Chapter 12

Phone calls at five in the morning

About a week after Quil's imprinting Kori was just lying in her bed, listening to one of her favorite songs on her Ipod. It was about 1 in the morning, but she couldn't sleep. She had this weird clenching feeling in her chest that made it almost hurt to breathe. So, she was listening to a couple of her favorite songs to try and make herself tired.

Then, she felt this change in her chest. Like a pull or something, but it was making the clenching lessen. A breeze hit her face, bringing a familiar scent with it that made the feeling go away completely. Kori's eyes snapped opened and she sat up, looking toward her window.

Seth was standing there leaning against the wall, smiling at her. She pulled her ear buds out to hear what he was saying.

"I've been throwing rocks at your window for a good three minutes, you know that?" he teased.

"Sorry. I guess I didn't hear, I've been listening to some music."

"What are you even doing up this late?" Seth asked, all teasing gone from his voice, "You should be asleep."

Kori shrugged, scooting over in her bed out of habit so Seth could slide in beside her, which he did. "I couldn't sleep, I'm not sure why." okay, that wasn't the whole truth. She had an idea why she couldn't sleep, but she still wasn't positive if she was right. She didn't know for certain if Seth and her imprinted on each other or not. And she didn't want to sound like an idiot if she was wrong.

Seth nodded thoughtfully before glancing down at Kori's ear buds, which were still playing music.

"What are you listening to?" he asked curiously.

Kori looked down at her ear buds. "Well, when you came in I was listening to Donny Osmond, No One has to be Alone. I was trying to get myself to fall asleep."

"I'm not sure if I know that song. Can I hear it?" Seth asked with his usual 'Seth smile', making Kori blush for some reason. She nodded before starting the song over and giving him one of the ear buds. She put the other one in her own ear cause she wanted to listen to it again, too.

They laid in silence against Kori's pillow as they listened to the song. When it was over she turned it off and snuggled down into her blanket, absentmindedly cuddling closer to Seth.

"You know…that's a good song." Seth murmured, making Kori look up at him. He looked down at her, looking deep into her eyes. "There really is so much that surrounds us, stuff we don't even know about. Everything's a gift. And…no one has to be alone, or feel like no one's by their side. No matter what, there's always going to be someone there for you." the determined look in his eyes made Kori look away. She had a feeling he was talking directly to her, not just about the song.

Kori cleared her throat. "Um, I think I can get to sleep now. We should go to sleep, we've got school tomorrow." she said as she rolled over, facing away from her best friend.

"Okay, just…Kori?" Kori glanced over her shoulder, showing that she was listening but not looking right at him. "Just remember what I said, please? I'll always be there for you. You can trust me with anything."

Kori bit her lip as she felt her eyes burn. "I know, Seth." she whispered, knowing he'd hear her.

They fell asleep quickly, letting a comfortable darkness fall over them.

XXX

Kori was woken by an annoying sound. She peaked her eyes open. It was still dark out, though it's always dark in rainy La Push. She peaked over Seth's shoulder to see her cell phone lit up and ringing. She sat up and practically crawled over Seth in her haste to get her phone, earning a groan of protest from him.

"What?!" she nearly shouted into the device. She glanced at her alarm clock and saw that it wasn't even 5 in the morning yet.

"Kori, you need to be at Emily's at 8 for a pack meeting." Sam's voice ordered through the phone.

"At 8?" she repeated, getting off Seth to sit back on the bed. "Oh, well than…why are you calling me at 5 in the morning?!" she almost shouted again.

A heavy sigh came through the earpiece from Sam's end. "It wasn't my idea to call everyone this early, trust me I'd like to be asleep right now, too. Jacob wanted to make sure every member of the pack got the message to be at Emily's at 8."

"And you couldn't have called around, what, 6:30 or 7?" Kori asked in exasperation. Seth groaned again and pulled the pillow over his head.

"Look, I know it sucks and all, but Jake really does have something important to tell the pack. Oh, and before I forget to tell you, you guys don't have to go to school tomorrow. I'm not sure how long the meeting will take, so, you're welcome."

Kori smiled. "Really? No school?" she repeated happily.

Sam chuckled on the other line. "I had a feeling that would make you happy. Anyway, tell Seth for me, will you?"

Kori glanced at Seth. "How'd you know he was here?"

"I think the whole pack knows you two tend to sleep at each other's house. So when Seth didn't answer his phone, I figured he was with you."

Kori blushed knowing the whole pack knew. "Oh, okay. I'll tell him. See you at 8 Sam. Oh, and Sam?" Kori paused, making sure he didn't hang up yet. "Tell my moron brother I'm gonna kill him when I get there."

Sam chuckled on the phone. "Oh, don't worry, he knows."

With that Sam hung up. Kori hung up and crawled over Seth again to place her phone on the bedside table before slipping back under the sheets.

"So, what happened now?" Seth grumbled with his face still under the pillow.

Kori pulled the pillow off him so she could lay her head back on it.

"Sam called to say we have a pack meeting at Emily's at 8, and we have no school."

Seth smirked sleepily at her, his eyes half opened. "Okay. Goodnight."

Kori smiled as she watched him fall back asleep. After a few moments, she did the same.

XXX

The next morning Seth and Kori hurried to Emily's. Kori hurried to beat him there only because she knew he'd stop her from killing Jacob.

She burst through the kitchen door, nearly taking it off its hinges. Jared, Leah, Paul, Brady and Collin were in the kitchen with Emily.

"Where is he? He is so dead." Kori snarled.

Paul and Jared smirked at her while Emily looked confused.

"If you're looking for Jake, he's in the living room with Sam, Quil, and Embry." Jared answered with a smirk, nodding his head toward the doorway separating the kitchen and living room.

"Thank you." Kori said pleasantly before turning to head toward the living room. A strong, warm arm slid around her waist, effectively holding her there.

"Jared, don't encourage her." Seth said from just beside Kori's ear.

Paul laughed. "Aw, come on Seth! I want to see this!" he nudged Jared with his elbow. "My money's on Kori."

Jared snorted. "Only because Jake would never hurt his little sister, moron. Besides, he whooped your butt too many times to count."

Paul snarled while everyone else laughed.

Then, Sam's voice called from the living room, "If everyone's here, we may as well get this started."

All the senior pack members sighed, while Brady and Collin hurried to beat them to the living room. They were just excited because this was technically their first pack meeting.

'Enjoy the excitement while it lasts, pups.' Kori couldn't help thinking to herself.

When they entered Jake was standing just behind Sam, who was standing front and center, Embry was sitting in the recliner with Quil sitting on the arm. The rest of the pack filed in, filling up the couches. Jared, Brady and Collin took one while Paul, Seth, and Kori took the other. Kori tried convincing Leah to sit on the couch instead of her, but Leah just stayed standing in the corner by herself. So, Kori sat next to Seth on the couch.

"Alright, what's so important that we had to be woken up at 5 this morning?" Kori asked as she crossed her arms over her chest.

Sam gave her a look before turning back to the rest of the pack.

"Well, it's not my announcement. Jake." Sam turned to Jake, who stepped forward as Sam stepped to the side.

"Well, most of you probably know that Quil, Embry, and I went to Bella's graduation party last night." Jake started, earning a few groans from certain members of the pack. Kori rolled her eyes, she almost forgot that's where he went. Then again, he didn't normally talk to her about that stuff.

"Right, I can see where this is going, can I leave now?" Paul asked, standing up from his spot on the couch.

"Sit." Sam ordered. Paul groaned but sat down anyway.

"Guys, this is serious," Jake stressed, "While we were there the pixie leech had a vision. About the redhead."

The pack members immediately perked up, paying close attention now.

"Okay, well, everyone knows how she's been after Bella all this time, right?" the pack nodded, "And everyone knows about all those disappearances in Seattle the past month right?" everyone glanced at each other, not expecting that question. But they nodded nonetheless. "Well, apparently the redhead is behind all those disappearances. She's been finding people and changing them so she could create a newborn army so she can lead them to Forks to kill Bella."

"What do you mean 'newborn army'?" Collin asked, no doubt voicing the same question most of the pack had.

"A newborn vampire is a recently changed leech." Jake explained shortly.

Sam stepped forward. "In a couple days we'll be meeting up with the Cullens in a clearing at the border for some training."

"Training?" Paul snorted, "Dude, we're built to fight leeches. What kind of training can they give us that we don't already know?"

"Newborn leeches are different from other leeches. They're stronger, faster, and they have basically no control over their thirst for blood. However, they are easier to kill, if you know how." Jake explained.

Kori raised her hand.

Sam sighed and rolled his eyes slightly. "Yes, Kori?"

"Just out of curiosity…Why do we have to get involved?" she asked calmly, "I mean, you said this is happening in Forks, so it's not threatening the tribe, and Bella has the whole Cullen clan on her side. Why do they need us to protect her?"

Jacob's growl echoed loudly throughout the house, his body starting to blur.

"Our job is to protect humans, and that includes Bella." he snarled.

"I'm with Kori on this one." Paul spoke up. "She's got an entire coven of vampires to protect her, and it's her fault she's in this mess in the first place. Why should we have to help?"

Jake was about to snap something, but Sam put a hand on his shoulder, turning to face the pack.

"I know many of you don't want to be part of this, but there is more to this than I think you realize. This army will have nearly a hundred vampires, who have no control over their thirst for blood. The Cullens can't handle that by themselves. Worst case scenario; the army destroys the Cullens, kills Bella, moves on to the whole of Forks, and then to an extent, La Push. All of the people we love will be in danger. Our imprints," he glanced over at Embry, Quil, and Jared, "parents," he glanced over Seth, Kori, and Leah, "siblings. Everyone we care about. So, if you're not going to do this for Bella, do it for them."

Kori looked at her lap as everyone glanced among themselves. Finally, most of the pack nodded or voiced their agreement. Only Kori remained silent.

"Kori?" Sam urged, still waiting on her answer.

Kori looked up and glanced around. Everyone was watching her, mostly with curious gazes, but Jake was full on staring at her, looking ready to burst with the intensity of his stare. A warm hand rested on her thigh, sending a wave of warmth through her body. She glanced at Seth to see him smiling encouragingly at her.

Kori sighed before looking back at the front at Sam, completely ignoring Jacob.

"I'm not doing this for Bella, she can get sucked dry for all I care. I'm doing this for my dad. And the imprints. I'm in."

Jake glared at her while the rest of the pack voiced their agreement and a couple patted her back, but Kori couldn't care less. She simply answered truthfully.

XXX

Okay, I know the beginning was a little corny, but I simply couldn't resist. I highly recommend listening to No One Has to be Alone by Donny Osmond. It's an amazing and touching song, and it sort of inspired this storyline.

Please review and let me know what you think so far!