Chapter 34

Not a Freak

Kori raced through the forest, weaving in and out of the trees and leaping over bushes that appeared in her path, the wind whipping her hair back.

Suddenly, arms appeared around her waist, lifting her up and swinging her around, causing her to squeal in laughter.

"Seth! Put me down!" she shouted through her laugher. Her feet were placed back on the ground, but the arms still pinned her to his chest.

"Thought you could get away, huh?" his voice whispered playfully in her ear, making her bite her lip as she smiled.

"Maybe." she mumbled as she ducked her head, letting her almost-shoulder length hair hide her face.

It had been a couple days since the confrontation with the Volturi, and the celebrations were far from over. The packs had a huge dinner at Emily's the same day, followed by a huge bonfire on the beach the day after. The Cullens and their friends had their own celebrations, but from what Kori heard the last of the witnesses, Nahuel and his Aunt, had left late the previous night.

Kori was contemplating how to make a break from Seth's grip to continue the chase, when a loud howl interrupted her thoughts.

Kori met Seth's worried gaze with her own.

"That was Jake." Kori whispered. Seth nodded before he hurried into the nearby bushes. Kori went the other way to strip and phase.

"Jake! What's going on!" Kori asked as she and Seth raced toward the border with the Cullens.

"Nessie's missing!" Jake shouted in a panicked voice as other members of the Black pack phased in.

"What?! How could she go missing?" Scott demanded as he raced toward them from First Beach. "She lives in a house full of vampires who never sleep. How could they not notice?"

"Most of them were on a hunting trip. Bella and Edward were having a little…alone time and didn't notice her sneak off." Jake answered as he paced in the woods behind the Cullen mansion.

"Calm down, Jake. We'll find her." Kori assured him.

When they reached the Cullens' place, the pack gathered around Jake.

"Okay, the Cullens are already searching the area to the north. We'll spread out and search the rest. Got it?"

The pack nodded before spreading out in a long line to search the area.

Kori went in the direction she was ordered and kept her nose to the ground as she trotted through the trees.

Gradually, a familiar, sweet scent drifted to her nose, making her pick up her pace. She stopped at the base of a tree and looked up, pricking her ears enough to catch the familiar, hummingbird-like heartbeat.

Nessie.

"Jake! I've got her. You tell the Cullens and head back to their place. I'll bring her home." Kori ordered.

"But-"

"Jake, Ness wouldn't just run off for no reason. I'm going to try and find out what's going on, okay? Maybe she'll talk to me and tell me if something's wrong."

"She's got a point, Jake." Quil agreed.

"Yeah, she'll be more likely to talk to Kori alone than when everyone's around, including her mind-reading father." Embry added.

Jake sighed. "Okay, fine. But be quick about it, okay?"

"I will." Kori promised before she phased back to human, taking her clothes off her ankle to pull them on.

She stood at the base of the tree, her hand on the trunk as she looked up through the branches. She could just make out a small, pale figure with brown hair.

"Nessie?" she called gently. "Ness, you okay up there?" Nessie still wasn't responding, but Kori knew the little girl knew she was there. Her heartbeat picked up. Kori sighed patiently. "Nessie, I know you're up there. I can smell you and hear your heartbeat." she waited, but still got no response. Now she was getting worried. "Okay, Ness, I'm coming up."

After a couple seconds, Kori took a few steps back before leaping up the tree trunk. She grabbed hold of the lowest branch and swung herself up onto the same branch Nessie was perched on.

The little girl was sat at the base of a thicker branch, leaning her back against the trunk and hugging her knees to her chest as her brown ringlet curls cascaded over her shoulders. When she looked up her beautiful chocolate eyes were sad and worried.

"Nessie, what's the matter?" Kori asked worriedly as she scooted up the branch, stopping to sit over a foot away from the little girl.

Renesmee chewed her bottom lip nervously as she glanced from Kori's face to the branch she was sitting on. After a few moments she held her hand out expectantly. Kori leaned forward enough that the palm of Nessie's hand touched her cheek.

She was asking if everyone was mad at her for running away. She could hear them shouting her name and searching the forest for her.

Kori shook her head. "No, Nessie. No one's mad at you, but they're really worried about you. Why did you run away?"

Ness pressed her hand more firmly to Kori's cheek to show her.

She was sad now that Nahuel had left, and now she didn't have anyone like her around anymore. She was alone. A freak.

Kori sighed when Nessie pulled her hand away again.

"Nessie, you are not a freak."

Nessie's face took on a stubborn expression as she pressed her palm to Kori's cheek again; pointing out that her, Nahuel, and his sisters were the only known human-vampire hybrids out there.

"Okay, but that doesn't make you a freak." Kori pointed out, "There's always that chance that there could be others like you out there staying hidden from the vampire world."

Nessie rolled her eyes and looked away, her brows furrowed stubbornly. She was definitely getting a bit of an attitude from her Aunts Rose and Alice.

Kori sighed as she thought of how she could prove Nessie wrong. She blinked as an idea occurred to her.

"Okay," she started lightly after a moment, "so, you're a freak. Does that make me a freak, too?"

Nessie looked back up at her in confusion. She didn't need to show Kori her thoughts for the young shape-shifter to know she didn't understand where this was heading.

Kori pointed to her own chest.

"I'm one of only two female shifters in the history of the Quileute tribe. Does that make me a freak? Honestly, when I really think about it, I do think of myself that way. As a freak."

Nessie started shaking her head angrily before Kori was even done talking. She leaned forward and pressed her palm to Kori's cheek again, she clearly wasn't in a talking mood. Her thoughts were basically screaming that their two situations were nothing alike and that Kori wasn't a freak, but she, Nessie, was.

Kori pulled away and glared lightly at the little girl in front of her.

"Renesmee Carlie Cullen, you are NOT a freak! You're unique, just like everyone else in the world. You say I'm not a freak, but I'm one of only two she-wolves in the world, while there's at least, what, four or five hybrids like you that we know of? Your kind is more common than mine."

Nessie pressed her hand to Kori's face again, not looking stubborn anymore, her face was more blank. She pointed out that Kori's 'kind' were the shape-shifters, not just the she-wolves.

"Okay, you've got a point there." Kori admitted quietly when Nessie pulled her hand away. "But my point still stands. Look, what I'm trying to say here, is that I know what you're feeling." Kori stated gently, making Nessie look up at her, her big brown eyes sad. "I know how it feels, questioning your very existence. Feeling like…no one really understands how you feel or what you're going through. But I've got Leah to talk to when I feel alone, and sometimes I've got Seth, but he doesn't necessarily get what I'm going through the way Leah does. If you ever need anyone to talk to, you know you could always talk to me, right?"

Tears brimmed Renesmee's large, chocolate brown eyes before she slammed into Kori, wrapping her tiny arms around her in a tight hug. Kori smiled slightly as she wrapped her own arms around her.

"Thank you Kori." she whispered, her face buried in Kori's T-shirt.

"No problem, Ness." Kori whispered back, gently kissing the top of her head before she pulled back. "Now, lets get you home, everyone's worried about you. You want to ride?"

Nessie nodded with a happy smile before she jumped down from the tree, landing lightly on her feet. Kori jumped down next, landing with a thump beside the little girl.

"Wait here." she told Nessie before she hurried behind a couple bushes to phase. When she came back she crouched down on the forest floor in front of the little girl. She felt tiny, petite fingers tangle in her fur before Nessie pulled herself up onto Kori's back, sitting on her like she would a horse.

Kori stood up slowly before starting forward at a trot, slowly picking up speed as she went so as no to knock the little girl off.

A few minutes later, the Cullen mansion came into view, with the whole Cullen clan and the Black pack waiting at the edge of the trees.

Bella, Edward, and Jake raced forward, the two vampires beating Jake to Kori's side easily. Bella pulled Nessie off her back and held her close, kissing her head over and over as Edward held both his wife and daughter close.

"Renesmee Carlie Cullen, don't you ever run off like that again." Bella scolded her daughter, still holding Nessie's face to her shoulder. "Why did you do such a thing?"

Nessie turned her head so her cheek rested on Bella's shoulder, glancing up at Jake, who was standing beside his best friend and watching his imprint worriedly. "No reason, Mama." she murmured quietly.

Edward watched his daughter for a moment before turning to look at Kori. He smiled gently and nodded at her, silently thanking her.

She grinned back at him and nodded back before the Cullens turned to head back inside and the Black pack dispersed, going back to what they were doing before.

"Nice job, Black." AJ grinned at her, bumping shoulders playfully as he passed her. She nipped at his heals, earning laughs from other members of the pack.

She felt a warm hand run through her fur and looked at her brother. His eyes were about the same height at her wolf-eyes.

"Thanks Kor." he whispered softly, his eyes glistening with relief and gratitude. Kori whined and wagged her tail as she nuzzled her nose into Jake's cheek. He laughed softly as he pulled back, scratching her behind the ear for a moment.

"See you at home, Sis." he said as he turned and headed back inside the Cullen's home, probably to check on his imprint.

Kori barked back before turning and running through the trees to catch up with some of her pack mates. She saw Quil, Josh, Scott, Leah, and Seth up ahead, though Seth had stopped and was watching her from over his shoulder as he waited for her to catch up. When she slowed at his side he nuzzled his nose into her neck.

"Good job. I'm proud of you." he murmured before moving to nuzzle her cheek lovingly. Kori whined softly and pushed her head under his chin.

"Who's up for chilling near the river?" Quil asked as he sped up slightly to a jog. Everyone voiced their agreement, even Leah surprisingly.

When they reached the river where it was calmest Quil, Scott, and Josh leapt into the water, scattering cool droplets at the others. The water was probably close enough to freezing, but it felt barely cool with their higher body temperatures.

While Quil, Scott, and Josh waded through the water to cool off; Leah, Kori, and Seth sprawled out on the bank to relax. Kori yawned before resting her chin on her paws, which were crossed over each other. She felt Seth lick her head and ears for a few minutes before he rested his own chin on the top of her head.

Slowly, her mind drifted off into the comfortable darkness of sleep.

XXX

Okay, just to let everyone know, the rest of the chapters are going to be more spread out time-wise, like the next chapter's going to take place several months after this one, to move the story along. Just to let you know.