Elijah was surprised when McKenna showed up at his house three hours after he dropped her off at work. His surprise turned to concern when Kol came in behind her. He wasn't smiling. Instead he was looking at her with concern that only a friend could muster. Neither one said anything and that was what ended up getting to him.

A few minutes later and couple of cars pulled up. Kol opened the door to allow Damon. Stefan, Elena and Caroline in the door. Bonnie came in seconds before the door was slammed. McKenna's look of surprise made him realize something had happened.

Kol gently took McKenna by the arm and led her into the living room. He disappeared for a few moments and returned with a glass of whiskey. McKenna looked up at him. He nodded towards it and she took it hesitantly.

"Caroline?" Klaus's voice was extremely excited as he came in. He hugged her tightly. When he stepped back, he looked around the room. "What's going on?"

"Your brother called us here," Caroline replied.

Klaus looked to Elijah. "What's going on, Elijah?"

"I didn't. Our youngest brother did," Elijah replied. They all looked at Kol then. "What's going on, brother?"

Kol looked at McKenna. She nodded and stood. She unzipped her jacket and let Kol slide it off. He tossed the jacket to the couch and looked up at his family. "She was attacked by the hunters."

Elijah crossed over to her and took her face in his hands. She looked up at him long enough to see the anger and fire before looking away. Gently he unwound the bandages around her forearms and looked at them. It was the first time McKenna had looked at the cuts Matt had bandaged. They weren't that bad but she could understand why they were all on edge.

"Who did this?" he asked.

"Matt did. He made the woman pay for the glass on her tab," she replied. She pulled her arms from him and took a step towards Damon. He was huffed up and fuming. "I'm fine, Damon."

He looked at her. "You call this fine? You were attacked in your place of work. This cannot happen. Not anymore."

"They didn't attack me. Kol just exaggerates. She tripped me and I dropped the tub of dirty glasses on the floor. I ended my little joy ride by sliding across the broken glass with my bare arms. It was very funny."

Damon gripped her shoulders hard. "It was her way of telling you she has your number. Why can you see that?"

"Please take your hands of her," Elijah said. Damon looked at him then dropped his hands to his side. "McKenna, he's right. This is too dangerous for you to be involved in. I know we discussed this topic this morning but after today I have to assert my authority."

McKenna stared at him. He didn't see anything in her gaze that he could translate. He couldn't tell if she was angry, hurt or a little of both. Silently, she grabbed her jacket and her keys off the mantle and walked out the door. Her car roared to life and then was gone down the driveway.

"She's going into hiding," Stefan said. "You couldn't tell but you hurt her feelings. She won't surface for days now."

"Great. More girl drama," Damon muttered.

"If it hadn't been for you provoking Elijah, this wouldn't be happening."

Damon looked at his brother. "If Elijah hadn't walked into her life, this wouldn't be happening."

"Enough!" Elena scolded, throwing her hands between the two brothers. "You're both right and you're both wrong. McKenna can get hurt, we all know that. I could get hurt as well. She understands what's going on and pushing her away won't help. Elijah, you need her as much as Stefan needs me and, as much as I hate to say it, Klaus needs Caroline."

Kol stirred by the fireplace as he rubbed his eyes. "I'll go find her."

"No," Elijah said. "I will. This is my mess. I will clean it up."

"She's at the Wickery Bridge. It's where she goes to paint," Elena said.

"We'll figure out a plan while you're gone," Klaus said as his brother walked by him.

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McKenna stared at the water of the Wickery River and imagined she was curled comfortably in her bed alone or in Elijah's with his arms around her. She didn't ask to be the target of the hunters. She didn't ask to be protected. But she was and there was nothing she could do about it.

She watched a doe and her fawn came down to the water to drink. With her sketchpad at the ready, she began to draw what she saw; a mother with her child. It reminded her so much of the way she used to follow her mother. They used to take long walks in the park and sometimes they would even sit down and paint together. On the weekends the entire family went to the mountains where her father played music while she and her mother danced around a campfire.

She stopped in the middle of her sketch- all that was left was the river- and got up. She walked down the bridge and then down the river bank where wildflowers and honeysuckles growing. The doe and the fawn looked at her as she stood parallel to them and picked the flowers.

When she had a decent pile, she sat down on the ground and began to weave the flowers into her hair, just like her mother used to do on camping trips. She was so caught up in her work that she didn't notice the doe and fawn had come closer to her. The fawn sniffed her curiously then crawled in her lap to lie in her pile of flowers. She laughed at it, petting its soft nose in the process. The doe lay behind her and basked in the sunlight.

McKenna finished her task then looked out over the river. Bugs jumped across the water in intricate patterns. Butterflies colored the skies as they flew from flower to flower. It was a peaceful day.

She picked up the fawn and gently placed it by its mother before she kicked off her shoes and rolled up her jean legs up to her knees. She walked cautiously to the river then waded to her calves in cool, green water. Her mind calmed as the water touched her skin. She had always had this affinity for nature. It always came natural to her, which is why she was an artist. She never wished to hurt anything.

"Does the water feel good?"

McKenna looked up at the bridge. "It does. It has a calming affect for me."

"Are you certain you're not a witch?"

"I'm positive."

Elijah looked out over the area. Finally his gaze rested on hers. "Come back to the house."

"Why? So you can tell what to do in front of everyone again? I don't think so."

He was behind her but he didn't step into the water. "I can't have you hurt."

"I didn't do anything to that hunter. She tripped me on purpose."

"I know you were telling the truth. You wouldn't harm a fly." He looked back at doe and fawn lying in the grass. "I know your power."

McKenna frowned at him. "I'm nothing supernatural, Elijah."

"I know but your inner calmness is what draws the animals to you. It's why my brother Klaus hasn't done anything untoward to you. He feels that inner peace and it calms his wolf." She cast him a strange look. "Werewolves have alphas in their packs. The alphas job is leader. Klaus is a leader. I remember he told me one time that there was a whole slew of wolves down the chain of command. The lowest wolf was the omega."

"Alpha and omega. The beginning and the end in Greek."

He nodded at her understanding. "The omega wolf is at the bottom of the pack but always has a special place in the pack. The omega can calm the rest of the pack. You're human omega, one who can get close to wild animals and calm wild humans and vampires. You're a real asset to us all."

"So now I'm an asset?'

"I didn't mean it in the sense as if you're property. Your hidden talent can be used to help us stop the hunters."

McKenna shook her head. "Wait, wait. First you don't want me anywhere near this fight and now you're saying I can help during it?"

Elijah looked pained. "Yes."

"Make up your mind, Elijah. What am I? Am I a hindrance or an asset? I can't be both."

He took her face in his hands and forced her to look at him. "You're neither. The only thing you are the woman I have fallen so hopelessly in love with. You'll have to forgive me for being protective but this is the first time I have a woman I love and I'm not fighting with Klaus over her."

McKenna gripped his hands in hers. "If you love me, don't send me away."

His thumbs caressed her cheeks tenderly. "Come back to the house with me."

She nodded. "Okay."

"I am going to need a ride."

She laughed. "You ran all the way here?"

"Once Elena told me where you were I figured it'd be easier to run instead of drive."

"Did you just assume I'd give you a ride back?"

He bent over and picked up her shoes. "I figured once I pleaded my case and you understood, you'd take me back."

McKenna smiled. "Elijah, come here." He paced forward. She tugged his arm hard enough that he flew into the water. She knew he could have stopped her but she had caught him somewhat off guard. He stood from the water and let it drip off him. "Now we're even. Come on. Get in the car."

She yelped when he came out of the water superhumanly and grabbed her from behind. His wet shirt soaked through hers as he pressed himself against her. He tilted her head to the side so he could kiss her.

"I love these flowers in your hair. It makes you look rustic," he whispered against her ear.

McKenna smiled as she turned around. "My mother used to do this for me when we went camping. It was her way of making the earth come to me.'

"They look good in your hair." He kissed her forehead. "Let's get back to the house so I can tell the others."

"Damon's not going to be happy about it."

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And Damon wasn't.

"She's a what?" he asked. He paced the room as the others sat around the fire with drinks.

Elijah had walked McKenna, flowers in her hair, back into the house. Kol had jumped up from his seat but stopped when he saw the full blown smile on his brother's face.

Then he had explained the entire situation. He told what he had found out at the river, about how he had found McKenna in the river with a doe and fawn laying in the grass behind her. He explained about the drawing he found in the car on their ride back. He explained about how a pack of wolves worked with an alpha and omega. He finally finished up his explanation with his views on McKenna.

"She's an omega," Elijah explained once again.

"What the hell is an omega anyway?"

Klaus sighed. "An omega is the lowest wolf on a werewolf totem pole. He or she has the ability to calm the rest of the pack. In humans, an omega can calm the people he or she is with. People open up to an omega to the point where they're spilling their guts."

"How can you be certain?" Stefan asked.

"You didn't see how calm those deer were today," Elijah said. Damon looked at him. "Klaus, summon your wolf."

"That's very dangerous, brother," Klaus replied.

"I just need to prove my point."

Klaus unwrapped himself from Caroline and stood. He closed his eyes and stood still for a few moments. When he opened his eyes, they were gold. His wolf was to the top. If he pushed hard enough, he could change. A growl rose in his throat as he looked around the room at everyone else. Elena was terrified and Bonnie stood ready to take action should need to.

McKenna looked at Elijah but he didn't look at her. She watched Klaus carefully. She watched the way he moved, the way his muscles rippled as he walked. Finally she stood. Kol moved in behind her but Elijah stopped him.

"Brother, he could kill her," Kol complained. He was scared.

"She needs to do this alone," Elijah said.

They all watched as McKenna walked up to Klaus. The wolf inside the vampire looked at her with blood in his eyes. Slowly McKenna raised her hands to Klaus's face. He snorted and jerked back but she followed through until she was framing his face. They stared at each other for a few moments. Gently, her thumbs made circles around his scruffy cheeks.

"Come back to us. To Caroline. This isn't you," she whispered to his face; to the man.

She continued talking like that, moving her thumbs in the same circular motions. Within seconds, Klaus's normal eyes were back and he was staring at her in complete shock. McKenna stepped back closer to the fire, to Elijah.

"And that is what an omega does. She reaches down to the soul of a human or wolf and pulls it back to the top," Elijah said as he pulled McKenna to him. She wrapped her arms securely around him.

"Is that why Damon's so protective of her?" Elena asked.

"An omega is a precious person, one who must be protected at all times. That would be my guess."

"So what's your big plan?" Kol asked as he picked at the flowers in McKenna's hair. "And why the hell do you have these all through your hair?"

"Stop it, Kol." McKenna swatted his hand away. "My mother used to do this when we went camping."

"My plan is to put McKenna in the way of these hunters. If she can at least get under one's skin, we can take them down from the inside."

"You want her to become a hunter so we can take them down?" Damon asked. Elijah nodded. "You're just going to get her killed."

"We talked about this, Damon. Elijah lets me do this and I promise to stay out of the way when you go in for the kill," McKenna said.

"What happens if you get hurt worse than a few cuts by glass?" She shrugged. "You can't be so nonchalant about potentially losing your life!"

"There's no need to yell, Damon," Stefan scolded. He looked at his new friend. "Kenna, how are you going to get up the strength to attempt to kill one of us? You're barely over five foot."

"I'm five foot five, thank you very much. And I plan to start running and kickboxing again. Alaric said he'd work with me."

"A vampire hunter training a newbie. Sounds very good."

"Now, let's give this time to sink in and for everyone to get ready because starting tomorrow night we begin the beginning of the end for the hunters," Elijah said.

Damon looked at McKenna as he walked out the door. "Are you coming?"

She looked at him then tightened her hands in Elijah's shirt. "No, I'm not coming home tonight."

He nodded, too drained to argue with her.

Elijah freed himself. "I'm going to let out guests out."

McKenna watched him walk into the foyer after the Salvatores, Elena and Bonnie walked out. She looked at Kol. He smiled at her. She smiled back and then headed up the stairs. Once enclosed in Elijah's room, she changed into one of Elijah's shirts and started taking her hair down, strategically unweaving the flowers from her hair.

The door opened when she was pulling the last flower free. Elijah appeared in the mirror and smiled at her. She smiled back and watched as he picked up the brush and began to brush her hair.

"You were very brave facing down my brother's wolf form the way you did," he said as he gently tugged the brush through her hair.

"I wasn't brave. I did what I had to do. When his eyes changed, I felt the animal reach out. It was as if he wanted me to calm him, like he didn't want to be what he was," she said.

"Niklaus has never wanted to be a hybrid. It was a curse he was born with and it was doubled when my mother changed us."

"I guess that's why I wanted to help him. Not only does he have an animal living in him, but he also has the wants and needs of a cannibal."

Elijah pressed his nose to the side of her neck. "You have school tomorrow."

She laughed. "You have the worst timing ever, Elijah."

"It's difficult dating a high school girl."

"You make it sound so pervy."

"It would be if anyone found out my real age."

"They'd speculate even now."

"You're eighteen. Technically it's legal." He tilted her head so he could kiss her and laughed when she turned in his arms. When he broke the kiss, he looked at her. "Time to go to bed."

She yelped when he swung her into his arms and carried her to the bed. He placed her on the free side and crawled in beside her. She waited until he was situated before she snuggled up beside him.