Disclaimer: All recognizable characters and material belong to Stephenie Meyer. My Twi-verse begins two years post-BD; I've got new characters and a different focus for the plot. Happy reading!

September 7, 2008

"What's taking you so long, Genessa? Your brother is threatening to leave you."

"This stupid thing doesn't fit right."

"Let me see if I can help."

When Genessa opened the door for her mother, Vivian Crowley stepped through, taking in her daughter's outfit. The swimsuit she was wearing was a gift from Tyler's girlfriend, Lauren, since Genessa had outgrown her old one – it had been a cute one piece with a zipper down the middle, but it no longer zipped over her bust and it bit into her newly developed curves uncomfortably. Lauren's bathing suit was uncomfortable in a radically different way. It was a bikini – Genessa's first two piece suit – and a sexy one at that. It was composed of a series of black strings and a four tiny triangles barely big enough to cover her essentials.

"Oh, honey, I think that's how it's supposed to fit."

"I can't wear this to the beach, Momma!"

"Well, I don't know what you want me to do, Ness. We don't have time to go to the store before you all are supposed to leave," Vivian Crowley pressed a kiss to her daughter's forehead comfortingly. "I know you're not exactly comfortable showing so much skin, but it doesn't look bad. In fact, I'm sure you're going to catch a lot of eyes."

"GENESSA! If you don't hurry up, I'm going to leave you. I'm serious!"

"I'm coming, you ogre!" Genessa shouted back, rushing around her room to shimmy into a pair of jean shorts and throw on an oversized T-shirt she'd stolen from one of her brothers and modified beyond recognition.

"Bye, Momma,"she paused long enough to give her mother a peck on the cheek before sprinting out. Genessa made it to the bottom of the stairs just in time to see Tyler walking out of the front door and, like any little sister worth her title, jumped on his back with a flying leap.

"I told you I was coming!" she yelled in his ear as she wrapped her arms around his neck in a loose headlock.

"I wasn't leaving you, Nester. I was just getting the keys from Dad," Tyler explained, jogging down the porch steps and cutting across the grass that separated the house from the one beside it. He walked into the house unceremoniously and a small Asian woman looked up from where she was folding laundry on the couch.

"Hey, have you seen Dad? He said we could borrow the SUV."

"I think Eric beat you to it; they're in the office."

"Thanks."

Genessa slid off of Tyler's back as he headed off and began helping the woman with the laundry.

"G'morning."

"It's practically noon, sweetie," Mai laughed.

"Well, I just woke up, so it's morning to me, Mom."

Genessa's family was a bit different from the rest of the families in Forks. For one thing, they were the only minorities in the town, and the second was that they were polyamorous. Genessa had two moms, two dads, two brothers, and two houses. Her two sets of parents had bonded over being the only faces of color in an otherwise white town and raising young sons, Tyler Crowley and Eric Yorkie, and become good friends. As the saying goes, love is friendship set on fire. The misters and misuses Yorkie and Crowley couldn't say exactly when their friendship had been set aflame exactly, but it had been sometime between when Tyler and Eric were two and three. When the boys were four, their parents had bought a pair of houses right beside each other to make their unique little family function a bit more smoothly and when they were five, their little sister had been born and the Yorkie-Crowley family was complete.

John Yorkie, Eric, and Tyler emerged as Genessa and Mai Yorkie finished up with the laundry.

"Heya, Dad."

"Good morning, Nessa," John gave the girl a quick squeeze and clapped the boys on their shoulders before handing off the keys to the family's SUV. "Alright, you guys get out of here and have fun."

"And stay safe," Mai added, coming around the coffee table to dole out hugs.

After exchanging their quick goodbyes, the three siblings got into the SUV to go pick up their friends… well, the boys' friends. Genessa quickly found herself in a car full of couples: Tyler and Lauren, Mike and Jessica, Eric and Ben. Genessa couldn't help but pout and wish for the beach to come quickly; she hated being surrounded by so many lovey-dovey individuals. If it wasn't for the fact that this was the annual final get-together of the summer, and her last chance to hang out with her brothers before they went back to college, Genessa would not have subjected herself to this.

"Is that a new bathing suit, Laur?" Jessica asked, reaching over Genessa to flick at the strap that was peeking out of her best friend's shirt.

"Not exactly. I picked this up when I was in Cali."

Genessa internally rolled her eyes at the way Lauren talked about California with a pompous air as though she was actually from the Golden State instead of simply going to school there and that she was somehow better than everyone else for doing so.

"I should've asked you to bring one for me, too," Jessica pouted.

"I actually did, but I ended up giving it to Genessa," Lauren shifted her attention to the younger girl and raised her voice an octave to the weird pitch she used whenever she was trying to show Genessa how nice she could be, as though, by being nice to Genessa, Lauren could get the younger girl to write a letter of recommendation for her to Tyler – because they both knew that Tyler was only interested in Lauren for as long as he was in Forks. Despite the fact that she knew exactly what Lauren was doing, Genessa played along, letting Lauren take her out to get her nails done and give her things, like the swimsuit… although, that particular gift had backfired.

"Oooh, are you wearing it today?" Jessica clamored and Genessa nodded.

"How do you like it?" Lauren asked.

"Mom said I looked great," Genessa evaded.

The other girls failed to notice Genessa's lack of enthusiasm. Lauren took the opportunity to praise her own eye for fashion while Jessica crowed her agreement. Their conversation turned from fashion to the Kardashians and it was all downhill from there. Sitting in the middle of the backseat between the two of them was hell to Genessa.

"We're here!" Eric announced as he parked.

Genessa got out of the car and stretched, looking around in confusion.

"This isn't First Beach. Where are we?"

"It's Second Beach. Eric and I found it when we were hiking and we figured everybody might like to come out since it's got a bit more sand," Ben explained.

Genessa looked out at the new beach and couldn't help but agree that it was much beachier than its counterpart. She wondered why they'd never come here before.

"It's not like, sacred tribal territory or anything, is it?"

"Doubt it. I mean, I didn't see a 'no trespassing' sign. Worst case scenario we get asked to leave – no big deal," Ben shrugged as he grabbed a stack of blankets, handing them to Genessa before taking hold of a couple of lounge chairs and following the rest of the group down the walkway to the beach.

It didn't take long for them to get situated. The boys were playing some sort of tackle football game in the water while the girls lounged on the beach. Lauren and Jessica lay on blanket as they attempted to suntan with odd foil panels that looked like they came from the set of a B-rated space film while Genessa was curled up in one of the lounge chairs with a copy of The Catcher in the Rye.

"Is that for scholarship or pleasure?" Jessica asked.

"Summer reading."

"No one reads for pleasure, Jessica," Lauren chastised as though her friend was the ignorant one in their relationship. "Except for Bella, I suppose, but she was kind of different."

"Plenty of people read for fun, Lauren," Jessica replied with incredible patience before returning her attention to Genessa. "Does Ms. Lewis still teach AP Lit?"

Genessa's eyes shifted between the blonde and brunette in front of her, wondering how in the world the former valedictorian had ended up being the dumb blonde's best friend. She supposed it was a hazard of living in a small town.

"I don't even know her."

"Man, I feel old. I can't believe it's only been a couple years since we graduated."

Before Genessa could respond, a pair of wet arms grabbed her and lifted her out of her chair. She swatted at Eric, screaming to be put down before he could throw her in the water.

"This is a school book!"

Eric had mercy, setting Genessa down long enough for her to put her book back in her bag and strip down to her swimsuit before continuing where he'd left off and tossing her into the water.

Genessa came up sputtering and flicking her wet hair out of her face.

"Wowza," Mike spurted, receiving a friendly but warning clap on the back as Tyler reminded him that the girl in question was his sister.

"I'm going to kill you!" Genessa dove at Eric, attempting to push him underwater and a game of chase ensued until Genessa allowed herself to be roped into playing water football.

The game fell apart when Jessica and Lauren decided that they'd had enough sun and wanted to play chicken with their boyfriends and Eric and Ben went back to the beach to start up the grill. Genessa swam off, not wanting to stay with the couples, but not quite ready to get out of the water. She'd been drifting for a while when a sudden snag caught her attention. She patted at her hair with one hand while swimming with the other before realizing that the job would require two hands. A drifting branch had somehow gotten tangled up with her hair and strappy bikini top.

Genessa swam to a boulder that sat proudly in the middle of the lake and began to fix her hair, absentmindedly humming the song Momma, as she called Vivian Crowley, used to sing when she'd used to sing when she'd fixed Genessa's hair.

"Black is the color of my-"

Genessa's song cut off abruptly when a loud splash sounded behind her. She turned to see a huge man emerging from the water and swimming towards her. Genessa scrambled off of the rock and into the water, throwing the stick and losing her top in the process. She shrieked and dove after it, only to come face to face with the man underwater. Something in his eyes stole her breath and her senses. Time, water, breathing all else fell away. All that existed was him.

So this is imprinting, Brady Fuller thought to himself, unable to take his eyes off of his imprint – and why would he want to? She was amazing and beautiful and perfect in every way.

Reality broke through Brady's fog as he realized that his imprint was about to drown. He plucked her out of the water and set her back on the rock, letting Jake's memory of saving Bella guide his shaking hands. He didn't know exactly what he'd done, just that it seemed to have worked since she was coughing up water and that her skin was soft and that he wanted to drown in the brown eyes that were blinking back up at him shyly as his imprint came to.

"Wha-?"

And that she had the voice of an angel and that she had the body of a goddess and that she might have a concussion from smacking her forehead into his chin.

"Ow!" Genessa grabbed at her head and then lowered her arms to cover her naked breasts. "Fuck. Shit! My top."

And that she needed her top. She needed him to get her top. She needed him!

Brady dove back under the water, searching for his imprint's top by following the faint traces of the scent of sunshine that led him downstream.

Genessa sat up on the rock, drawing her legs up and situating her hair to cover up as much of her as possible as she watched him swim away. He was beautiful. Not in the cliche pretty boy, Ken doll sort of way. But drop dead, panty-dropping rugged beautiful. He had a strong jaw she wanted to lick, onyx eyes framed by gorgeous lashes she wanted to feel everywhere, and a strong, muscled back she wanted to run her hands over. He was like the flesh and blood version of a hero of one of her mothers' romance novels. Genessa dropped her head to her knees and tried to will away the images her mind conjured up of what would happen next if she was the heroine in the same plot. It didn't work.

As Brady swam back toward his imprint with an oddly formed piece of fabric he supposed was her bikini top, he noted that her scent had changed from pure sunshine to something sweeter, like warm honey, and it called to him like a siren's song. Brady swam faster than he'd realized he was capable of.

The air around Genessa was charged with electricity. She could feel the hair on her arms filling with static. She raised her head and saw that her hero's eyes were filled with the same energy that raced through her body dizzyingly.

She reached out a hand – whether it was for her top or for him, she wasn't sure – and suddenly his lips were on hers. Their bodies crashed together as though they were magnets. Genessa wrapped around Brady like a pretzel and he laid her back against the rock she'd been perched on-

"NESSA!"

Genessa pulled back with a gasp, remembering that a world existed beyond the big man between her thighs. Brady's lips against her neck made it difficult for Genessa to think.

"NESTER WHERE ARE YOU?"

"Fuck. Fuckity, fuckity, fuck," Genessa pushed the man – the strange man, who she didn't know and had been KISSING – away and he lifted his upper body away from her, curling back his upper lip and growling at the sound that was taking his mate away. The sound he was making would've freaked her out if she hadn't felt the vibrations all throughout her body. She fought to regain some self-control and keep her hips from rolling up into his.

"GENESSA!"

Genessa slid away from him as the sound of her brother's voice grew closer.

"My brothers – I wasn't supposed to be gone so long," she stumbled through an explanation as she fumbled with her top.

Brady took it from her and deftly helped her to fix it, recalling Jared's memory of taking Kim out of a similar bikini and doing the exact opposite. He planted a kiss on Genessa's shoulder when he was done and she shivered.

"I have to get back."

"I'll come with you."

"NO! Stay here, please."

That said, she jumped back into the water and swam over to her brother, popping up behind him in and clambering onto his back before he could realize she was there.

"Boo!" she yelled, making him scream while the others laughed. "Sorry, I didn't realize how far I'd gotten."

"'s'okay. It's time to eat," Tyler jogged over to where the rest of the group had gathered at a picnic bench and deposited his sister beside his girlfriend as he went to take a seat on Lauren's other side.

Genessa hadn't realized that she'd needed to be carried until precisely that moment. Even sitting down, she felt like her legs were boneless, plus she was dizzy and she still hadn't caught her breath. Either that guy had been a really good kisser or he'd given her the ick. Genessa cast a glance back at the water and groaned, feeling like some sort of after-school special about the dangers of kissing strangers as she laid her head on the table.

"What's the matter?"

Eric ran a gentle hand over Genessa's head.

"I think I swallowed some of the sea water."

"Ben, can you get Ness a water bottle?"

Ben opened a bottle for Ness and handed it to her, watching her worriedly as she took it with trembling hands.

"She doesn't look good," Ben murmured, stating the obvious. Genessa was shaking and her naturally bronze skin was beginning to look rather pale. "Maybe we should go."

The seven young people grabbed their possessions and got into the car much faster than they'd gotten out. Eric slid into the passenger seat with Genessa in his lap as Tyler got behind the wheel and took off. As they crossed the border from La Push into Forks, Genessa started murmuring about how she was cold and everything hurt and her shaking increased to the point where Eric started to worry that she was having a seizure.

"I think we need to go to the hospital."

"No," Genessa shook her head vehemently and Eric held her tightly to make her stop. "I don't wanna go to the hospital, I wanna go home."

Eric's heart broke as she began to cry.

"Ty?"

Tyler had already taken out his phone.

"Siri, call Home."

"I'm sorry was that Mom or Home?"

"Call Home, Siri."

"Calling Mom."

She answered on the third ring, the traces of lingering laughter in her voice.

"How's it going Ty?"

"Genessa got sick. She's shaking, she said that she's cold and in pain, but she doesn't want me to take her to the hospital."

"Bring her home and we'll see if she really needs to go."

By the time they reached the house, all four of the Yorkie-Crowley parents were waiting outside.

The SUV wasn't fully stopped in the driveway before they rushed it. John Yorkie yanked open the door for David Crowley to pluck the afflicted girl up out of her brother's grasp. Vivian Crowley popped a thermometer in Genessa's mouth as she was hustled through the door Mai Yorkie held open.

"Temperature's normal," David announced, handing the thermometer off to Mai when it beeped.

"I think we need to get her out of these wet clothes."

"She could probably use a warm bath."

David carried Genessa into the bathroom and left her to her mothers' care.

She stopped shivering and fell asleep during her bath. Her mothers hoisted her out and dried her off, slipping Genessa into a fleece nightgown before calling for one of her fathers to carry her to the adjoining guestroom. Someone woke the girl up enough to drink a bottle of water and take a teaspoon of Tylenol, then they put her to bed and agreed to check on her every half hour the way they'd done whenever one of their children was sick.

As they checked on her throughout the night, all four agreed that Genessa seemed to be doing better and wondered whether her sudden illness might have disappeared just as quickly as it had come. They had no idea that the reason for her peaceful slumber was the wolf laying in their backyard beneath her window. His body (which was longer than the length of the bed on which she slept) was stretched out along the outer side of the wall Genessa was pressed up against inside and his presence calmed her tremendously.

The wolf whined, hating that he was separated from his mate when she so obviously needed him.

You're doing well, Brady. She'll be fine. Sam coached and the wolf settled a bit at his Alpha's encouragement.

Sam.

Sam.

Boss.

Alpha.

Sammy-boy.

Sam rolled his eyes as his head was filled with his pack.

Ever since Volturi Gate in winter 2006, the wolves had been experimenting with increasing their abilities. They'd gotten stronger, faster, improved their senses and expanded their telepathic connection to the point where each wolf was able to communicate with his – or her, in the case of Leah who was still the only female wolf – Alpha regardless of his or her form. They had also learned to control their thoughts a lot better, but it was kind of like trying to keep a door closed while someone tried to open it from the other side – it required conscious effort to keep a lid on their thoughts, so many of the wolves simply left it open; thankfully, in contrast to the head space they were forced to share when phased, in human form the wolves were only able to access one another when they consciously opened their minds.

What's up?

Billy wants us to remind you you're supposed to be at a meeting.

'Kay, tell him I'm on my way.

Got it.

Sam closed the door on his connection with his other wolves and focused back in on Brady. I'll stay open, so I can hear if you need anything. Just let me know.

Alright. Thanks, Sam.

No problem. Sam gave Brady the mental equivalent of a pat on the shoulder and pushed his link to the younger wolf from the forefront of his mind to the back of his consciousness. It was something like switching from a full volume ringtone to vibrate. It was kind of cool, but it was still pretty weird. Sam finished washing the dishes before wiping down the countertop and coming around the half wall that separated the kitchen from the rest of the great room to tell Emily he was heading out.

"When do you think you'll be back?" She asked and Sam shrugged.

"Shouldn't be more than an hour and a half - two tops."

Emily made a face. It was already 6:30 in the evening. Sam was going to miss putting their son to bed again, and it was one of the rare nights when it was just their family. No overgrown, ravenous teenage boys with hot tempers and bottomless pits for stomachs. Just Emily, Sam, and Kaden. Even though all of the craziness with the vampires had ended nearly two years ago, nights like these were few and far in between. Between the council, the packs, the vampires who liked to make random appearances, and his work as a tribal peacekeeper, it seemed like somebody always wanted a piece of Sam -and Emily was tired of it. She wanted to be selfish and keep Sam all to herself; she wanted to puppy guard him and snap at everyone who tried to take a piece of him - couldn't they tell that they were pulling him apart? - but she couldn't. Sam was an Alpha and Emily was his mate. She couldn't very well fight the hand that fate had dealt them when it had been the thing that had brought them together.

"Alright."

"DADDY!" Kaden burst into the room, running for Sam's legs, but Emily intercepted him and swung the little toddler up onto her hip.

"Daddy has to go see the Council, Kade. Why don't we give Daddy goodbye kisses and then go see what the fuss was about?"

"Okay," Kaden pouted with all the drama of an eighteen month old and dutifully bid Sam a farewell. Sam stooped to kiss the boy's chubby cheek, then Emily's stomach where another one of his pups grew - currently undetectable to all but himself- before raising himself to kiss Emily.

"We'll see you later, Sam. Love you."

"Love you more, Em."

"Hurry back."

"Always."

It physically hurt Sam to walk out of the house and away from his wife and child, especially knowing that his imprint didn't want him to go. Emily hadn't said anything to him, and he knew she wouldn't, but he knew his imprint well enough to know how she felt. Emily had sacrificed so much for him already - her independence, her reputation, her face… she couldn't go on like this forever.

A/N: Alrighty folks, so none of the new wolves made it into this chapter, but I promise you they will be popping up in the near future. If you or anyone you know is interested in being my beta, do let me know. Thank you coming along with me on this journey. I know it's not easy to be a WIP reader, so I value your courage and I will do my best to honor it! Please leave a review to let me know what you're thinking.
Thank you, loves
-Lorrai

P.S. I'll dedicate the next chapter to anyone who can tell me the name of the song Genessa sings here. See ya soon! :P