Can we please see Ma'am?"

Kayleagha gets up and quickly strips out of her clothing letting them drop down onto the ground behind her. She lets the shift take over her and drops down on all fours her back arcing as she lands on her paws.

The children back up before rushing forward in awe.

Kay looks around at the children before turning her head and licking the one closest to her.

"Oh that tickles." giggles Adam.

"Kay come there are others that want to meet you."

'I will be there when I am done with the children.'

The children reach out there hands in awe, tentatively touching her silky white and black fur. Some get bolder and get even closer to you. Then a five year old little girl walks right up to her and nuzzles into her chest. Kay shits down on her butt, her tail twitching happily behind her as she starts to purr loudly. The little girl shifts even closer to her and nuzzles in. In a soft little voice she whispers, "You are so pretty, I wish you were my mommy. I don't have a mommy anymore."

'Dad, can you come here.'

'Kay what do you need?'

'Put the girl on my back I need to go speak to the adults now. I need to know her story.'

Grason walks over and picks up the small girl, as Kayleagha gets back up on her paws. Placing the girl gently down on Kay's back.

"Now little lady hold on tight."

"Yes Sir."

Kay slowly walks toward the crowd behind the cabin the little girl smiling and looking so proud to be getting a ride on the back of her new Alpha.

"Look Nana, look at me." Called out the small girl giggling

"Oh I see you buttercup. Wouldn't your mama be proud you made a friend of the Alpha already."

The shock settles over the crowd of newcomers. Never had they even imagined seeing a white tiger, let alone one that was bigger than half the males present.

Grason picks the little girl back up and then places her on the ground beside Kay, who turns and ever so gently nuzzles the little girl before licking her cheek. Then nudges her off toward her grandmother.

Kay greets the rest of the children the same way before sending them off toward the adults.

Lupina comes over to stand beside Kay holding a robe.

Kayleagha quickly shifts back and puts on the robe. Looking back out toward the crowd staring at her, she started to speak her voice clear and authoritative. "Well you have all seen what I am. Now I have been gifted with these lands by the human council. Since all of you make a home here in the nowhere land which I now call my own. I give this choice to you to accept my standing as Alpha or move on to another's land and hope for acceptance there."

Silence settles over the crowd. They look around at their present ruling Alpha's of their groups.

"I am accepting all of you for who you are. I have no right to judge any of you or your reasons for settling here in the nowhere land of the humans. I thought I was human up until a few days ago. So I ask all of you to bare with me and understand I am doing this all out of instinct."

"I never asked for any of this but Luna put me in a position that I need to accept my place in the scheme of things. Like all others before me I was granted the one gift that she took from the Were's, I had my mating dream. I know that to get my mate I have to take the place she wishes me to take."

"What place does Luna what you to have?"

Kayleagha looks over at the older gentleman who stands off to the side away from everyone else.

"Luna wants me to challenge the Master Alpha."

"She wants you to rule?"

"Yes that is the only way I will last long enough to mate without being killed for what I am. I need to take my mates place and change the laws to protect myself. They can't very well kill the one who rules them without dealing with their own laws of succession."

"Yes that is true young lady, but what makes you think that you can beat him in a fight. You might be big and strong but you don't have the years of training that it takes to even be an Alpha let alone the Master Alpha of us all."

"I may not have trained like anyone of you have been trained but I have trained my whole life."

"You may not believe this but I trained the wolves of the Master Alpha's pack for years before I mated with Kay's mother, then for a few years after I lost her. Kay put me down and almost killed me when she felt the slightest bit threatened by me, So there is no question in my mind that my daughter is strong enough to succeed in here challenge of succession." Her dad said calmly.

"Donavon is hot headed when it comes to fighting and just being female will be an advantage for Kay, Not to mention that he, like most male Were's will react to her smell as she is his mate. But we are not counting on that because Kay does not need to use that against him."

"I want to win succession in a fair fight, it is not like I want to rule as the Master Alpha it is the only way that I can make the changes that I need to, to keep my people and myself from being destroyed just cause of who we are."

"Mom did you make enough for everyone?"

"Yes darling, we have enough food for everyone."

"Good I will give everyone till after they have eaten to choose. This is now my pride land, if you don't want to stay I will not force you."

Kay turns and walks up the back porch. Then into the kitchen before taking the stairs two at a time and slams her bedroom door shut.

Throwing herself down on her bed she quietly sobs.

'Why did you have to do this to me Luna? If my life was not fucked up enough you had to make me an Alpha.'

'Kayleagha that is who you are, you can't change that. Your mother named you Lunette to honor me and who I was to your family. I am your family. You are the last of my blood line, the last of my daughter's line. I put all my hopes and dreams in you. You were the one born who looks so like my Lunara.'

'You mean I look just like Lunara?'

"You look like her, and my Dearest Kay you even act like her. She never wanted any of the power play none sense that the other Were's seemed to thrive on. All she wanted to do was spend time with the children, mate and have children of her own. Which she did.'

'How many children did she have?'

'Lunara had fifteen children and adpoted twelve before she died.'

'Luna can you tell me about that little girl who I saw today?'

'Marianna is a very special little girl, she is the result of a mixed Were mating. Her mother was a wolf, her father was a bear. For their love they were both put to death, but they were not found till after the she was born and hidden here in the pride land with her father's mother.'

'Luna do you think that I can claim her and raise her as my own if she and her grandmother stay?'

'My dearest I cannot answer that.'

'Dad, I need to talk to the girl Marianna's grandmother have her and the child brought into the house I will meet you in my room in twenty minutes.'

'Yes Kayleagha dear.'

******************

Twenty minutes later a knock happens at her door and it opens to Kay sitting at her desk, fully dressed.

"Kayleagha dear I would like to introduce you to Mary Martians a bear shifter and her granddaughter the only child of her only son Marianna Martians."

"It is a honor to meet you Madam Alpha Ma'am."

"No Mary the honor is all mine."

"What is it you wished to see me about Madam Alpha?"

"I had a heart to heart with Luna to learn the story behind your granddaughter Mary and I was really wondering if you would be staying here in the pride land?"

"Yes Madam Alpha we want to stay."

"I am relieved. Now Mary there is something important I wanted to talk to you about."

"What is that Madam Alpha Ma'am?"

"I have noticed that you are getting on in years Mary. I mean no disrespect but you must have had your son later on in life."

"Yes Madam Alpha I did. I found my mate just a few years short of me entering into the stage when I could no longer bare my mate young. I lost him when my son was still in his teenage years."

"I am sorry for that loss and then several years later you lost both your son and his new wife leaving you with their beautiful little girl to raise on your own."

"Yes Madam Alpha, it has been hard but I love my little buttercup to distraction."

"I can see that Mary, but I am going to offer you something. I want to adopt Marianna, and make her my heir."

"I am so honored by this. But we need to ask Marianna."

Kay slip off her chair and drops to her knees on the ground before the little girl Marianna. "Little one, do you want to be my daughter?"

"Really, you want me to be your daughter and stay with me always as my mommy."

"Yes Marianna I want to be your mommy."

Marianna beams and jumps into Kay's arms "Yes oh Yes I want you to be my mommy forever and ever."

"So Mary tell me which parent Marianna takes after, can she shift into a wolf or a bear?"

"Madam Alpha my little buttercup can shift into both forms."

"That is very interesting. I can see now why the mixed matings were frowned upon."

"That is just it which pack would she belong to? Both would reject her if she was found out."

"My pride will never reject my sweet little girl. She is the future of all the Were. I am making my way to the Master Alpha by the end of the week and set forth the challenge of the right of secession."

"But Madam Alpha do you really think that is wise?"

"It is the only way that I can save my daughter and the others out there that are like her."