A/N: I did Chapter 6. *PANTING* This took forever, but enjoy. xo-gbrowne

Chapter 6:

Morana

I gasped air through my lungs, everything had happened so quickly like we were on fast forward. I grasped Nick's hand and tried to pull myself up. He looked at me with those golden eyes and gave me a reassuring smile.

Echo! She was going to hate herself for this, I thought quickly peering around Theo to see her standing there catatonic. Carefully I shakily pulled myself to my feet with the help of Nick who stood practically six-foot one.

I walked around Theo and Nick emitted a thick low growl that was possessive and needy. He caught himself and rubbed his neck absently. I couldn't help, but notice how handsome he was. A long tailored black coat was over jeans and a tight black t-shirt that showed a flat stomach. His silky dark hair fell over the collar of his jacket, cut off at his chin.

He looked at Echo who was still standing and Theo who was swearing at the blood that was coming from the three absent scratch marks that traced across his face. Echo stood very still with her curly black hair starched in dirt and her eyes squeezed shut like she wanted to just disappear.

"Echo," I set a hand on her shoulder, "everything is alright. I'm fine and so is Theo. Look the wound is practically healed and he knows that he shouldn't have gotten in the way when you're in tunnel vision mode." I left out the part where I had wanted him to protect Nick out.

She shook her head, the strands of hair flying, "I did a bad thing Mora," Echo's nails dug into her arms where she gripped them at the elbows, "a very bad thing." Words flashed in my mind from the night when she had killed mom and dad. I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to. It was an accident. I was bad. I'm bad.

"No!" I sparked instantly and startled her out of her head so badly that her jade eyes popped open. "You aren't bad, I know you aren't. You didn't mean to and plus, Theo is an idiot." I put up my hand and fake whispered, "He's a real keeper, sis."

She snorted, the problem forgotten for the moment then flashed back, "It doesn't change anything. I should have been able to stop myself, to control myself. Everything I've worked for during the shifting day—trying to restrain myself and not to kill. Nothing worked after all."

"It isn't all for nothing," I said confidently, still feeling weak from the shifts, "It just took a second to call you back. You weren't far in there. That's something isn't it?"

She shook her head, "It's nothing Mora, hate to break it to you."

Sadness filled me, it was suffocating and overwhelming like swimming in salt. Echo looked at me for a second then over at Theo. Something passed in her eyes. It was fear. Affection. Anger. Strangely, though, mixed in there was such dejection and misery that I almost misplaced it. Though I didn't, I knew Echo. I knew she hated the color yellow and when people bothered her. I knew what I saw.

"I can teach you," Nick's voice said rumbling behind me. It was deep and burly—home, my mind thought faintly, he sounded like home. I snapped at myself, I didn't even know him that well. I had to stop this.

I looked at him, his hands shoved in his pockets and his head downcast like he was thinking deeply, "I can teach you how to control it. The beast inside of you, to make it less and less until it's barley a bug under your skin that annoys you from time to time, but there is a price…" The wind blew his hair a bit, ruffling it in the breeze.

Echo snapped to, this is what she had been dreaming of—heck! This is what I've been dreaming of. She stalked over and practically bounced. Notice the word practically, Echo didn't bounce or look excited on the outside.

Nick looked away from me and out at the space behind Echo's head, "Y-you can't let me see her or touch her or," his voice broke off and tore, "be near her. Ever. As long as I live, please, please."

Who? I glanced around expecting him to be pointing at some ominous stranger in the mist wielding some device that had scared him. It took me a second to realize what he was saying. I was she. He didn't want to be around me. I felt like my insides had been scraped out. Hallow, I almost laughed, so this is what Echo felt like. How ironic.

Echo didn't look at me or him, just at the ground. "I wouldn't let that happen anyway," she ran her fingers though her hair, "is there anything else?"

He shook his head and stalked off, the black coat billowing out in the wind. I wanted to scream at him and yell, to cry my guts out on the floor, but it wouldn't bring him back. It wouldn't bring him back to me. His voice sounded sure, as long as I live.

I find some way to just walk. Walk Morrie, just walk. So I do and it's the hardest thing I've ever had to do. I can feel my pulse racing and the erratic beating of my heart under my thin t-shirt, but I move. Some force in me compels me to do so, some invisible force that makes me want to just leave to forget it all. To forget him. It's an evil force I decide, no good force would want me to forget someone I cared for. Everyone has a little good, everyone has a little evil—except suddenly I felt like a bad person. A terrible person and I hated myself for it. I hated him for making me feel this way, but most of all I hated him because I couldn't hate him. I try so hard, but I just can't.

Echo chatters on beside me about Leah and how she is letting us stay in the spare room of her house. How nice, she comments happily skipping next to me. I wanted to scream. I wanted to scream like I did back with the babysitter. I wanted to just cry on the ground and kick and wail, but I couldn't. I knew it wouldn't bring him back. I couldn't cry this one out. No one was going to save me now. Fear crawled into the put of my stomach. It was a pitching feeling like someone was stabbing me again and again.

I looked over at Echo as she explained the pack to me like she knew everything that Theo had told her by heart. Did she not notice I was bleeding out? Could she not see that I was falling to pieces right then and there? A terrible thought weasled it's way into my brain, clouding my thoughts till they were nothing. She doesn't know me like she thinks she does. For a second I imagine how I must look in her eyes. Curly blonde hair and soft green eyes—weak, helpless—something that needs protection from everything.

Except I didn't, I was a wolf for God's sake.

I started to run towards the woods then, breaking away from Echo. I heard her call my name and Theo say I needed to just blow off some steam. Steam, I almost snorted. This was a whole lot more then steam, I was boiling with anger and resentment. I wanted so badly to be happy like Echo was, I wanted to be able to accept this, but every core of my being fought back against it.

Soon enough I was shaking and changing. It flowed over my fluently now like water and where a teenage girl once stood now was a powerful wolf. My grey fur started to bristle at the cold air that was blowing off the pounding ocean. I ran the borders and the tree line that wrapped around the La Push property. My heart beat faster and faster till I thought it would literally fall out of my chest beating on the ground.

Faster, I chanted, the trees swerved around me, tall and large with out-stretched branches.

Faster. My feet ached like they were bloody from all the rocks sticking painfully into my soft paws. My head spun with anxiety, I would run till I couldn't run anymore.

Faster. I was barely breathing, the air was wisping back and forth through my lungs so quickly that it was like I had never taken a breath before. Someone had put blinders on my eyes, I only saw the trees in front of me and the rotting logs, the scratchy bushes that brushed my legs, the fallen logs.

I fell over panting, the wolf had finally broke and I couldn't move. I changed back and slipped on the worn jeans, the black shirt, and the essentials I had tied around my ankle with a bungee cord. Theo had made me do it and now I was grateful for the clothes.

Nick. God damn him. I stood weakly and wandered out so that I was walking along a dark road that kept pace with the huge hulking trees. I balanced on the white line carefully that divided the side of the road from the trees. Time left me as I walked deeper and deeper into the forest.

I heard a car's engine behind me, I glanced back and saw Theo speeding to catch up with me. Startled, I staggered backwards a bit and suddenly there was someone—revision something—over me. A white face that was apparent in the darkness and a sickly sweet smell that seemed to be everywhere.

"Well, well, well," the thing leaned over me menacingly, "what do we have here, but one of Leah's little pack. Such a sweet thing, I might just have to spare her."

I heard Theo behind me, "Emmett!" His footsteps got closer and closer till he was practically pulling the thing away from me with sheer force. I was so grateful I could breathe in the fresh pine air.

The thing Theo had called Emmett smiled and clapped Theo on the back like they were best friends. "Sorry Theo, just scaring the new kid on the block. Leah had Seth tell me that they had a new member," Emmett leaned in towards me like he was examining my face. I growled at him, too close. "Shes a feisty one, Theo. Better keep a sharp eye on her."

Emmett winked a gold eye at me then focused back on Theo, "Take her or leave her, Theo, I don't have all day." Emmett was too prefect, too everything and something was seriously off.

I stared at him, "What the hell are you?"

Theo gapped and grabbed my arm, "Let's go Mora, you've met Emmett and I'll explain everything in the car, alright?" His nails went into my skin a bit even though they were short, but I wasn't relenting.

"What are you?" I asked again, this time looking at his strange eyes that looked all too fake like contacts that people wore on Halloween to color their eyes periwinkle blue.

He shrugged, "A vampire," he flashed his teeth, "like what you see?"

"A blood sucker?" I instantly jerked back behind the invisible border hauling Theo close behind me.

Emmett's eyes flashed and before I knew it, he was lunging at me with a hiss that was all to surreal. My life flashed before my eyes and I fell backwards on my own feet.

I'm going to die, I thought frantically as he seethed looking at Theo and me. Something clicked in my head like someone had turned a lock or put the last puzzle piece in. It was strange, like some sort of pull on my head.

Frantic feelings filled me, but they weren't mine.

Morana? It wasn't my voice. I was hearing voices in my head, great, I thought sarcastically. I was going to be eaten by a vampire and to top it off I was hearing voices in my head.

I heard it again, Morana! Are you there? I was vaguely aware of Theo yanking me back and telling Emmett to watch it. He dragged me to the car and buckled me in.

He shook my shoulder, "Are you alright Mora?" I nodded then drew my knees around me and tucked my head on top of them. I could still see his eyes as he lunged for me. Flat pounded gold swirled with blood-red metal, sickly sweet smells that seemed to suffocate you entirely.

I then shook my head, "Theo," he looked at me, "I heard a voice in my head when the vampire attacked me. It was so strange, like having a walkie-talkie in my brain. Am I going crazy?"

"No! No, you aren't but there is someone I want you to talk to before we head back to Leah's house," he chattered. "And, Mora?"

I nodded him to continue, but he waited until I responded, "Yeah Theo?"

"If I catch you provoking the vampires and calling them names other than their real names I will tell Leah. You should know that Leah is a sure force that is nothing to be reckoned with," Theo explained while tapping his fingers on the wheel nervously.

I shrugged and crossed my arms, "What is this, the wild west? A sheer force to be reckoned with? You make it sound like she has loaded pistols in the back of her car and a friend named Jimmy who is loyal to her till his bullet riddled death."

Theo smiled, but it was more for my sake than his. "Yeah, well, do what you want, but she isn't one to have a trial then an execution. It's more execution then trial then the hospital. Plus, it all depends on how fast you can run."

"I'm fast," I said smugly as Theo pulled the car into some dinner parking lot. It had no windows and was painted a dead brown that made it look like s cake after you stabbed it. A rusty-red sign hung above it declaring it Bernie's Dinner.

He reached across me and popped open the door, "I've seen you run, Mora, she's a lot faster than you, trust me. I've had her on my hide more than once and once she has you, you're as good as dead."

"I won't point out how inappropriate that sounds, just tell me who your friend is who I need to talk to," I slid out and landed barefoot on the hard cement. It was cold and slippery so I gripped the ice with my feet.

Theo grabbed a pair of over-size running shoes from a bag that was sitting in the passenger seat. "Here, you don't seem to get as hot as me and Leah do. It's like you have a smudge of fever, but that's it. We're supposed to have an abnormal body heat, but it seems you got an abnormality," he handed over socks. "My friend works the counter."

"You'll wait here?" I asked while lacing up the shoes. I really didn't like the idea of anyone else leaving me tonight. He nodded and gestured towards the black tinted doors that just looked like they attracted rapists and molesters.

I took a breath and let it out through my nose slowly. The door swung open and the dinner lights flickered. It was a cozy restaurant with red leather booths tucked around the border and a long sweeping counter that supported a variety of baked goods. Girls who waited tables sat on the counter managed to file their nails and fix their uniforms at the same time.

The one I assumed was the hostess smiled at me and took out a plastic menu, "Hello, my name is Kendra and I'll be seating you today. Would you like a booth or a seat at the counter?"

"At the counter please," my thoughts flashed back to Theo huddling in the car, "and can I get a cheese burger to go? With fries and a Diet Coke, if you have it."

She nodded and tightened her ponytail, "Yeah sure, just pick a seat where ever." I uneasily climbed up into a chair the same time that a woman with hazel eyes wiped down the space in front of me.

She smiled and looked at me in the eyes. I gasped with my hand on my mouth, she looked exactly like Nick. The same hair, but lighter fell around her face and down her back in wavy curls.

She looked at me then at her mustard stained uniform, "What, what? Do I have something on my face? In my hair? Is there a spider somewhere? Does it look deadly?"

"No," I sighed and played with the carousal of straws in front of me, "its just. Ah, well, I'll spit it out. Are you, by chance, related to Nick…" Heart, the last name flashed in my mind like I already knew it. I didn't though. I rubbed my temple, I was going insane and Theo just wanted someone who wasn't him to tell me.

She looked unsettled for a moment then circled around the counter and hopped up on a stool that matched mine. I couldn't tell how old she was, maybe twenty some, but her petite facial features made her seem so much younger.

"Nick Heart? Is that the name you were thinking of?" I nodded and she continued, "Yes, I am related to him. He's my little brother—in fact, I'm nine years older than him."

I stared at her, "Do you know what happened to him? How he," I lowered my voice, "changed." I wasn't going to break the news to her that he brother was a werewolf who went all furry and blood thirsty every month.

She smiled sadly then took my hand in hers, "I know all about it, he told me himself. Said he had to find more about it, that he was afraid of what he could do and what he did do. Picked up and left town for two years then came back with a lot of stories and folklore about the change. He visits me from time to time, but he really isn't there," she stopped and scooted her thumb under her eye. "My name is Thorn, by the way, Thorn Heart. My parents must have been insane when they named me."

I laughed a bit then added, "My name is Morana and my sister is Echo, so maybe they were friends?"

"Probably where, those crazy hippies, but not the point. You wanted to see me about something I'm assuming. Nick probably. That boy, what did he do this time?" Thorn asked quietly like she was fearing the answer.

I pushed my hair out of my face, but it refused to move due to mud smeared on my cheek. God, I probably looked like a nightmare when I walked in. "No, Nick is fine, I just wanted to talk to you and see if you understood something. My friend heard what I said and then he drove me here to talk to you."

Thorn dunked a paper napkin into the glass of water and started to wipe the grime off my cheek, "Okay, shoot. Whatever it is, I'll do my best to help you understand it."

I cleared my throat then recapped Thorn on everything, "My sister was changed into a werewolf around seven months ago. We picked up and traveled here, looking for more information on the werewolf. Things that could help her control it. We heard something about them being here and came here. I was at the bonfire with the other kids from the reservation when I seemed to 'imprint' on someone. Echo freaked, I changed, and everything went to hell. He was the one who had changed her and now I was a shifter who was constantly changing. I got locked in a shed and long story short, the guy was Nick and I'm hearing voices."

"Oh my god! That is so great! I can't believe this, I just can't!" Thorn explained while jumping up and bouncing on the balls of her feet.

I gave her a look, "My life went to hell and you tell me it's great? That wasn't really the answer that I was expecting. I was hoping for maybe a little advice or some information, but that's great isn't cutting it."

"Oh, yes, while once I explain, everything will make so much more sense," she hopped back on the stool and grabbed me by my shoulders, "listen first and then ask questions later. No questions, at all. Got it?"

Carefully I consented, "Please don't make me regret this Thorn."

She laughed then went serious again, "The great gods that created the shifters didn't forget about the werewolves. They didn't hate the werewolves or make them defects of the shifter race. The werewolves are a race of their own. Fast, strong, but dark…like their soul is brimming with guilt. Truth is that they fit in more with the human race then shifters do. Think about it, they change once a month compared to a couple of times every day-"

"But, when they change they kill people," I interjected.

"I said no questions till the end," Thorn reprimand and suddenly she looked years older. "As I was saying they fit in. The great gods then decided to find a way to bring light to their darkness and happiness to their misery. They created a perfect half of every werewolf's soul and placed them on earth. The mate brought order to chaos and took away the darkness. In return, the mate was protected and loved by the werewolf. They were all that the werewolf saw and to strengthen the link, the greats made a mind link."

I froze, "You're saying that Nick and I…we…"

"I'm saying that you'are his mate and that he needs you to survive the same way that you need him," Thorn explained patiently, the look of excitement gleaming in her eyes.

I looked at my hands, "Then we aren't mates because he refuses to look at me, to talk to me, to love me."

She scooted closer and wrapped an arm around my shoulders, "That isn't it, he doesn't think he deserves you. He is so wrapped up in the people he has harmed that he doesn't see that he could never, ever hurt you—the greats made it that way. He loves you, I know he does, but he is just punishing himself."

I looked up into her expressive eyes, "Does he know about mates? About everything you just told me?"

"Yes, he does, but I don't think he sees it. He will though, it'll hit him straight on the head like a load of bricks. I know my brother, trust me," she stood me up straight and grabbed a to-go plastic container off the counter and handed it to me. "One cheese burger?"

I took the bag and hugged her tightly, "Thank you so much Thorn, it means so much to me. You have no idea what I've been through."

"I have a clue," she responded and for a second I saw the weary look that I wore in my eyes everyday. "Stay safe, its dark outside. When he does see, you will love him?"

I smiled, "I already do and Thorn?" She looked up, "I'll visit you."

"I would love that, now go, before your food is cold," she pushed me towards the doors lightly. I slid across the ice over to where Theo was sleeping in the driver's seat, eyes closed with drool.

I climbed in and poked him in the ribs, "This is a mugging," I tried to deepen my voice, "give me all you got."

His eyes flew open and he frowned, "Not funny Mora," his eyes flicked over at the food hungrily. "Is that for me?" Without waiting for an answer he took the bag, bit into the sandwich, and drove the car from the lot.

We didn't talk, but it was a comfortable silence littered with 80's disco songs that filtered through the dented radio. The trees were silhouettes against the navy blue sky and the wind pressed through the trees like phantoms.

Theo hummed, I closed my eyes tightly willing sleep or something of the sort, but none came. I stretched and rubbed my forehead as he rounded the corner to get to Leah's house.

Four houses away.

Three.

Two.

One.

I got out of the car with Theo and we both shouldered easily through the icy wind till we got inside the warm kitchen. The sight I saw was something I will never forget, ever.

Echo stood in the kitchen drinking tea from a glass mug casually leaning against the stove top. I could smell him it was like finding my heartbeat in my chest. It was the smell of fresh air, sunshine, and pine needles.

She came over and the jacket slipped a bit, it took me a second to register all the things that were moving through my mind. That was Nick's black jacket wrapped around her thin shoulders. She was wearing my jeans and an exposed -exposed- blue bra. She smelled like pine needles. I edged away from her uneasily.

Theo caught my elbows from behind, "Are you alright?" Which meant: Are you going to change?

Echo edged towards me then threw her arms around my neck, concern plastered all over her face. "I was so worried about you, never do that again. You could have been killed!" He was all around me, in her hair, on the damn jacket.

"Theo," I warned. My hands were clenching in the jean material at my sides and I couldn't stop the shaking as her arms tightened around me.

He moved faster than I thought he could, pushing Echo three feet across the room and moving me away. I felt like I was going to explode into a million pieces all over the floor.

"What's happening to her? Let me see my sister," she tried to get closer, but I backed away as the shaking became violent. I'm going to explode. Emotions filled me again; panic, worry, and love. Except they weren't my feelings and it was driving me insane.

Theo pushed me back and grabbed Echo as she tried to get to me. My voice was breaking, but I forced it to work.

"I trusted you. How could you, god dammit! I gave up everything for you! Everything. I'm nothing, you took all I had left. You stole my humanity. Can't you see I'm bloody, I'm bleeding! I'm dead! I'm hollow, just like were." It ripped across my skin, but this time wasn't like water—it was fire and pain. Sweet pain that stopped the shudders.

She screamed and screamed and screamed. Theo held her around the waist tightly like she was going to vanish. I hurt, I thought as I backed through the door, I hurt, but no one will hold me.

"Morrie!" She yelled, I could imagine the tears that slid down her face. Wasted tears and broken hearts, that was all that was left.