Chapter 1:
Today is my seventeenth birthday. I hate the fact that I am only seventeen. I mean it feels like I am twenty. My life has felt like it's been flying by, but really the years have slowly ticked away. I'm an average grade student and I participate in sports at my high school, but as a junior you don't really get much attention. My brother on the other hand will be turning eighteen in a week after mine. Every year everyone makes a big production about how old he is and the fact that in one short year he'll be heading away to college, if that's what he decides to do. He goes to the same high school, but everyone knows who he is, as he is a senior. I'm tired of being noticed as "Korin's sister" or "Rachel and Paul's second child". Because living in La Push everyone knew everyone. We were all somehow related to each other. I know gross, right?
Well the next years of my life I decide to make myself known. To be more than the whispers of our town. I want people to see me walk by and say "oh that's her. She has really accomplished a lot in her life". I want to move out of the shadow my brother has left behind and the watching gazes of my family and father's pack as they wait for the approaching arrival of my wolfy state to come. Ever since I turned twelve everyone in the pack has been on a close look out for any sign of me phasing. I really hope I don't. I mean I pitied my cousin, Kiah, because she had phased a few years back. But she had been the first born to my Uncle Jacob and Aunt Nessie and she wasn't even full werewolf.
Well since you already know the troubles of my life I guess I should introduce myself. Clearing of the throat… I am Skylar Shea Tama. The daughter of wolf pack member Paul Tama and his imprint, Rachel Black, sister of alpha Jacob Black. Oh! And I am the sister of the infamous Korin Tama, almost seventeen year old senior hottie at La Push High. The one all of the girls wooed over and the guys were jealous of. Ugh! Sometimes I wish I could just get out of the miserable town and move somewhere else where it was more normal. Normal was the complete opposite of where I live. He you get wake up calls by enormous half-naked men screaming in your ears and overly excited aunts who just can't seem to understand that having a birthday party hasn't matter since this little girl has been six years old, but yet they insist. Thus brings me to the present.
I was woken up by the sounds of five very large men screaming at me to wake up through my door. I groaned and pulled the covers higher over my head. But yet, the noises stayed constant. "Shut the hell up and leave me alone!" I screamed into my pillow. "Skylar Shea use that type of language again and you'll be grounded for another two weeks." My father yelled from down stairs. I could hear the guys laugh on the other side of the door. I screamed once more into my pillow before flipping the covers back and walking slowly to the bathroom. Once I had showered I applied little make up and dressed in my favorite dark wash skinny jeans that were so tight, I had to lay on my bed to get them over my legs and a nice aqua blue tunic top my Aunt Nessie had bought for me a couple weekends ago when we had gone shopping. I finally slipped on my black short length UGGS . I left my hair wet and scrunched it with curling gel, after I had blow dried my bangs until they were fluffy and light.
I almost forgot to slip my earrings on since I take them out every night. I placed all four posts into my ear lobes, pushed a straight bar through my cartilage, and put my curved bar through my belly button. It hurt like shit. "Fucker!" I screamed out when it wouldn't go through the first four tries. I seriously needed some help because I was hard to look down at my stomach while slipped a bar through a tiny little hole. I flung the door open to see if one of the guys outside would help me. My shirt was pulled above my stomach showing off it's flat state and my abs. I looked up to see five of my brother's friends, who were also the children of retired wolf pack members. They were all basically my brothers since I was one of the only three girls. I looked up and caught the eyes of Quil and Claire's sixteen year old son, Lucas. I smiled when he looked at my stomach and his eyes widened. "Lucas.. I pleaded with him. Will you help me with this?" His eyes traveled from my stomach to the bar I held in my hand.
Umm… I don't think that's such a good idea Sky." He quickly avoided my eyes and looked away into space when he heard Korin opening his door. He was the only one of my brother's friends who hadn't pashed, but he was getting really big so everyone guessed that it would be soon.
"What the hell are you doing Skylar?" He questioned me looking between the five guys standing at the door practically drooling over my stomach and my bare torso and then back to me. "I needed some help, which these fools are too scared to help me with. Do you want to do the honors?" He looked at me bewildered. He sighed and I guess he figured it was better him than any of them. He was the real protective kind of brother, that even when a guy looks your way he barks in their face telling them you're totally off limits. He took the bar from my hands and quickly slipped it into the holes. He was a pro since he helped me with it a lot. "Thanks." I patted him on the back before shutting my bedroom door and making my way down stairs.
In the kitchen I found an eager group of my close family friends waiting for my arrival. "Happy Birthday!" They all screamed. "Thanks guys." I smiled and took a plate, starting to fill it up with my favorite breakfast foods. I sat down at the table and began to eat one of the muffins Emily had brought over. "Jesus Emily these are so good." I sighed shoving more into my mouth. Growing up with boys gives you less and less girl qualities every day. "Slow down there Sky." My dad laughed and patted me on the back. Once I had finished my mother told everyone that we would be having my birthday party on Saturday and that she'd see everyone there.
Korin made his way into the room, holding Mel's hand. He whispered something into her ear making her giggle. She kissed him lightly on the cheek. "You guys ready to go?" He looked around at all of the high school teens in the room. We headed out to our cars. This was a normal morning routine. We would all have breakfast at someone's house together and then follow in our cars to school. I got into Korin's 2010 Jeep Commander. I waited patiently while Mel and Korin had their normal make out session outside the car, but when it lasted longer than five minutes I tapped on the glass and they separated. When we finally made it to school all of the guys came over to our car.
Mel and I got out and started to walk to our lockers, she was a sophomore and one of my best friends. "Hey!" I turned to see my other best friend Jackson. He's a senior, but when we first met back when he was a freshman we were instant friends. We had this weird connection between us like he knew what I was feeling all of the time and was always there to comfort me. He was the hottest guy in our school and all of the girls flocked over him. All of them except for me. "Oh m fucking god! When did you get back?" Jackson had been away for a month because his family took a vacation to their island home in the Caribbean. "I just got back last night and wanted to come today to surprise you." I jumped into his arms and wrapped my legs around his waist. He held me tightly against him. "I missed you so… much." He laughed at my reaction.
"I missed you too, but your brother and his friends are glaring daggers at me right now so I think it would be best if I put you down now." I laughed. "You know I don't give a fuck." He nodded into my shoulder. After a few more minutes of just holding each other he put me back on my feet. "So… how was it? I see you got a major tan." I ran my hand up and down his arm. He grinned. "Yeah. It was amazing. We just sat on the beach all day and hung out. Oh! And by the way happy birthday!" I smiled. "Thanks a bunch. My party's on Saturday so you should come by." His eyebrows shot up. "Party?" I shook my head. "Yeah, yeah I know. My mom freaked out again and said that this year I couldn't go without one since I didn't have one last year." He snorted and ran a hand through his hair.
"Well I'll be there, no doubt about it. I'll see you in photography, first period." I nodded and he waved goodbye as he strode off to his locker. I started to walk in the opposite direction, heading to my locker. I made it to my locker putting some of my books away and grabbing the ones I needed, but not before I was confronted by my brother and his stupid friends. "Hey." I sighed before trying to dodge them and quickly make it to class before the tone. He grabbed me by the arm and pulled me back to him. "Don't hey me. You know how I feel about that guy. You shouldn't hang out with him. He's too old for you." I laughed. "Yeah whatever. He's only a year older, plus we're just friends and you know that. Stop being so protective. Jesus Christ." I saw Jackson down the hall so I started to walk towards him. I was pulled back once again, but this time it was Shane. "You should listen to him Sky. That guys up to no good." I scoffed.
"How would you know?" I raised my eyebrow and then turned and made my way over to Jackson. "Hey." He smiled. I sighed. "They gave you the lecture again, huh?" I nodded. He hugged me close and then wrapped his arm around my waist as we made our way to photography. He rubbed his hand on my lower back in a comforting manner. I heard a growl from behind us, but ignored it like I hadn't heard. The rest of the day droned by and once I got back to my locker for sixth period lunch I felt drained. I met up with Mel and we talked in line about the different ridiculous assignments our teachers had assigned for the week. I grabbed some fries and a chocolate shake and we made our way back to the table my brother has so clearly marked as ours.
We sat down and I pulled out my camera so I could show Mel some of the great shots I got today in class. The weather had been nice, rare here in Washington, so our teacher took us outside for a free shot session. She "oowed" and "awed" at the ones of the field and of the school I had taken. When it came to the ones I had taken of Jackson she laughed so hard her milkshake almost came out of her nose. "He's always so concentrated when he's taking photos and this one makes me laugh every time I look at it." She wiped her chin, small giggles still escaping her lips. "What are you girls laughing at?" Collin, one of Jared and Kim's twins asked. "Yeah, what are you looking at?" Collin's identical twin, Charles asked.
"Nothing important." I smirked at them and out my camera away. Pulling a french-fry out of the cup and putting it in my mouth. The PA turned on and I hear my name being called telling me to go to room 214. All of the guys "awwwd" as I stood up, grabbing my backpack, and told Mel to watch my food. When I finally made it to room 214 where bouquet of white calla lilies was waiting. It was weird because looked for some sort of card or something, but there wasn't one. I walked back into the lunchroom with the flowers in hand. "Where did you get those?" Mel asked when I sat down. "When I went to room 214 no one was there but these flowers were." She laughed. "Looks like you have a secret admirer." I frowned. I finished my food. I threw my trash away and returned to the table. From far away it looked like Mel was in a heated discussion with all of the guys at the table. The conversation stopped once I came back to the table. "What's going on?" I sat down and looked over to Mel who was staring blankly at a poster on the other side of the room. No one answered. "Wow guys. Don't tell me if you don't feel obligated." I said sarcastically. "Lucas phased and Korin is calming him down."
I did a double take. "What?" They all nodded. "Oh… Well good for him." I smiled happy that he could now be a part of our family's history and become one of the protectors of our people. "Well I'll see you guys later. Mel tell Korin, if he drives you home, that I'm getting a ride from Jackson." She nodded, but many of the others growled. "No! Sky you can't ride with him. We'll drive you home." Tommy, Seth's son said. "Actually yes I can ride with him and we have a project to work on so I'm going over to his house." More growls erupted. "You all need to chill out. I'll be fine." Tommy stood up his hands balled in fury. "I can't let you go with him. Korin will kill me if I let you go, he'll kill all of us if we let that happen. So you are going to meet me at my car right after school and if you aren't there by 2:35 I'm coming to look for you."
I shook my head at him. "You guys can't dictate my life. I'm sick of being hidden away from everything and everyone. You can just tell Korin that he can stick his foot up his ass!" And with that I turned, took my flowers and stormed out of the café. My last periods droned on and on until the final tone sounded. I went to my locker and grabbed the book I needed for the project and my flowers and pulled out my phone. I dialed Jackson's number and he answered on the third ring. "Hello?" There was music playing in the background. "Hey it's Skylar." He laughed at something. "Oh! Honey I forgot. Can we do it next week?" I sighed. The project was due next week. "Sure." I'd just do it over the weekend by myself, once again. The call ended. I flipped my phone closed and then walked out to the parking lot.
I spotted Jackson's car. There he was bright as day making out with Mackenzie Jones. Ugh! He had blown off our project for some girl. I can't believe him. I was livid. It started to rain and I was so mad that I just decided to walk home. Half way there I spotted a wolf in the woods staring at me. "What!" I yelled at it. It was startled that I could see it. I got home twenty minutes later with 16 missed phone calls from various people. I slammed the front door closed when I got in and stormed my way up to my bedroom where I stripped down to my underwear and bra. I jumped in the shower for a good hour before getting out. My door flung open with a loud bang.
"Where in the hell have you been?" My hair was hanging down yet down my back, small ringlets of my jet black hair starting to form. I grabbed some gel off of the dresser and ran it through the ends tousling it gently. "I was here." I replied calmly as I fixed my bangs in the mirror. I heard someone groan as I leaned over to get a better look at myself in the mirror. My short shorts were probably up my ass crack and I was wearing a thong so there wasn't any VPL, (visible panty line). Whoever it was was suddenly punched in the gut, but stood straight and tall before I turned around to see who it was. "What do you mean you were here?" I could hear the anger in his voice. "Tommy told me that you were going over to his house to do something." I nodded. "I was going to, but he wanted to fuck some girl instead of doing the project so he rescheduled." I said with indifference in my voice. I saw him and a couple of the other guys flinch at my words.
"How did you get home then?" I pulled my shirt off completely standing in my sports bra alone and rubbed some lotion on my stomach. I hear some hisses; I had to try really hard not to burst out laughing. "I walked on the road." I heard a couple growls before I looked up and saw the hurt in Korin's eyes. He truly believed that I had been hurt. "It is pouring down raining and you walked home! You could have pneumonia! You didn't stop to think that you should call one of us?" I looked him dead in the face. "Uncle Jake knew. So I don't see why it was such a big deal." His mouth opened but nothing came out. "How do you it was Jake?" Charles asked. I pulled my shirt back on and put it in place over my stomach. "He was watching me the entire time I walked home and you think I'd know what my own Uncle looks like by now." I narrowed my eyes at him. Everyone was silent until Corbin and I busted out laughing.
"Hahahahaha!" We both were laughing so hard. I walked over and punched him in the arm. "You retard!" We laughed harder until Korin broke the mood. "You are not to go near him again. Do you hear me?" I glared at him. "You don't get to tell me what I can and can't do." I was totally serious. "You will do what I say!" He yelled at me. "Fuck you." I grabbed my sweat pants and my sweatshirt and pushed open the window. "Don't you dare!" I didn't look back as I dropped out of my second floor window. I landed semi gracefully on the grass, but still felt the fall in my ankles. I ran towards the beach not bothering to care as I heard Korin calling my name. I knew they could easily catch me, but I didn't care.
When I made it to the beach it was raining so hard that you couldn't see right in front of you. I took a seat when my bare feet touched the wet sand. I laid my head back and placed my arms above my head. I was remembering back to when I was little and we always used to come here after school and play in the waters until it got dark. Even then I had know the presence of something watching us, protecting us. Why now did it seem a though this thing my brother had changed into had also changed who he was. I always saw the need to protect in his eyes. I knew it would kill him if I got hurt, but I needed to live my life. Right then and there, I promised myself that I would leave this place for some time. To go see another part of the world or this country. I didn't want to be stuck here for the rest of my life.
I didn't want to be the obedient imprint type like my mother and so many others that had fallen in love, created a family, and stayed exactly where they had been born. Never seeing any other part of the world I so longed to explore and to see. I wanted to see the world beyond La Push and the werewolves. Everyone here had the same story. They were born, grew up, found a mate, made babies, grew old, then died. This life wasn't for me. I wanted something more normal. I knew nothing out there was normal, but I wanted to be in a place where there wasn't so much worry about incoming vampires or hiding for long amounts of time before returning, or even keeping your life a secret. Normality must be present in my life.
I had the odd feeling that someone was watching me, like they always were. Hovering everywhere I went, making sure I was safe at all times. I got up and walked to my grandfather's house about a mile away. "Grandpa?" I called as I walked through the front door. "Sky Shea?" "Yeah it's me grandpa. I just wanted to come see you. Ask you a few questions." He wheeled himself into the kitchen where I was standing soaking wet. "What happened to you?" He laughed and handed me a few towels. "I was just at the beach, thinking." He wheeled over to the table and I took a seat. "What do you want to talk about?" I could feel his eyes search my face for an answer. "Did you ever feel like you didn't belong here? Like you wanted to leave and live somewhere else?" I blurted out after the last word came out of his mouth. He paused for a second thinking.
"Is this something you wish to do?" I nodded slowly. "I've been thinking about when I go away to college after next year. I want to go somewhere as far away from here as possible to be able to learn a different culture and try new things, meet new people. I don't want to live here for the rest of my life. I don't know how you did it. What I mean is did you ever feel like you would disappoint your family if you didn't stay here and find a soul mate and have kids?" I finished my long tirade. "I understand what you're saying. I don't think people will look at you with skepticism if you did what you thought was right and fulfilled what your dreams were in life. Everybody loves you here and wouldn't judge you if you did what you wanted to do. You don't always have to live the way everyone else does. It's a choice you have to make for yourself." Someone was finally taking me seriously.
I got up and hugged him tight. "I just feel like everyone's protecting me from "outside" things. Stuff that doesn't revolve around our crazy world. Like they're keeping me from leaving or finding someone to love the old fashioned way instead of or strange way. Korin keeps me away from one of my good friends because he says that he's no good fro me and is a bad influence. I just don't want to disappoint everyone when I leave and never come back one ay because I can't take it anymore." I broke down, tears running down my cheeks. He pulled me into his lap as I cried into his neck. "We all love you and don't want you to get hurt, that's all. Your brother is looking out for your best interest. He just wants to keep you from getting hurt." I nodded. An hour later I walked home through the rain once again.
My mother came running in and hugged me. "Oh baby your grandpa just called me and told me. Why didn't you come to me? I'm always here for you to talk to." I nodded against her chest. "I'm going to go to my room now." My mother pulled away. "Don't you want something to eat?" I shook my head and took the steps two by two. I laid down in my bed and immediately fell asleep. I had almost forgotten, "Happy Birthday to me. I whispered to myself before gradually falling asleep, soaking wet and exhausted from a terribly long day. Thank god the weekend started tomorrow.