Hey all were back, This time it's a double bill (You lucky lot) Things are going a bit smoother with the last of the chapters than I thought they would so I decided to up the upload of the chapters we have, (Currently working on chapter 21/22, Probably gonna end around the 30ish mark)

Also, this way moves the story along a little bit quicker (Gets some of the expo out of the way and into the meat of the story)

Hope your all enjoying it so far, If you haven't noticed it now has a cover art made by Faithcael (Punkish Raccoon) And I think it looks AWSOME.

See you at the end of chapter five :D

Enjoy

Internal Conflict

Kate stood at the entrance of the cavern, in awe of the soft glow emitting from the orb. The light bounced off the water seeping through the walls, shimmering with an almost hypnotic quality. Once she managed to tear her eyes away from the spectacle, her gaze transfixed on a jet-black wolf sitting in the center of the clearing. Two sleek bushy black tails, one lying either side, encircled the beast. Sitting there, the wolf wasn't much bigger than normal, similar to the local werewolves. Two sad blue eyes, the irises of which were encircled by a thin line of a lucid green, stared back at her from a face of black fur. The snout was lightly peppered in light brownish fur, almost like that of a person's freckles.

Kate took a tentative step towards the wolf. Even though she felt confident knowing its identity, it was still a daunting sight. "Sophie?" she questioned, not that she needed to ask.

It was fairly easy for her to identify people based on their emotions alone. For example, Victoria often emitted bitter and resentful feelings these days, while Rachel nearly always radiated mischief and playfulness. Rachel hated it as she couldn't sneak up on her. Didn't stop her from trying, though. If anything, it made her more determined to live up to the challenge. Still, knowing who was in there and who was in control were two completely different things. With Sophie, that differentiation was a little more complicated. Vampires and werewolves were one thing, but having two distinct beings inside one body made for an interesting dilemma, one the blonde wasn't really sure how to handle.

The wolf lowered its head slightly, turning its face away from the blonde in a mix of admission and guilt. Clearly, she would rather be anywhere else than having this conversation. Kate breathed a small sigh of relief. At least she had a name to work with, even if it was a lie. After a few minutes of deliberation on how to proceed, she took another tentative step closer to the wolf.

"I know… I know that's not your real name Sophie, but that's ok," Kate assured her as she forced her nerves down. Sophie passed a quick glance towards her before looking away again. "This would be easier if you could talk too… Can you not change back?" Kate asked hesitantly. "Not that you don't look cool, you totally do, it's just I'd like to talk to you," she added quickly, not wanting to give the wrong impression.

Sophie shook her head slowly from side to side as Kate felt the frustration emanating from the wolf. Giving her a warm smile, Kate took another step closer. If she were to reach out now, she could easily touch the wolf. Deciding to stick to yes and no questions, she quickly arranged a few questions in her head and began eliminating certain conclusions.

"Definitely not just human," she stated as matter of fact. The wolf rolled her eyes at the blonde, causing Kate to chuckle as she held her hands up defensively. "Ok, ok, just thinking out loud… gimme a minute," she chuckled lightly before wondering aloud, "Maybe some kind of werewolf? "

This line of thought earned her a low growl from Sophie and at the same time two distinctly separate waves of annoyance. One aimed at her, but the other one was what caught Kate's attention. It was coming from Sophie but was aimed inwards. At the same time, she could feel the girl's internal struggle, like she was wrestling with herself. Definitely an odd situation, but this gave the blonde an idea.

"Sorry, didn't mean to offend… Is this who you're afraid of?" Kate gestured to Sophie, indicating the wolf. She seemed to ponder this for a moment, bobbing her head from side to side before hanging it and letting out a drawn-out breath like a sigh.

"Is it a she?" Kate inquired, trying to sort out a differentiation between the two. The wolf gave a small nod, her ears pricked forwards as if waiting for the next question.

"I take it you don't like..." Kate stopped herself, quickly rewording the question. "Do you trust her?" Again, this question earned the blonde another growl, but this time it very clearly came from Sophie herself and was aimed internally. Whatever it was inside her was clearly frustrated at this reaction.

Kate let out a sigh and gave her temples a rub with her fingers. She could already feel a headache setting in. 'Time for a new approach.' she thought to herself, looking at the wolf with renewed determination.

"If I ask her a question can you answer it for her?" Kate asked firmly. Sophie cocked her head to one side at the question before giving an uncertain nod, clearly confused at the girl's request.

"This is for… whoever is in there with Sophie, no offense I'm an empath, not a telepath," Kate paused for a moment giving an apologetic shrug before continuing, "Do you want to hurt Sophie?"

The wolf seemed to hesitate for a moment before rolling her eyes and shaking her head. The other voice, however, was once again frustrated.

Kate let out a sigh. "Sophie, please, you need to work with me here," she pleaded. Reluctantly the wolf let out a sigh and shook her head. Kate was hoping to be able to pick up on Sophie's passenger's feelings, but at the moment there was far too much going on in the poor girl's head.

"That's not gonna work," Kate muttered glumly hanging her head. As she tried to figure out a way around this little barrier something suddenly popped into her mind, causing her to snap her head up looking squarely at Sophie.

"Didn't you hang out with Rachel after school?" she quizzed. The wolf nodded slowly in response. "And I guess you met Chloe. Those two are inseparable," Kate grinned.

The grin, however, quickly faded as she felt an eruption of guilt, worry and anxiety erupt from Sophie and she began whining. She laid down on her stomach, resting her head on her paws and refusing to meet Kate's eyes.

Without even thinking, Kate closed the final few steps towards the wolf, kneeling down beside her and gently rubbed behind the wolf's ears. Sophie tense up for a moment before relaxing at the blonde's touch. Running her fingers through the surprisingly soft fur, Kate felt a few rough matted patches. Upon closer inspection, she felt her throat tighten, gasping at what she saw. Through the black fur on the pinkish flesh of the wolf were two fresh puncture wounds on her neck. It didn't take a lot of brains to figure out what caused it.

"Sophie… That's a vampire bite," Kate stated as she gently traced her fingers around the wound. Sophie let out a small whimper, and this time both she and her passenger's feelings were in unison with this statement. A mix of resentment and anger. At least they could agree on something.

Getting to her feet, Kate tore the sleeve of her shirt and walked over to the cave wall, wetting the new rag in the water trickling down the rocks walls before returning to the wolf's side. Kneeling down again, she gently began cleaning the area the wolf could not reach as a million questions ran through her head. She had no idea where to even begin.

"Is Rachel ok?" she asked hesitantly.

If Sophie had been attacked and Rachel was there, she definitely wouldn't have just stood by and done nothing. That meant that the young hunter would have been in just as much danger as Sophie. Not that she couldn't take care of herself for the most part, but she was still in training. Sophie turned her head towards Kate, giving the blonde a reassuring nod. Again, the emotions of both Sophie and her passenger were as one. Kate breathed a sigh of relief.

"And Chloe?" Kate added hesitantly, feeling drained both physically and mentally. She had trekked a fair way to get here, not to mention that being constantly exposed to other people's emotions was a tiring affair in and of itself. Especially multiple strong or conflicting ones, like those coming from Sophie and her passenger.

Sophie turned her head away, placing it back on her paws letting out another whimper. Unlike before, there were mixed emotions from both Sophie and her passenger. Sophie seemed uncertain, guilty too and not just for recent events, this guilt felt as though it ran much deeper, while her passenger appeared confident things were going to be ok. Choosing to trust her passenger on this, Kate let out another sigh of relief. There was also a slight flicker of annoyance from this other being, a sense that events surrounding Chloe had escalated more than they needed to. A feeling that whatever had happened could have been easily prevented if Sophie wasn't so stubborn or afraid, if she just embraced her true nature instead of hiding from it.

"If Rachel's with her, I'm sure she will be ok. Chloe's tougher than she looks, and Rachel can hold her own," Kate said, trying to reassure the wolf.

Tossing the bloodstained rag to one side, she continued to run her fingers through the wolf's thick warm fur, letting out a deep yawn as a shiver ran down her spine. Sophie shifted herself slightly, curling around the blonde and draping her tails over her like a blanket as she pressed her head down onto her side. Kate didn't even try to resist as she found herself feeling warmed by the wolf's thick fur. As Sophie's orb dimmed to a subtle glow, Kate felt her eyes close as she gave into exhaustion.

Next Morning

Rachel adjusted the sword strap over her shoulder as she made her way through the woods, following the set of wolf tracks. She hoped that these were the right ones this time. The only problem around here was tracking a particular wolf. Unless you had a vampire with you, it was almost impossible to distinguish between the different tracks. Having already tracked the waitress at the diner to her home and apologizing for disturbing her, the young hunter had already hit two other dead ends and it was already gone 10 am.

Following the new set of tracks had led her to a vertical cliff, far too steep to climb, but the tracks had gone along the foot of the cliff to the right. As she followed them, she noticed that a set of small human footprints joined the tracks as the mud became slightly soggier. If these were Sophie's tracks, did someone follow her? If so, who? For a moment, she thought maybe Nathan, but quickly dismissed it. He was terrified of Sophie and even if he had, she could clearly handle him. Unsure of what to make of it, she broke out into a sprint. The tracks were easy to follow now in the wet mud.

It didn't take long for her to follow the tracks to the entrance of a cave. The tracks, both human and wolf, disappearing inside. Taking out a small flashlight from her pocket and flicking it on, she followed them inside. After a short walk, she noticed a gentle glow illuminating the tunnel up ahead. Slowing her pace, she carefully rounded the bend in the tunnel to be greeted with a large cavern. The source of light, a gentle glowing orb, rested on one of Sophie's black tails.

Sophie raised her head towards the young hunter and then bowed it slightly, acknowledging the girl as she entered. Stepping forward, she stopped a few feet from the wolf pocketing her flashlight. A pair of black shoes poking out from under one of the wolf's tails caught the hunter's attention and she gave Sophie a quizzical look.

Sophie turned her head towards her tails as she lifted them up to reveal a sleeping Kate snuggled deeply into the wolf's thick fur. With the tails removed, the young empath started to stir, instantly aware of the young hunter's presence. Rachel leaned against the cave wall, grinning as she watched her come too.

"Morning," Kate yawned as she stretched out, sinking further into the wolf's black fur.

"Just wait till I tell Alice you've found a replacement snuggle buddy," Rachel playfully mused.

Kate, unable to defend herself from the teasing, just blushed and hid her embarrassment in the thick, black fur. She would never live this one down, not if Rachel had anything to do with it.

Awww poor Kate's at Rachel's mercy, So did we guess the obvious yet ?