Chapter 3

The Truth Comes Out

Kori stretched in her bed as she woke up. She glanced around her room, sunlight was filtering in through her window, throwing a gentle light on her wood floor. A light knock on her door drew her attention to the other side of her room.

"Yeah?" she called, scooting up so she can sit up on her bed. The door opens and Billy rolls himself in. He stops by her bed and looks at her.

"How'd you sleep?" he asks gently. Kori looks down at the quilt covering her legs.

"Good." she answers quietly, knowing by his tone that he knows what she did the previous night.

"That's good. Now, what's this I hear about you sneaking out into the woods last night?" he asks, resting his elbows on the armrests of his wheelchair.

Kori sighed, biting her lip for a moment. She knew he found out.

"I just…I wanted to make sure Seth was okay." she answered quietly. There was a moment of silence before she felt a warm, calloused hand grip hers. The action made a few tears fall down her cheeks. In a second her father wrapped his arms around her, one hand stroking her head.

"Kori, I promise you that Seth is doing okay. He's just going through some things right now and needs some space. He misses you, too, but he understands that you two need some time away from each other."

Kori pulled back slightly, so her face wasn't buried in her father's shoulder. "He…doesn't want me around?" she asked quietly, her voice shaking.

"No, no Kori, that's not it at all. He wishes he could be with you right now. He wants to be with you because he knows you're the one friend he can trust with anything, but he can't be with you right now."

"But why? Everyone seems to know except me. Why can't I know, too?" Kori asked, knowing her voice was turning into a pathetic whimper, but she didn't care. It hurt too much.

Billy sighed, tightening his grip on her slightly. "I promise you will be told the truth soon. I promise. But you can't keep running into the woods in the middle of the night like that, and you know why, too. You could get killed out there. The pack has more important things to do than baby-sit you. Stay out of there, and no more late night trips to the Clearwater's. Promise?" Billy checked as he pulled back and sat back in his wheelchair.

Kori looked at her lap so he couldn't see her tears and nodded. "I promise, dad." she answered as she wiped her cheeks with her hand.

Billy nodded. "Oh, one more thing." he added. Kori looked up at him. "You're grounded for today and therefore aren't allowed to leave this house. If I hear that you do, you'll be grounded for this whole week. Got it?"

Kori nodded before looking back at her lap. That was a pretty fair punishment, only being grounded one day. She might as well take it, she had nothing better to do anyway.

Billy kissed her forehead before turning his wheelchair around. He paused at the door and looked over his shoulder. "Jake and I will be spending most of the day at the Clearwater's with Sue and Charlie. If you need anything just call, okay?" Kori nodded and he left the room, closing the door behind him.

Kori sighed and fell back on her bed. Why was Jake allowed to go over there and she couldn't? It's not fair!

Kori laid there staring up at her ceiling for a while, she wasn't sure how long, when she heard the familiar sound of wolves barking at the edge of the trees. Kori sat up and scooted to the end of her bed to look out her window.

She saw two wolves just inside the woods, playing and jumping around each other. She could tell they're from the pack, they're much larger than normal wolves. One is gray with black spots covering his fur as well as a dark gray nose; the other one has chocolate brown fur, but it gets lighter around his face. Kori didn't know the pack well enough to tell who they were, but judging by the fact that they're playing it's not Paul or Sam. Those two are so uptight she wouldn't be surprised if they didn't even know the definition of fun.

Thinking of Sam and Paul made Kori get a little angry. Paul said Sam ordered him not to tell her what was going on with Seth, but Jake said it was their father's idea. She was getting two different stories, which meant someone was lying to her. First they were refusing to tell her what was going on, but now they've also resorted to lying to her!

Sure, she was used to being alone. She usually was most days. But this was different! Something was going on with Seth, he was hurting, and apparently more was going on than just Harry's death! Everyone around her knows what's going on, but they refuse to tell her!

Kori felt rage course through her, causing her limbs to shake uncontrollably until she was almost convulsing. She wasn't thinking anymore, it was like her brain's connection with her body had been cut. Her body was working on impulse.

Without realizing what was happening, Kori threw her window open, leapt outside, and raced towards the woods faster than she'd ever run before. A sudden, agonizing pain coursed through her, starting at her center and flowing through her limbs to the tips of her fingers and toes.

She felt like her bones were breaking and shifting inside her while her muscles were expanding. It felt like her whole body was on fire!

As she reached the edge of the trees she felt like her whole body just exploded. She stumbled in her haste and slammed her side into a tree, making it shake under the impact.

Kori shook her head and stood straight up, keeping her head low. When she opened her eyes the first thing she saw was the forest floor and…paws?! Her eyes shot wide open and she looked over her shoulder down her back. Fur?! A tail?! Kori found herself walking in circles trying to see herself, like a dog chasing its tail. Then she stumbled and plopped down on her butt from the dizziness.

"Seriously?" she asked herself. Out of anything in the world she had to be, she had to be one of them?!

"Hey! Who is that?"

"Did someone new just phase?"

"Great. That's just what we need right now."

"Does anyone know who it is?"

Kori shook her head, getting confused and slightly dizzy from all the different voices echoing through her head.

"Can you tell us your name?" Sam's voice stood out as the others quieted down.

Kori felt herself start shaking slightly and whimpered as she laid down on the forest floor, tucking her tail beneath her. She was so confused. She didn't think girls could phase. And she was only fourteen! Jake didn't phase until he was sixteen!

"Who is this?! They already know all about us!" Paul's voice sounded in her head, making her growl as she remembered what made her angry in the first place.

"Wait a minute!" Jared suddenly shouted, "It sounds like it's a…girl!"

"Another one?"

"Really?"

Paul's voiced overlapped a voice Kori didn't expect to hear.

"LEAH?!"

"Kori?" Leah and another voice answered. Kori felt like her heart stopped.

"Seth?!"

"Kori! I can't believe it. You phased, too?"

"Great. Just what we need." Paul grumbled, making Kori growl again. "What did I ever do to you?" he demanded. But another thought popped into Kori's head.

"Was this the secret I wasn't allowed to know?" Kori asked, aiming the thought at Sam. Guilt flashed through Quil and Embry's thoughts, so she guessed she was right.

"I already know about the pack and everything, why couldn't I know Seth and Leah phased?"

"We all know how close you two are, and new wolves are very unstable. We didn't want to risk you sneaking into the woods to look for Seth and end up getting hurt." Sam explained.

"Yeah, but she did it anyway." Paul grumbled.

"Kori, where are you?" Sam asked, ignoring Paul's remark.

Kori looked over her shoulder where her house was. "I'm in the woods behind my house." she answered.

"Quil, go to Emily's and call Jake to tell him what happened. Embry, come with me, Paul stay with Leah and Seth, and Jared continue patrolling." Sam ordered.

Kori stayed lying down next to a tree as she waited. After only a few moments the strong scent of wolves filled her nose before Sam and Embry stepped out of the bushes.

"Hey Kor. Looking good." Embry greeted as the spotted wolf she saw earlier stepped forward and Kori got a good look at herself from Embry's mind.

She was a gray and copper brown color that got darker on her back with a nearly black tail, brown nose, and white cheeks, belly, and legs. Her fur was a bit longer and shaggier than theirs.(The wolf on the cover is what Kori looks like)

"Wow, you're even smaller than Seth and Leah." Embry commented when Kori stood up.

"I am?"

"Yeah. They're the smallest ones in the pack, with Seth being barely shorter than Leah. But it looks like you're even shorter." Embry told her in a light, teasing tone, which made Kori growl at him.

"Kori, relax. You need to calm down if you want to phase back any time soon." Sam told her, making her look up at him. And holy crap! He's huge! Kori finally got a good look at both him and Embry's size compared to hers.

Sam was probably a bit larger than a horse with broad shoulders and firm muscles that rippled under his thick, jet-black coat. Embry was a bit shorter than him, the top of his head coming to Sam's eyes, he was also slimmer with sleek fur. In size, Kori came to about Embry's nose or Sam's back just above his shoulders.

"Yeah, good luck with that." Leah remarked sarcastically, commenting on phasing back soon. Clearly she'd been in wolf form long enough to be sick of it.

"How long have you guys been in wolf form?" Kori asked curiously.

"Since Friday night." Leah mumbled, and Kori caught flashes of her memories before she could stop them. She saw Leah arguing with Harry. She heard Sam's name a couple times. Then the shaking. Harry didn't know what was happening until she burst into a wolf right in front of him. He clutched his chest and fell to the floor, and Seth was shaking in the background before he burst into a wolf, too. Kori felt guilt and pain flash from Leah's mind as well as grief from Seth's.

"Oh my God. I'm…I'm so sorry guys." Kori murmured, feeling bad for bringing it up.

"Whatever." Leah growled, "The point is, get used to being a wolf. It'll be a while before you can phase back."

"Not necessarily." Sam pointed out. "It depends on the person. It took Paul about three-four days to phase while it only took Jake about a day."

"Fascinating." she growled, clearly not happy about having to share a mind with her ex-boyfriend.

At that moment everyone became aware of another wolf phasing in.

"Sam, tell me Quil reached a new level of sick with his jokes and that my little sister did not phase!" Jake demanded as he hurried through the forest.

"Wish I could, Jake." Sam answered, and Jake saw in his thoughts that Kori was with him.

"You've got to be kidding me." Jake groaned as he came closer.

"Out of curiosity, what triggered your phasing?" Quil asked, having phased back after he contacted Jacob.

Kori didn't answer, but she didn't have to. Her thoughts instinctively flashed back to what she was thinking about in her room.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa! What did I do?" Paul demanded, "It's not like I had a choice in not telling you. You think I give a crap if you knew about Seth or not? The only reason I didn't say anything was cause of Sam's stupid Alpha Command."

"Paul!"

"I don't care about you!" Kori shouted back, ignoring Sam's interruption, "I already know you hate me, heck people in Forks probably know you hate me, I don't give a crap!"

"Good! While we're on the subject, I actually wish you hadn't phased, but not for the reasons everyone else has. Since you phased, that means I'm gonna be stuck in your head! It's bad enough I'm stuck in someone like Baby Alpha's head, always complaining about the leech lover, now I have to hear what you have to complain about. And I'm sure that list just goes on and on. I mean, we all already know you're a loner. You don't have any friends, and just because you're part of the pack doesn't change that!"

Kori felt pain flash through her at Paul's words and forced herself to study the grass beneath her feet to keep her mind from going to school.

"I can't believe you said that!" Seth roared.

Kori heard through their thoughts that Seth launched himself at Paul. Thoughts, sounds, and voices blended until Kori didn't know what was happening. A loud yelp echoed in the air and Kori's head snapped to attention. She didn't know how, but she knew that was Seth.

"STOP!" the power of what Kori guessed was the Alpha Command hit everyone like a wave, nearly knocking her off her feet.

Paul and Seth broke apart and Kori could see through everyone's thoughts that he was limping.

"Seth, are you okay?" Kori asked worriedly.

"Yeah, I'm fine. I can feel it healing already." Seth answered like it was no big deal.

"Try that again, pup, and it'll take a lot longer to heal." Paul snarled.

"Say anything like that to her ever again, and I'll make sure you regret it." Seth snarled back, which only made Paul laugh.

"Paul! Enough. We're trying to calm them down so they can phase back, not make things worse. I want you to phase back, go home, and calm down. Jared, take his place with Leah and Seth, and Quil take Jared's place on patrol." Sam ordered, trying hard to keep control of his anger.

Embry turned his big, wolf head to Kori. "Anyway…lets see if we can get you to phase back."

They were at it all day. The rest of the pack rotated in and out with the jobs, at least one wolf patrolling, one with Seth and Leah, and one with Kori at all times. Though Sam made sure not to stick Paul with Kori because that clearly wouldn't help her calm down any.

By the time the sun was starting to set, it was Jared's turn to watch Kori while Quil was with Seth and Leah, and Jacob was on patrol.

"Okay, lets try something else." Jared spoke patiently as he sat down in front of her. He had thick, dull brown fur with gray around his eyes, making it look like he had on a mask. He was a bit smaller than Sam, but still larger than Embry and Kori. "Think of something that…calms you down. Might be a memory, a song, anything." he nodded for her to try so Kori thought for a moment. When he said memory or a song it reminded her of when her mom used to sing to her and her brother and sisters when they were little.

Kori closed her eyes and played back a memory of her mom singing a lullaby when she was little. She took deep breaths, feeling all her stress and anger melt away in one large whoosh. She felt a tickle, like a breeze through her fur.

Something soft landed on top of her and she opened her eyes. She pulled her hoodie off her head and looked up. Jared was sitting with his back to her. Wait a minute! She had hands!

Kori looked down at herself and, sure enough, she was human…and naked. Kori quickly slipped on the hoodie and sweatpants.

"You can turn around now." she murmured quietly, slightly embarrassed.

Jared peaked over his broad shoulder at her, as if making sure it was safe, before turning around completely, his tail wagging slightly.

"Am I allowed to go home now?" Kori asked tiredly. She was so tired she felt like she could fall asleep on her feet. Not to mention she was starving. Now she felt bad for always giving Jake a hard time with all the food he ate.

Jared tilted his head for a moment before lifting it and looking out into the woods. Kori guessed he was talking, well thinking, with other members of the pack. After a few moments he looked back down at her, her head reached just below his chin, and nodded.

"Kay, thanks Jared." she whispered before turning and going home.

She instinctively went to the kitchen because she was starving. She opened one of the cupboards and grabbed a can of ravioli from the very top. When she turned she froze and looked back up at the shelf she got the can from. She'd never been able to reach that shelf before! She always had to ask Jake to get something from there. She must've grown at least four inches to reach that!

Kori shook her head and went back to getting her dinner ready. She knew from when Jake phased that she'd get a growth spurt. She couldn't help smirking and shaking her head at the memory.

*~FLASHBACK~*

Kori looked up from the book she was reading and saw her brother walking across the yard through the window. She put her book down and walked out of the house to see what was going on.

"Hey Jake! How'd the movies go?" she asked curiously. Her brother had been at the movies with Bella and some guy from her school.

"Fine!" he snapped. His face was full of rage and his whole body was shaking. Kori could tell something must've gone wrong.

"Did something happen?" Kori asked calmly, hoping he'd calm down.

"It's none of your business!" Jake yelled, making Kori flinch back. She heard the door open behind her and her dad stopped in the doorway.

"Jake, why don't you calm down and take a walk?" he suggested calmly, as if his son wasn't acting strangely at all. Kori moved forward, closer to her brother to see if she could help. "Kori! Stay back!" her dad called, but she ignored him.

"Jake, did Bella do something?" that simple question sent Jacob over the edge. His body started convulsing before he burst into an enormous rusty-brown wolf! Kori was standing too close and would've been harmed had a pair of strong, warm arms not pulled her back at the last second.

Wolf-Jake ran off into the trees with Paul Lahote and Jared Cameron behind him, changing into wolves as well at the edge of the trees. Kori slouched against whoever was still holding her and looked up. Embry Call smiled nervously down at her before helping her stand up again.

Sam Uley took her inside with her dad and Embry and they explained everything to her. She didn't freak out, she didn't faint. She accepted it. It seemed a little weird at first, but she reasoned that lots of things are weird.

*~END OF FLASHBACK~*

Kori shook herself out of the flashback and took her warm bowl of ravioli to the couch to eat. She shoveled the food into her mouth, nearly inhaling it, and within a few minutes it was gone, unfortunately she was still hungry. But she was also uncomfortably hot. She put the dish in the sink before going into her room to change into something else.

She grabbed a pair of old basketball shorts and a large T-shirt. She quickly got out of her sweats and pulled on a bra and underwear and slipped on her shorts. She paused in front of her mirror, her shirt in her hands. Her eyes narrowed and her mouth opened slightly in surprise.

She used to be pretty skinny with just a bit of baby fat on her stomach and really no visible muscles. But now she could see her toned muscles moving with every slight movement she made. There wasn't so much that she looked gross, but enough that her body looked different, with nice curves where they should be instead of a straight, plain body. And her abs were more developed and she could feel the firm muscle there, too.

The back door slamming shut shook Kori out of her thoughts. She smelled Quil, Embry, and…lasagna? Her mouth watered slightly and her stomach growled.

"Hey, Kori! You here?" Quil called into the house.

Kori swiftly pulled on her shirt and hurried out of her room. She entered the living room to find Quil already lounging on the couch with Embry standing nearby holding a plate.

"What are you guys doing here?" she asked curiously, crossing her arms.

They looked over at her.

"Dang!" Quil exclaimed, "You look way different!"

Kori blushed and looked down. "Yup, that kinda happens when you phase, Quil. You should know that by now." she answered good-naturedly.

Embry held up the plate that was covered in tinfoil. "This is from Emily. She figured, you know, since you phased and all and Billy's really busy with…you know, that you might need some decent food around here." he smiled and held it towards her.

Kori smiled and walked over to him. "She didn't need to do that." she said as she took it from him and headed towards the kitchen. "Well, tell her I said thank you."

"Will do." Quil answered as they followed her into the kitchen, where Kori sat on the counter and began eating it. She was still starving.

"So, what do you think of all this?" Embry asked curiously, leaning his elbows back on the counter behind him, across from Kori. Quil stood next to him, his arms crossed over his bare chest.

"What do you mean?" Kori asked after she swallowed.

"Phasing and all. What do you think of it so far?"

Kori paused in her eating and thought for a moment. What did she think about it?

"I don't know. I'm not sure I like it. I don't want to have to fight vampires and have a bunch of idiots in my head. No offense."

"None taken." Embry shrugged. "But come on, there's some benefits, too. Heightened senses, fast healing, you don't get sick."

"If I want to be extremely negative, I could say all that means is I have to hear what people like to whisper about me, I'll have to smell Paul's BO, and I can't take any sick days off school." Kori pointed out, earning a laugh from Quil, "But, I suppose some of that stuff could come in handy."

"I suppose we're not the ones who could really sympathize. We're two of the only pack members who actually like being wolves." Quil pointed out.

Kori swallowed another mouthful and scrunched up her eyebrows in confusion. "Why?"

They both shrugged, looking more like brothers than best friends.

"Well, I thought it was all just cool in general." Embry answered.

"And I was glad to get my friends back." Quil smiled as he answered, which made Kori smiled slightly, too. She remembered seeing him sitting alone before he phased. He always looked so sad and would look over at the pack, watching his friends laughing with them. She was glad he got Jake and Embry back. It was strange seeing him without them.

"I would've thought you'd be more like Quil, honestly." Embry pointed out, making Kori look at him in confusion, "You know, he got his friends back and isn't alone anymore." he explained quietly.

Kori's eyebrows shot up briefly before she glared at him slightly and looked down at the half eaten lasagna on her lap. After a couple moments she spoke.

"My situation and Quil's situation are nothing alike." she mumbled. "You lost your friends to the pack, and phasing got them back. I didn't lose anyone to the pack."

Quil tilted his head slightly, like a dog. "What about Seth?"

"I didn't lose Seth, we've always been friends."

"How come you never hang out with him at school? Come to think of it, why are you always by yourself at school?" Embry asked curiously.

Kori growled lowly at him and felt herself start shaking. Embry and Quil glanced worriedly at each other.

"Kori, calm down, okay? He didn't mean anything by it." Quil reasoned, holding his hands up. Kori closed her eyes and breathed deeply.

'You don't want to phase right now,' she thought to herself, 'if you phase thinking about everything at school the pack will find out about it. Calm down.' she felt herself relax and her body stopped shaking. She opened her eyes and started eating again like nothing happened.

"Sooo…are you going to, like, hang out with the pack at school?" Embry asked cautiously.

Kori glanced up at him before looking back at her plate. "I don't know. Certain pack members don't seem to want me around, so why should I?"

"Come on, that's just Paul. Nobody listens to him." Quil argued lightly.

Kori shrugged, wanting to end the conversation. "I'll think about it."

XXX

Kori was woken by a warm hand shaking her shoulder. She forced her tired eyes open and focused on her brother's familiar face hovering above hers. Glancing over, her clock said 10:47 pm. She turned back to look up at Jacob.

"What?" she whined, swatting her hands at him.

"I figured you'd want to know that Seth and Leah finally managed to phase back-"

Kori shot up but Jake put his hand on her shoulder and pushed her back down.

"Hold it. They're at home sleeping, they need it as much as you. However, you'll see them tomorrow morning. I'm supposed to have a bit of a training exercise with you three to see where you all are as far as strength and skill go. Get some sleep. You'll need it for tomorrow."

There wasn't any warmth in Jake's voice. The statement wasn't warm, brotherly advice, it was more of an order from a babysitter or boss.

"Okay." Kori laid back down and was out before her head hit the pillow.