Disclaimer: I don't own anything recognizable from the Twilight universe.

Autumn Hunt

I was watching the smooth waves on Lake Crescent while I waited for the school kids to arrive. I was a park ranger in Olympic National Park and today it was my task to first make a small hiking tour with these kids and go canoeing on the lake afterwards. They were from La Push, which was good, because for once I wouldn't have to fight for respect. In La Push, everyone knew that I was older than I looked like. Although we still kept our biggest secret, our tribe trusted and respected us. They had stopped asking why we didn't age.

I looked back at the last 14 years and sighed. 14 years of phasing. 14 years of vampire hunt. 14 years of lying to a million people, especially Mom. We had a complicated relationship. She yelled at me a lot and complained that she, being my mother, deserved to know the secret. Nevertheless she hated it when I didn't visit her at all. When I stayed away for too long she sometimes even apologized and begged me for coming around. I didn't always stay away on purpose. I simply had a lot to do. I had my job to do and I had a pack to lead. Yes, you haven't misread: I, Embry Call, have become the Alpha, well, the deputy Alpha, to be correct.

One and a half years after the encounter with the Volturi the Cullens left Forks. They had to move on as people started to notice that they didn't age and that Nessie on the other hand aged faster than humanly possible. Jacob went with them of course and for a short time the two packs were reunited under Sam's leadership. But then Sam and Jared both decided to stop phasing in order to age together with Emily and Kim. Paul and Leah wanted to stop phasing, too, but they didn't have the phasing under control yet. With Sam and Jared, his Beta, gone we needed a new Alpha. Nobody of us had the Alpha in his blood like Jacob or in his build and in his personality like Sam. Jacob rejoined the pack to become the official Alpha, but he stayed with the Cullens so we only had the mental connection and phone calls to link with him. We needed someone who would decide if quick decisions had to be made. Thus I became the elected deputy Alpha. Why they voted for me? I have no idea! I mean, I used to be the third-in-command in Jake's pack, but Leah was second and Paul was Sam's third. Anyway, those two managed to stop phasing two years later.

Paul and Rachel then moved to Seattle. They have a nine-year-old son and a five-year-old daughter. They visit for a weekend every six weeks. Leah lost the last remains of her bitterness when her menstruation restarted together with her aging. She married a Makah fisherman. They have eight-year-old twin daughters, one of which was imprinted on by Collin, and a one-year-old son. Together with Seth Leah runs a restaurant in La Push. When the Cullens left, they presented the siblings with it for their friendship and loyalty, well, they presented it mostly to Seth I think. It's going quite well and it has become the pack's meeting point. Seth is my Beta. Like me he hasn't imprinted yet. But that didn't mean that we didn't have girlfriends now and then. The problem was that they always started to ask the question. A relationship only worked if there were no secrets, that's what all of them said. Sometimes Seth and I wondered if they only dated us because they wanted to know the secret and not because they liked us. Every girl wants to stay young, so they wanted to know our fountain of youth.

Sam and Emily have a son, Adrian, and a daughter, Emma. Adrian is ten and he's supposed to become the next Alpha. Emma is three years younger. Jared and Kim also have two children, two sons, aged four and six.

Brady imprinted around the time when Leah stopped phasing. Brianna was six years old at that time. One year ago they started dating. Only a few weeks after their first date Brianna was killed by a vampire. We came a second too late to rescue her. Brady ripped the vampire into a million pieces – hell, that was some tough work to collect them all! We haven't seen him since that night. He left into the woods like Jake did when he tried to get over Bella. The mental connection remained, but he doesn't like us to ask questions about his constitution. As far as we know, he hasn't phased back once since that fateful night. His thoughts give away that he's adjusting more and more to the behavior of an animal. He is an emotional wreck, a complete mess and I fear he's losing the last bit of humanity that is left inside of him.

Collin is sad about the departure of his best friend of course, but his own imprint, little Nelly, keeps him busy and makes him happy again. Quil stopped phasing some months before Brianna died and is currently dating seventeen-year-old Claire who has become quite a pretty girl.

Leah lives in a flat that's located above the restaurant. Since Sue moved in with Charlie after their marriage six years ago, Seth invited Quil and me to live with him in the Clearwater house.

Now what became of the seven puppies that joined the pack just before the encounter with the Volturi? They aren't puppies anymore, that's for sure. Leonard and Cory both imprinted and stopped phasing a few years ago to grow old with them. Quil and Cory are attending High School again to make people think that they actually are the age they look like. That's what they'll say if you ask. But actually they attend High School to spend a lot of time with their imprints and to watch out for any potential rivals.

Simon has also imprinted, but she's only eleven, so he'll stay with the pack for a few more years. Chad, Zack, Skyler and Aaron haven't imprinted. Thus "my" pack consists of seven other wolfs right now. I wish Zack would imprint soon. He can be so annoying! He's a philanderer and a douche bag, breaks hearts every week and ditches patrol every now and then. Plus, he is Paul's cousin and therefore has the same Lahote hot temper. Maybe an imprint could tame him like Rachel tamed Paul.

The school bus pulled onto the parking lot and I snapped out of my thoughts. Leonard, who is the sports teacher at Quileute tribal school, and another teacher descended from the bus. I bro-hugged Leonard.

"Hey, Lennie. You're late."

"Yeah, sorry. You know, you always have to wait for late students. But now we're here, ready to go."

The students left the bus as well, chatting briskly with each other.

"Hi, uncle Embry!" Olivia, Cory's imprint, hugged me.

"Hi, Olivia. What's up?" I asked while I hugged her back. Cory was right behind her and complained:

"Oh, come on, Liv, you can stop to call him uncle! You look as old as him! What will other people think?"

"As if you would care what other people think!" She pulled another girl from behind her forward, "Uncle Em, this is my new best friend Autumn. She moved from Port Angeles to La Push this summer."

I met the girl's eyes and the world just stopped turning. She had the black hair and the russet skin of a Native American, but emerald green eyes. There was some distant sadness in them. Her mouth was perfect and held a small smile. Her hair fled in waves over her shoulders down to her waist, like black silk. She looked down self-consciously and Lennie elbowed me fiercely in the ribs. He whispered under his breath, only for me and Cory loud enough to hear:

"Despite the fact that you just imprinted and that you are understandably surprised and stunned, could you try to compose yourself? New imprints tend to be scared away by staring!"

I shook my head to clear my thoughts.

"Nice to meet you, Autumn. Already settled in in your new home?"

Autumn, what a strange name. But I liked it. It was special, just like her. She looked up again, kept smiling and nodded. Not very talkative, my imprint, wasn't she?

I led the students onto the hiking trail. Lennie accompanied me in the front, whereas the other teacher brought up the rear to watch that no student fell too far behind. Cory, Olivia and Autumn went right behind us.

"How's Ava?" I asked Lennie. Ava was his imprint.

"Good. I just wish she'd go to our tribal school instead of Forks High. Sometimes when I drop her off in the morning I see her head to a couple of guys and I'm sure there must be some who are interested in her, cause she's such a natural beauty. But she always assures me that even if they were I'd still be the only one for her. It's two more years before we can go to college together. I can't stand that."

"I think you don't have to worry about rivals. A blind man could see that she's head over heels in love with you."

"And how long will that last? Her parents are still giving her a hard time because they think I'm too old for her. And her best friend doesn't like me either. With so much negative input from everyone she loves she has to be unhinged someday, doesn't she?"

"Bella got a lot of negative input, too, but she stayed with the leech. Don't worry, somehow it's going to work out."

Behind us, one of the students shouted:

"Hey, autumn hunt! Already found a trail to track? Where's your hunting horn?"

His friends laughed.

"Shut up, Lahote!" Olivia exclaimed and then whispered, "Just ignore him, he's a creep!"

"Lahote?" I asked Lennie quietly.

"Dave."

"That's Zack's little brother, right?"

"Yup. And he's as bad as him. The worst bully of the school. And with that name your imprint is the perfect victim for him."

We were still talking so quietly that Autumn and Olivia couldn't understand a word.

"Wait. Do you mean her last name is Hunt? What kind of parents name their kid Autumn Hunt?"

He shrugged.

"It's good that Olivia ministers to her. Autumn doesn't speak."

I raised my eyebrows.

"You mean she doesn't speak up for herself."

It was more like a question.

"No. I meant what I said. She doesn't speak at all. Her father told the principal that her Mom died this spring and that she hasn't said a word since. That's also the reason she moved. She used to live with her Mom and now she moved in with her Dad. They were divorced."

I was grateful that Lennie told me so much about my imprint without me even asking for it. I wished I could speak to her though.

After a four hour hike we arrived back at the lake and sat down at picnic benches for lunch. Unfortunately Olivia pulled Cory and Autumn away from Lennie and me. She didn't want to be seen sitting with the teacher. After lunch I distributed life jackets among the students and told them to team up with one or two class mates and get a canoe. I saw Olivia chatting Autumn up, but she just shook her head decisively and finally went back to the picnic benches. Olivia watched her hesitantly, then shrugged and got into the canoe in which Cory already sat. Lennie took a canoe with the other teacher and while the students started to paddle towards the center of the lake I went back to Autumn.

"Don't you like canoeing?" She shook her head.

"Why? Ever done it before? It's fun!" She answered the second question with another shake of the head.

"If you haven't done it before, then how do you want to know that you don't like it?"

She looked past me at the canoes on the lake and I could see fear in her gorgeous eyes. I asked softly:

"Are you afraid?"

She looked back at me, caught, and nodded slightly.

"Of what? You are able to swim, aren't you?" Another shake of the head.

"No? Well, we've got to change that eventually. I'll tell you something. You can canoe with me. You have a life jacket on which would hold your head above the water if you fell into the lake. No swimming needed, I would come and get you. That won't be necessary though, cause I promise that the canoe won't capsize. Okay? You don't want your new class mates to think that you're a coward, right? I know you aren't."

She breathed in and out heavily and looked me in the eyes. I tried to look back encouragingly and comfortingly. Finally she nodded.

I helped her into the canoe and pushed us off the landing stage.

"Now, this is really easy. Just plunge the paddle in the water. The blade should be completely under the surface. Then you pull it towards you, take it out of the water and plunge it in in the front again. Give it a try."

I watched her and adjusted my stroke to match hers.

"Great. That's it. Shall we stay close to the shore for the beginning?"

She nodded gratefully. Sometime later I saw a canoe departing from the main group.

"Ugh. I should go after them. Ready to leave the closeness of the shore and gain some speed?"

She looked back at me doubtfully.

"I'm sorry. But they're not allowed to leave the main group and Lennie – Mr. Crawford – and your other teacher seem to not notice. I promise you're safe inside this canoe. Now, take your paddle inside."

She sighed and did that. Then she grabbed hold of the boat's sides. I made quicker and stronger strokes and picked up speed. We approached the rule breakers soon after. They groaned when they noticed us. One of them looked a lot like Zack, just not as tall and bulky.

"Dave Lahote. Rebellious like your brother, aren't you?"

"Zack? Rebellious? If he was rebellious he wouldn't be a follower of your stupid protectors group."

"Whatever. Back to the group. Now."

"Really? You can't force us." He pushed his paddle against our canoe so that it reeled heavily. Autumn froze and clung to the boat's sides.

Had I said earlier that I wouldn't have to fight for respect today?

"Oh, yes, I can. But maybe you want to think about it again. I can force you back to the group or you go back willingly. Which choice is less humiliating?"

"I still don't know how you wanna force us."

There was a rope at every end of the canoe to tie it to the stage. I quickly grabbed one of theirs, tied it to our hind rope with a knot that an ignoramus isn't able to unfasten and paddled towards the main group. At first, Dave struggled to unfasten the knot, unsuccessfully. Then they tried to paddle into the other direction, but although they outnumbered me I still had enough strength to get us into the correct direction. When I reached the main group I tied their canoe to Lennie's.

"Can you watch these guys more carefully this time?"

"Sure. Sorry. We should head back to the shore anyway, shouldn't we?"

"Yes, it's time."

As we made our way back – Autumn paddled again now – I said:

"Sorry about that. I would have liked to overturn their canoe for scaring you, but as the authority I couldn't. I hope you enjoyed the rest of the boat trip."

She nodded.

"There's a bonfire at First Beach this Friday. It's only for invited guests and I hereby invite you. Will you come? Olivia and Cory are going to come, too."

She didn't answer right away.

"Well, think about it."

When the students entered the bus later, Dave elbowed his way to Autumn and whispered to her:

"Now I understand. You've been on the hunt for a guy! But, seriously, Autumn, Embry Call? You know he's, like, twice as old as you, don't you? I'm curious how you caught him without saying a word. I always thought winter was the most frustrating season of the year, but a silent autumn must be really soul-destroying."

I could tell she was on the verge of crying. I was angry with Lahote, but I didn't start shaking, not even the slightest bit. I was in complete control of my body. I wanted to tell him off though and made a step towards the bus. Lennie held a hand against my chest and stopped me.

"If you jump in for her you'll only make it worse. Don't worry, he'll get some serious punishment for today. It's an unwritten law that every pack member has to protect the imprints of the others. That means, Zack has to protect Autumn. He'll tell his brother to leave her alone."

"Zack is not the most law-abiding person I know. He'll say that words don't harm her and that therefore his brother isn't a threat to her. Lee, I swear, if he bullies her again, I'll poleax him!"

"No, you won't. Cause if you do he might phase. Before the summer vacation he was smaller and more slender. I'm not completely sure, but I think he's making the growth spurt. He must have started about two or three weeks ago. So prepare yourself to possibly have another Lahote in the pack before this year ends."

I groaned.

"No! Seriously? Nobody phased for 13 years and now it's him of all people?"

"Seems so."

"Why didn't you tell me earlier?"

"Actually I wanted to be sure first. And I thought Zack would tell you. He must have noticed it, too."

"That scalawag isn't good for anything!"

"Sorry, Embry. Maybe you should call Jake to come around and talk some sense of duty into him. But think about the good point of Dave's possible phasing: When he's a member of the pack, you or Jake can order him to leave Autumn alone."

"Yeah. That's a good point. I hope my weak alpha voice is stronger on him than on Zack."

The drawback about being an elected Alpha was that I couldn't Alpha command the others like Sam and Jake. Not that I was eager to use it – Zack was usually the only one I'd like to force to obey sometimes. I was able to Alpha command the lowest ranked wolves and those who didn't fight the order, but Zack was in the middle of the hierarchy and always fought orders.

"I thought it's become stronger already?"

"Yeah, but not strong enough for Zack."

"Anyway, I've got to go. See you at the Den tonight?"

"Sure. You'll watch over my imprint for me, won't you?"

"Of course."

He boarded the bus.

Please tell me what you think!

I know this isn't your average imprint love story and I guess I disappointed some readers by making some of your favorite wolves retire or move away. Most authors who set their story this far into the future tend to forget that the imprinted wolves would probably want to age with their imprint. Plus I think they wouldn't want strangers to think that they're the brother rather than the father of their children. So that's why I banned them from the pack. However, I can promise that Jake, Leah, Sam and Paul will play major roles in this story nonetheless.

I've already finished this story, but I don't want to upload everything at once. I'm probably going to upload one chapter per day.

I'm not a native speaker, so please bear with me. I hope there aren't too many mistakes. Tell me if I'm making the same mistake(s) over and over again. Please PM me if you'd like to beta read for me!