I grunted and put my book down on my knees. Then I folded my arms and lay my head atop of it.

Even on this beautiful, sunny day I felt miserable. Even as I sat in front of the biggest ocean in the world, all alone, on a big rock ten feet out from shore, doing my favorite thing in the world; my mind was on Quil.

Kristen Hannah was my favorite author at the time being. It had been three days and I read seven of her books with ease. But still, since the moment Quil left for a stupid hunting trip, my mind was on him... literally. But, no, not even Ms. Hannah could keep my head occupied with her gripping love tales.

I couldn't even remember what had happened through the last chapter. All I could think about is how Quil would be reading aloud behind my shoulder. He would sit on this rock just right to make sure I wouldn't fall in and get the slightest wet. Eventually, I would laugh and tell him to knock if off. So then he would start to play with my curled, black hair; braiding it loosely.

Soon enough I would get tired and nuzzle my head on to his shoulder and he would carry me home through the woods; walking slowly so I wouldn't be disturbed.

And, if he were to be my boyfriend, I would tell him to sleep beside me on my bed. He could hold me all night and we could sleep soundly.

But, even I knew that in the real world he would just bring me to Aunt Emily's and my Uncle Sam would take me from his arms and set me down on my bed. Then I would have nightmares, as usual, without him beside me.

"Claire! What are you doing?" My voice called from not to far away.

I bit my lip and turned me head towards the shore and saw my wolf (well, not in wolf form) run out of the woods and across the beach.

"Quil!" I whispered, wishing I could squeal it without sounding desperate. I tried to jump off the rock in to the shallow water, but before my feet touched the warm water, I was in his arms.

"Aw, I missed you Quil!" I told him as he picked up my book from the rock and headed back to the sand.

"Missed you too, Claire bear." And to my dismay he gently set me down on the scorching beach sand. "But you shouldn't be out there without me around. You might fall and hit your head or something..." he mumbled, handing me my book now.

His worrying about me almost made me smile, but I hid it back. "How was your hunting? Catch anything cool?" I asked, very intrigued by some of the storied he would tell.

His eyes looked very in to it as he told the story on how he caught a bear, but he didn't say anything else afterward; he was holding something from me. Like always, trying to protect little, innocent Claire.

"That's amazing. I wish I would have been there," I told him excitedly, hoping he might catch a hint about how I wish he would take me with him.

His eyes burned with disagreement, "You know how dangerous it is out there. I hardly like having you out here where no one's around for miles," he waved his hand around.

He sat down beside me and put his right arm around my shoulders, I leaned towards him. Then I panicked as I realized it was starting to get a little darker, the sun was starting to set.

"Quil," I sighed, not really wanting to bring it up. But I just needed to know, "Why do you have to go hunting almost every weekend? You can eat around here you know. Hell, I'll even make you some meals if it meant you wouldn't leave me so often." I purposefully pulled myself closer and put my head on his chest, so I wouldn't have to look him in the eyes.

His breath was very deep before he started to answer. "It's just what us wolves have to do. Not only are we hunting, but we're checking the perimeter. Making sure La Push is safe for-- everyone."

I wondered if the falter in that last sentence was him meaning to say my name.

"I know, but Aunt Emily is never the same whenever Sam is gone," good idea, shift the conversation away from me. "And Kim and Rachel and Nessie always come over and they all have the same expression. It's so depressing."

He tightened his grip around me nicely, "It's not so easy on the boys either. Trust me, we all wish that we didn't have to go away every weekend. But, like I said, we've got to protect everyone."

He just wasn't getting it. "Why? It's not like there's some mass murderer on the loose or something. In fact, the last death in La Push was six months ago, and it was a man with cancer. What are you protecting us from?"

We sat in silence for a while after that, and I tried to calm myself with the slow beat of Quil's heart. "There are monsters out there, Claire. Monsters that don't live under beds or in closets. Some are so evil and sinister that they should be banned from ever existing.." he went off in to a growl.

I shook a little and he noticed it immediately. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to scare you Claire bear," he set me on his lap like I was five instead of fifteen. "As long as I'm around, though, you have absolutely nothing to worry about. No monsters are going to get within a hundred mile radius of you, trust me."

When he held me like that, how could I not trust them. "And now the only thing that you need to worry about is getting home and getting a good night's sleep before school tomorrow."

I groaned, "Oh, forgot about that." School was such a drag.

"Only two more weeks until summer vacation," Quil reminded me. "And then you can do what ever you please for three months," he smiled and helped me up off the ground. I swiped hands over my shorts to make sure I didn't have any sand on me.

"All I want to do is hang with you all summer, Quillie," I told him, using his nickname that only I would call him.

"Good, because that is exactly what I want to do too," he told me, grabbing my hand. His hand was only a shade or two darker than my own skin. "And that's all we have to do."

"What about the days you're gone?" I reminded him, wishing there was some magical way he didn't have to go away during the weekends in the summer.

"Hmm," he thought, and started to swing our hands between us, "The days I'm gone you can hang out with your friends from school."

I made an annoyed face when I thought about my so-called friends. "Everyone at school is so immature. I mean, who cares if some one doesn't dress right or has bad acne or doesn't have the latest new cell phone? Those friends of mine exclude anyone who's not perfect."

"Well, that's not good," Quil managed to point out the obvious very cleverly, "If they're mean to other people, perhaps you should drop them and find better friends."

I smirked, "If it were only that easy."

He started walking to the tree line with me, "Oh, right. High school. Gross. I'm glad I dropped out of that."

I laughed naturally and nudged my elbow in to his side. Then, his perfect laugh came out and he grabbed my hips. "You think you can get away with that?" He asked playfully in a funny voice. "Well, then prepare to be tickled!"

I screamed, smiling, as he dug his fingers in to my side and tickled me. "Stop!" I squealed. He didn't show any signs of stopping soon. "Quil! I forgot my book!" I said, coming out with the greatest excuse to have him stop.

He stopped and looked at my hands, "Oh, I thought you were kidding. Here, let me go get it..."

"No," I stopped him from even taking a step, "Let me. I'll be back in about ten seconds."

Before he could protest, I turned around and walked fast through the ancient trees around me, then on to the sand and over to where my book was. Exactly where I left it.

I bent over and picked it up, dusting the sand off.

"That was nice," I heard some creepy voice whisper from close behind me, "Do it again, kitten."

My body tensed as I realized it wasn't Quil. This wasn't even a voice I had ever heard before. As I prepared myself to turn and run, screaming at the top of my lungs; a voice yelled before I could even take a step.

"Claire! Run! Get Sam! Now!" Quil's voice yelled furiously behind me. Then I heard a large whoosh only inches away from my head. I turned around, and to my horror, there was Quil in wolf form, being thrown across the ground by some guy who looked human. That was, until he turned around and I saw his eyes glow red.

I ran away from him and pulled out my cell phone. "Sam! Help! I'm on First Beach! Some one's hurting Quil!" I screamed and slammed it shut. Then, I stopped running, realizing I couldn't leave Quil without helping. I started running back toward the freaky-eyed guy.