Chapter 4 Mad World

Corinne's P.O.V

Living in La Push, Washington generally gives me one consistency – that it rains 350 plus days a year. Considering that in the last few days, I have basically learned I am a giant Pomeranian, there are werewolves and vampires, and I literally am the only alien on this insane planet, of course it would stand to reason that the night I run away there has to be rain.

So right now I'm stuck with two very difficult situations. I can either sit out the storm as a wolf enjoying the "creature" comforts my wolf will bring me or I can be a human and not have to listen to the pack ignore me. Being a wolf means I can be comfortable during the storm but being a human means I won't have my mind crowded by immature men and boys. Right…not much of a choice. Human it is.

'Corinne?'

Identifying the voice was easy but only because as soon as he spoke I could picture his face, sort of like a wolf caller i.d. It was Zachary Neah, he was a few years ahead of me in school but even being that, we lived on the rez and knew each other. He was a polite guy to everyone and had the calmest disposition out of everyone in the pack, which really wasn't saying much but he was a generally placid guy.

Of course this little running monologue cost me a few irritated thoughts tossed my way from some of the pack but they could eat kibble and die…

'What?'

And even as he spoke I knew that Zach felt bad for me being up in the mountains, angry , and all alone. And he knew that I really didn't have anywhere else to go. It was mortifying how easily we read each other's thoughts in this form.

'If you're having a blowout with your dad you could come hang out at my place for a bit.'

See what I mean by polite? Even though both of us know I have nowhere to go and that I know –he knows this- he still asked me over like I had somewhere else to go. And he didn't seem to care that a few of the guys were giving him grief for inviting me over. And he knew I was thinking this over…way too much.

'Sure.'

I changed into my human form and tried to stifle the curses against the cold weather and embarrassment at traipsing down the mountain naked. No one was around to see me, as I'm sure the laughter would have given them away – even without my Pomeranian super hearing but it was still weird as hell to walk down the mountain side naked as a jay bird.

So my little jaunt down the mountain came to end when I became too bored and cold to finish walking to Zach's house as a human. Since we had been in each other's minds I knew that he had planned on leaving me a t-shirt and shorts in the woods outside his house.

I had changed into the clothes and was sitting in the woods, too nervous to go into the house. The shirt fit fine but the shorts were a little uncomfortable but that wasn't the problem. The Neah's house faced away from the woods but the majority of their windows were in the back. A big bay window let me see into their dining room and a smaller one into the kitchen.

For the better part of two hours I had set and watched Zach's family make dinner, horse around, and sit around the table like a real family. And it tore my heart out to watch what I didn't have.

I didn't have a brother that I could kid wrestle to the ground after losing a video game (Fletcher made it very clear anything of his was off limits) and I didn't have a mom who looked exasperated when no one volunteered to set the table. I didn't have a father who came home from work and bellowed out a greeting – so glad to be home I could smell it from forty yards away. I didn't have a father who came to my room to check on me if I was doing homework or talking on the phone.

I didn't have a family.

On the flip side though, Zach's dad didn't have a daughter who was a misanthropic nerd. His daughter was in the living room chatting with her friend Becky about boys in a shrill excited voice and painting her toenails.

Hell…my feet were dirty from my trudge down the mountains. My hair hadn't been combed since yesterday and if anyone saw me like this I probably resembled a short sasquatch more than a girl.

Zach's P.O.V

I knew 3 facts immediately after being inside of Corinne Call's mind when she phased.

The first fact was that Corinne was completely unaware of her father being Alpha to our pack – which was also non-existent to her. The second fact was that this was probably the loneliest person I had ever met in my life. Her daily social interactions were from customers in the store and her boss, Mrs. Newton, which she soaked up like she knew no one else, would talk with her. The third fact that I became aware of was that my fair and strict Alpha – a man I looked up to – treated her like total shit.

The past two nights were my only days this week to 'run radar' as we called it, and when Corinne phased it had made more than the usual ripple. Maybe it was because she was a female, or the daughter to the Alpha, but when she phased everyone stay tuned to her.

And this afternoon's incident with her father was almost too unreal for me to believe. How could you not love your own daughter? Most of the pack understood where Embry was coming from, and it hadn't escaped my notice that they were all imprinted, but I didn't care. It was unconscionable.

And what surprised me the most was how…guilty she felt over everything. Even about Embry not loving her, which I knew he cared for her but it wasn't anything like he cared for Fletcher, she felt guilty because of her mom dying in childbirth. What kind of asshole let his daughter think it was her fault?

'Zach, leave it alone man. Embry will fucking tear you apart thinking about her death.'

Paul was such a dick. If I say anything it will just feed that blackhole he calls a mouth to keep opening.

'Fuck you! I was just trying to help you out, man. What are you doing? Are you actually feeling sorry for the chubbo?'

He was trying to understand why I was watching Corinne, who was in the woods outside of my house. I had figured that she would work up the nerve to knock on the door during dinner after smelling the food, but after another hour had passed I had slipped out and had found her sitting on the ground, just staring at my house.

She was just sitting there with tears running down her face. She wasn't sniffling or sobbing. She just sat there, alone in the world.

And yes, it did make me feel sad for her.

'Paul…go home and grow the fuck up.' And since I phased I got to ignore his little rant.

As I was getting dressed I debated on how to approach Corinne.

The smartest avenue was probably through her stomach, she hadn't eaten all day and I knew she had to be starving – even without being a wolf a normal person would have been starving. But it was hard to think of a joke or light hearted talk that I could open with when this girl just sat there and stared at my family like she was a starving man before a banquet he could never touch.

Stepping loud enough to draw her attention I came within her eye line. Immediately the look was gone and the blank carefully constructed expression she wore a lot slid onto her face. Corinne stood and tried to give me a smile that just barely curled onto one side – like the other half couldn't even fake the effort.

"H-h-h-hi Zach. I hope I wasn't bothering you or your family since it's kind of late. I just wanted to take a quick breather before I knocked on your door. If-f-f- it's still okay with me to come over? If it's not that's okay, it's late and I'm sure you have to get up in the morning for work. I have to work in the morning too. So I'll see you around."

She hadn't let me get a single word in and had already come to the conclusion I had changed my mind about her coming over to my house.

"Corinne. I was just making sure you were still coming over. We have plenty of dinner left over and I'm sure my mom would love it if we ate it rather than throw it out."

The surprised look on her face made me want to explain to her that her father and brother were total dipshits, and so was the rest of the world.

"You can clean up and then we can play Call of Duty or something. Sound good?"

And that look came into her face – like she was memorizing this moment, this act of kindness towards her because it was so rare – and it made her look so vulnerable I wondered how Embry could have made his daughter into this unsure person.

"Sure……Thanks."

I knew the best thing would be to just act like I did with my other guy friends – but a lot more talkative. At least until she opened up and then she would give Paul a run for his money. In talking a lot, not being irritating.

I re-heated the leftovers while she was in the shower and waited in the dining room for her. And smelled them before the doorbell rang.

Crap.

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A/N Sorry for the long wait. I wrote this story in first person and that's actually what's holding me back from updating. It's hard for me to write in this viewpoint. Well anyways, read and review….or I'll kick you in the shin.