From then on Malia and Stiles, we near inseparable. They kept each other close to their hearts like a secret. Malia was living at Stiles house full time as an unspoken agreement between Sherriff Stilinski and her father. Of course, the Sherriff was unaware Malia spent every night in Stiles' room. It was mostly innocent. They would make out and then cuddle until they fell asleep.

The only time they weren't together was when Malia went on her runs. She liked to run. She was much slower when she was a human. She got tired easily and her lungs ached after the first mile, but she kept pushing herself a bit harder every time. She'd once tried to get Stiles to run with her. He reminded her of a wounded rabbit trying to hop/run. It was difficult for her to watch. If he were in the wild, he would be killed.

Maybe not if she was with him. If they were both coyotes, she would protect him. A strange image came into her head of Stiles and her as coyotes, frolicking through the woods together. If they were animals, all of these complicated social norms she was learning wouldn't stand in their way. They would just have images and simple feelings controlling them. Human love was complicated. She'd learned this from all the movies she and Lydia watched while Lydia was teaching her how to be a girl. She longed for the simple feelings of being a coyote again.

But she knew Stiles belonged here in Beacon Hills as a human. But she couldn't shake the feeling that she would always belong to the wild. She felt it calling to her, a strange whisper in the wind that only she could hear.

I am Malia. I am human. I belong here with Stiles.

One day she was running along the road when she heard the animals calling to her. She didn't understand their sounds as a human, but she felt irrevocably tied to their voices. Without consciously realizing it, she followed the sounds to a small brick building.

The door dinged as she walked in. There was no one in the front lobby so she followed the sounds further into the building. She met a tall dark skinned man in a small room with a metal table in the middle. On the table was a cat. She bared her teeth instinctively.

"Sorry ma'am, I'm going to need you to go back up to the front. Only employees are allowed back here. I'll be there in a moment," he said.

"What are you doing to these animals?" she asked scared.

"I'm a veterinarian. I'm taking care of them," he stated.

"Hey Deaton we're out of-" Scott stopped when he saw Malia. He turned his attention to her. "Hey Malia. What are you doing here?"

"I don't know. I heard the animals."

Deaton raised an eyebrow. "You're Malia? I've heard a lot about you. It's nice to finally meet you." He stuck his hand out to Malia. Malia just stared at his hand. Stiles trained her for this, but she couldn't remember. Was she supposed to shake his hand or…? "Oh," Deaton said, putting his hand down. He was aware of her struggle and didn't want to cause her embarrassment because she didn't know how to shake a hand.

"Scott, why don't you finish up with the stock? Just write down the things I need to buy on your clipboard."

"Sure." He gave a nod to Malia and disappeared again.

"Scott's told me a lot about you," Deaton explained. "How are you adjusting?"

"It's been… difficult," she said, leaning on the table and watching the cat. It smelled like fear. "Everybody's been helping though. Stiles especially." The corners of her mouth couldn't help but turn up when she said his name.

"Stiles, yes. Eager to please, isn't he?"

"What are you doing to that cat?" she asked. "It's scared."

"I'm giving her the shots she needs. You can pet her if you want. It might help."

Slowly she brought her hand to the cat. She hovered over the cat, feeling its warmth radiate to her hand. She touched its ears tentatively and then rubbed its head. The cat started to make a growling sound. Well, it sounded happier than a growl.

"She's purring. That means she likes you." Malia smiled slightly, happy the cat enjoyed being petted.

"Why she smell like she's dying?"

"Sadly she is. She has an illness called feline leukemia. It's fatal, but the owners refused to put her down. All I can do is give her the medicine to make her last days a bit more comfortable."

Malia was overcome by a feeling of sadness. Her eyes got watery. She didn't know why. As a coyote, she ate stray cats and didn't feel bad about it. But for some reason she felt a unique bond with the cat. It was a feeling she couldn't explain. She felt a sense of responsibility to the animal.

"You can take away some of her pain if you want."

"How do I do that?" she asked, running her fingers through the cat's fur.

"Just focus. All you have to do it want it." Malia closed her eyes, focusing on the cat's slow heartbeat. She felt the cat's blood running through her veins and with that, the pain came. Her whole body started to ache. Her stomach felt like it was collapse in on itself. But she didn't care.

The cat became to lighten. Her scent was less overpowering. Malia let go of the cat, and her black veins disappeared as her coyote blood absorbed the last of the pain. A tear rolled down her cheek but she quickly wiped it away.

"It won't cure her, but it certainly helped."

"Why won't they put her down? Take her out of her misery?"

"Some people put their needs in front of their animals. They can't let them go, even when it's the best option. That's where the job of a vet comes in. To maintain the balance between the animal and the human world."

"Stiles," Malia asked that night when they were in bed. "What do you want to be when you grow up?"

"I don't really know," he said honestly. "I've been so busy with this supernatural stuff that I haven't had time to think about real life." It was quiet for a second as they were both thinking. "I feel sort of responsible to protect both the humans and the supernatural. I've seen both sides, and… I don't know. I feel like someone needs to be there to…"

"Maintain balance," Malia finished for him.

"Exactly."

A/N

Hey guys! Thanks for reading my story, favoriting, and leaving reviews. You keep me going! Sorry for not updating. I've been so busy with college stuff. I hope you enjoyed this chapter. It didn't have a lot of Stalia in it, but they can't always been together…. Malia has to learn to be her own human. See you soon!