Author's Note: This is my first fic, so I'm a little overwhelmed. Hopefully you like it, but I won't know unless you tell me. Please, please review or PM me. Thanks!

Ashton

Prologue

Shoot. I double checked my suitcase and I couldn't find that plane ticket to save my life. Maybe I left it at Sam and Emily's by accident. So, as a last resort, I stepped outside and slid out of my cut-offs. I squeezed my eyes shut, balled my fists then broke into a sprint as I phased. Clouds hugged the trees and threatened to burst while I followed my usual path to the Uley house.

Their little boy, Aaron was swinging outside with Sam and a glowing Emily when I got there. Seeing as he was growing up around a pack of werewolves, he just kept on swinging as I phased and dressed. Emily, who was now seven months pregnant, smiled and waved at me. I explained,"I can't find that stupid plane ticket." Before Sam could question, I headed straight for the door like I lived there.

The familiar door of the little blue house opened easily. It was impossible to ignore the warmth and welcome there. Most of the pack only gathered here about every couple of weeks now. They'd all imprinted, had families for the most part. Jared and Kim got married four years ago; Rachel caught the bouquet with steady hands, which of course prompted Paul's trip to The Diamond Cellar. Quil almost broke down and cried on Claire's first day of school. Normally, he would've been teased mercilessly about it, but everyone – minus me – was able to sympathize. And Jacob had left La Push to go to Alaska with Renesmee and the Cullens two years ago.

My thoughts jumped back to the task at hand: Jake, Cullens, Alaska, plane ticket. Right. I stood in the kitchen facing the stove, my back to the door. The floor boards creaked a little behind me, and I turned expecting to find a slightly annoyed Sam. But, instead, I saw Emily's scarred face and round belly.

The ache I kept buried deep in some unknown place inside me managed to resurface then. It wasn't that I minded stepping up to the alpha status, running patrols until three in the morning, attempting to sniff out what wasn't there. But, it was watching the rest of the pack that got to me. Jared, who was two years older than me, was not only married, but expecting. Sam was waiting on his second little bundle of joy. Brady was ready to pop the question, and Leah was single in California, but living the life she wanted.

I blinked, and an old, wrinkled version of myself stared back at me from a wooden rocking chair, surrounded by aged members of the pack and their grown kids. Oh, dear God. I was going to die a virgin. Getting some wouldn't mean anything with some random girl. Not after seeing what it could be like.

The nature of my thoughts must have shown on my face because Emily started saying my name louder and louder until my eyes finally focused on her. I raised my eyebrows in curiosity; she had this determined look in her eyes, like she had something important to tell me.

"It's over by the coffee pot," she said, not breaking my gaze, standing completely still. If kindness was a color, it would look like Emily's eyes. Her expression was careful, like she had to say it just right. "You do so much for the pack. Don't forget about your own happiness." She smiled a little, relaxed now. "If you get bored, you might go to work with Carlisle; you always meet the nicest people in hospitals."