For as long as Malia can remember, finding her soulmate has never been a priority in her life.

She had been born with her mark, the words you should choose your friends wisely, gorgeous resting on her left shoulder blade. She had been too young to care about meeting the person she was supposed to grow old with then, and then the tragic day came when her body went through a strange transformation that resulted in pure rage and the deaths of both her mother and little sister. After that the thought of a soulmate didn't even register in her mind.

When the haze cleared after the wreck, Malia realized that she was looking out at the world from an entirely different perspective. She was a lot shorter than she remembered, and her surroundings where in black and white. She crawled from the wreckage and stumbled a lot as she walked, and when she looked at her feet to wonder why she found that she had paws- paws!

All she had wanted then after seeing that was her dad, but when she thought about her dad she thought about her mom and what had just happened. So in her fear of what would happen to her should anyone learn of the night's events, Malia ran and never looked back.

Over the years, Malia realized that she was a coyote- of all things- and mainly worried about finding shelter and food to sustain her new body. She lived on her own and regularly visited the crash site where her mother and sister died since the authorities couldn't move it out of the dried up ravine, and never let herself forget what she'd done. But then Scott McCall came- an alpha werewolf- and all it took was a bone-chilling roar to make her transform back into a human. They then reintroduced her to her dad who immediately had her admitted to a mental institution since she'd been missing for years and had many anger issues, but in reality all she had really wanted was to transform back into a coyote because she couldn't adapt to the real world like everyone expected her to.

So the McCall pack took Malia in- helping her learn control of her powers while readjusting and catching up on all that she had missed- and it was during all the life threatening shenanigans she found herself in that Malia accidentally found herself attached to Stiles Stilinski. But Stiles already had his soulmate- he explaining to Malia that he wasn't for her and that she'd find her own soulmate soon enough- and even though he was kind about it, Malia couldn't help but feel nothing but sheer embarrassment. She had easily slipped back into her old ways of anger and though the pack tried to help her out, she wanted nothing to do with them. So putting on the most spectacular mental breakdown she could muster up, Malia put on a show for her father and hiccuped through an explanation that she needed to get away- that she needed a fresh start where she wasn't the girl that had been missing for years.

Needless to say, weeks later found Malia and her father settling down in a small two bedroom home over in Virginia. She had been classified as a Junior in high school, but after Malia calmed some and actually put her mind to the school work, the school realized how far she was actually behind. It took her an extra year to finish high school, but she wouldn't have had it any other way especially since the school counselors helped her out a lot and got her into Whitmore college.

Malia had heard tales of college and how it was supposed to be the best time of her life, she hoping that that was true. But the first day of college had her rolling her eyes and counting to ten to calm herself when she found out they had put her in the wrong dorm. So instead of having one other roommate, she had two.

Caroline Forbes and Elena Gilbert were one sassy and down-to-earth duo.

Elena had been shocked and rather easy-going about the mix up, but it was Caroline who was overly appalled that someone who wasn't supposed to be there was actually there, and it was Caroline who had paced the room while making plans of talking to the RA to fix their situation asap. Malia, however, had just lowered herself onto the edge of the third bed- a box of her personal items in her arms, a backpack of clothing on her back, as well as a duffel bag hanging off her shoulder full of more clothes- and wondered why the arrangement was such a big deal.

It wasn't like the room was small- it was rather large, in fact- even with three beds occupying it and a fireplace of all things. Though when the blonde kept up her rant of how the third bed was meant for someone named Bonnie, Malia understood her annoyance. But when the brunette mentioned that Bonnie was dead, Malia had perked back up and then frowned in confusion when the blonde kept going on that Bonnie would be back from the Other Side and when she was, she was going to need her bed.

Elena had clammed up, wide brown eyes darting to Malia in shock before Caroline realized her mistake. Sparkling blue eyes then widened as well, Caroline shifting from foot to foot as she and Elena had a silent conversation with their eyes and subtle shakes of the head.

Malia had been about to just write off their unusual behavior, but then in the blink of an eye Caroline was towering over her. Startled, Malia's emotions skyrocketed and just as Caroline started to demand she calm down, she felt her teeth elongate within her mouth and eyes glow an intimidating blue.

Caroline froze mid-word and with a snarl from Malia, clawed hands let go of her box of possessions and she shoved Caroline backwards. With the force of the shove, Caroline went flying, but Elena was a quick blur of colors before catching her friend from hitting the wall. Malia shot to her feet, clawed hands held out at her sides ready for a fight as glowing eyes narrowed threateningly at the two females across the room. She saw as black veins slithered to the surface beneath their eyes, the whites of said eyes darkening into a blood red, but no one made a move to attack.

"What are you?" Elena had asked.

"What are you?" Malia fired back.

Elena and Caroline shared a look, both shrugging before looking back at Malia. "Vampires."

There's a beat of silence as Malia's fingers flex, her head tilting to the side in confusion. "So they exist. Huh. We didn't think they did."

"We?" Elena nervously shifts from foot to foot. "There are more of you?"

It takes Malia a moment to snap out of her thoughts before shaking her head. "As far as I know, there's only one like me."

"And what exactly are you?" Caroline asks timidly.

"Were-"

"Werewolf?!"

"Coyote." She then frowns at Caroline, frowning before looking to Elena. "Is she always so.. all over the place?"

"Eh, you get used to it."

Both girls forget for a moment about the tense atmosphere, both grinning, and it's Caroline's throat clearing that makes them remember they're having differences at the moment. "So who's the we if you're the only.. coyote?"

Malia's nose crinkles, her claws surprisingly fading away back to her normal nails. "I was part of a pack," she admits. "Alpha werewolf, beta werewolves, a fox, a banshee and a few humans. Things.. things didn't exactly work out with them, so I got my dad to agree to relocating. I know there are other beings out there, I just didn't expect to find them so soon," she then pointedly looks both Caroline and Elena up and down.

"So- so you don't feel like killing us?" Caroline wonders. "As far as we're concerned, werewolves and other beings don't like vampires."

"I'm not a werewolf," Malia shrugs, "and the wolves I do know, they're kind and protecting. But I'm here for the college experience, not the supernatural drama."

Caroline and Elena's vampires features quickly faded then, both girls grinning nervously. "We want the same thing," Caroline admits. And after sparing the third bed in the room a glance, she finally sighs in defeat. "I guess you can have the third bed then. It'd be nice to meet someone new who already knows about the supernatural secret."

"And Bonnie?"

"Bonnie would understand," Elena tells her, picking up Caroline's slack when she noticed her friend frown.

The tension completely drains from the room then, Malia breathing in relief as she gives them an awkward thanks.

Surprisingly, the two vampires and werecoyote become quite the close-knit group. Malia found out about witches and their hate for all things undead, and Caroline and Elena found out all about the new breed of werewolves they hadn't known existed, kitsunes, banshees, oni, were-jaguars and beserkers.

The girls are quite popular with the boys on campus- even some girls batted their eyelashes their way to which Malia always blushed at- and gladly accepted adding to the stereotype of wild and crazy college kids. Though Elena wasn't too crazy because her soulmate Damon was quite possessive when he wanted to be. And while Elena was on the more conservative side, Caroline was wild and free even while having found her other half. Her soulmate Klaus was lenient enough, but just so. It was enough on his part that he let her go to college so far away from him, and he didn't want her leading boys on, but Caroline wanted the full experience and frequently threatened with holding out on sex that he usually kept his mouth shut.

And even though these girls already had their soulmates while Malia didn't- they didn't make her feel left out when they visited like the McCall pack frequently did. Hell, Damon and Klaus were rather intrigued by her, and Klaus was frequently trying to get Malia to live down in New Orleans after she experienced all she wanted in college.

College had surprisingly went well for the first few months, but as usual the supernatural drama found them. While Elena and Caroline were worried about some St. Augustine group that were kidnapping and torturing vampires (Elena's soulmate included), Malia had to deal with the fact that her dad wasn't her biological dad. No, her dad was actually Peter Hale- Derek's uncle- and he was quite the crazy pants when he found her on campus. But after seeing just how truly twisted he was and not wanting to be directed down that particular path, Malia reached out to Klaus for a favor since he was the oldest and most powerful person she knew.

Needless to say, Peter Hale wouldn't be bothering his daughter as long as he liked his head attached to his body and his heart in his chest cavity.

"All I'm saying is, is that if he keeps up with the smarmy attitude, Stefan will eventually kill him." Caroline giggles as she trips over a fallen branch, Malia laughing as she catches her friend by the arm to right her. In a way, Malia wished she was a vampire just so she could get drunk like her stumbling friend. "And the charming smirks and dimples," the blonde continues on as she hadn't nearly face-planted. "If Klaus ever hears Enzo calling me all the pet names he does, Klaus will kill him on spot."

"I don't know," Malia grins, stomping through the woods. So much for a short-cut back to campus. "According to Elena, Enzo is completely like Klaus except for the dark hair and dark eyes. I even heard about the accent. They might get along."

"They'll kill each other!"

"Possibly, but you can't deny it wouldn't be a wonderful sight to see. Can we get them shirtless in a pool of baby oil and charge for other people like us to watch?"

Caroline snorts so suddenly that she ends up hurting the inside of her nose, Malia stopping to laugh at her friend's misfortune. "How-" Caroline laughs now, "how do you even know you'd want to see that? You've never met Enzo."

"No, but I have met Klaus," Malia smirks, "and let's just say you are one very lucky woman."

Caroline preens at Malia's praise for her soulmate- Malia being one of the very few who hadn't condemned Klaus for his past actions to which the blonde was very grateful for. They continue on with their trek through the woods, laughing as they recall the night's events of the latest party that Damon had showed up to only to whisk Elena away just as they were really starting to have fun by dancing on the makeshift bar.

There's nothing elegant or quiet about their footfalls, so Malia's quite surprised when Caroline freezes, she suddenly perking up with as much seriousness as she could muster. "Care?" Malia murmurs.

"Shh." Caroline's head whips from the left to right, eyes darting back and forth though she's not really focused on seeing, but rather.. hearing. "There's someone out there. It sounds.. it sounds like they're fighting."

"Okay," Malia drawls. "People fight, Caroline. Why the sudden interest now?"

"Because," she frowns, "it sounds.. it sounds like.." she trails off again, eyes going wide seconds later. "Stefan."

"Stefan?"

Caroline doesn't answer and instead she's gone within the blink of an eye. Malia startles at her friend's sudden disappearance, especially since she didn't see which way her friend had left and groans aloud before shouting out, "Caroline!"

There's no response from her friend and Malia's left to stomp her boot-clad foot in annoyance. She takes a moment to quickly center herself, her hands coming up to the side of her face to brush her hair behind her ears. Since vampire hearing is more keen than a coyote's, she needs another moment to zero in on the direction of the supposed scuffle. And luckily for her- unluckily for one of the two in the scuffle- a gunshot rings out loud and clear, and Malia immediately sets off in a run.

When Malia stumbles upon the scene moments later, there's a dark haired man with a wooden stake embedded in the right side of his abdomen and Caroline aggressively pushing Stefan away from the injured man- Stefan who's holding some type of shotgun with numerous wooden stakes being held in a cartridge.

Seeing as Caroline is handling Stefan decently on her own, Malia stands off the side rather boredly and crosses her arms over her chest in an attempt to warm up since the late night chill just only started to creep in. Her gaze frequently darts to the still groaning man as he attempts to remove the stake from his abdomen, she shifting from foot to foot and ready to lunge between the men and Caroline if need be. But surprisingly, when the stake is removed along with a disgusting squelch of blood and flesh, the dark haired man smirks as he straightens up to his full height and realizes that Malia is staring.

With a roll of her eyes and a scoff, Malia turns her attention back to Caroline. "Is Stefan done here? We have class at eight in the morning and I'm pretty sure it's nearing three. I'd like to get some sleep before we're subjected to Mr. Lochlear's torture of a lecture."

From the look on her friend's face, Malia knows that Caroline isn't too happy right about now. But instead of turning her annoyance on Malia, Caroline's glowering at Stefan. "I don't know, are we?" she asks him. "Enough is enough, Stefan. Leave Enzo alone and go home."

Stefan looks as if he's just been slapped in the face and it's the amused snort from Enzo that draws everyone's attention though his gaze is directly on Malia. "You should choose your friends wisely, Gorgeous. Stefan's a psychopath."

Malia's eyes widen at her words finally being said and she takes a step back, but it's Caroline who gasps in shock seeing as the blonde has seen the coyote's words a countless number of times when she walked around in only a towel after her shower. One second it's complete silence and the next, Caroline erupts into a fit of laughter that pulls Malia out of her thoughts to glare at her drunken friend. But before she can tell Caroline to shut up, her attention is back on her supposed soulmate.

"Well isn't that the pot calling the kettle black."

Enzo's smirk vanishes and it's Malia's turn to look rather smug, Caroline still giggling as she introduces the two people. "Malia, meet Enzo. Enzo, this is our friend Malia. Be nice."

With three out of the four people standing around, the atmosphere has become less tense and more.. unbelievable, but to Stefan he's still rather pissed. So seeing his opening, Stefan immediately loads another stake and fires- this stake hitting Enzo on the left side of chest and above his heart.

Enzo staggers back with a grunt of pain, Malia's eyes flying wide open in shock and then narrowing in anger. She doesn't even feel as her claws or teeth elongate, but she knows she paints quite the picture as she turns towards Stefan with glowing blue eyes and lets out a tremendous roar in defense of her soulmate. Stefan is quite shocked at the display Malia's putting on, even more so when she lunges at him only to be caught by the shoulders by Caroline.

"Stefan, you idiot, they're soulmates!" the blonde shrieks as she struggles to contain her friend.

Malia snarls, but quits fighting Caroline's hold as she glares at her other friend. "Hurt him again and I will gladly claw your heart out."

"You don't know him like we do," Stefan tries to make her see reason. "He's done horrible things, Malia. You deserve better than that."

"We all have our demons, Ripper. You should do well to remember that before passing judgement."

By now Enzo has removed the stake, but instead of being angry, he's rather intrigued by the woman that's his. So as he takes a few steps to the side so he can see the beautiful picture his soulmate paints as she defends his honor, he can't help but puff up with pride.

"He's killing people. Torturing them! He doesn't deserve to live."

Caroline cringes as Stefan airs out Enzo's bad choices, she knowing that the words that are about to leave her mouth will make Stefan look at her in disappointment. "Well," she squeaks, "to be totally fair, he's only killing those associated with St. Augustine." Malia frowns at that revelation, her gaze darting to Caroline as the blue of her eyes fade along with her sharp teeth and claws. "He was held captive and experimented on, just as Damon was, so those scientists or whatever you wanna call them kind of deserve a horrible death."

"What is wrong with you?" Stefan suddenly deflates though his anger is clear as day. "This is just like Klaus all over again."

"Soulmates," Caroline sing-songs. "When you find yours, you'll understand."

Stefan clenches his jaw to keep from saying something he'll regret later, Enzo then sauntering up to Malia's side as he throws an arm across her shoulders to pull her into his side. "Beautiful and feisty. I think this is start of a beautiful relationship."

Malia glowers, jabbing her elbow into his side. "This is why Caroline and Elena say everyone wants to kill you. Stop rubbing the fact that no one can touch you now in Stefan's face or I will gladly claw you, too."

Waggling his eyebrows, Enzo smirks. "Kinky."

In the moment of silence that follows, Caroline's the first to break it with a snort of amusement followed by a groan of disgust from Stefan. Malia, however, huffs as she rolls her eyes, but her arm is slowly snaking around the back of Enzo's waist. Caroline starts