Chapter One
Leah Clearwater was livid. Her entire body shook as she banged on the door of the Larson Manor. She had wanted to come months ago. But every time she pictured the large, grey stone house she suddenly found herself standing on four legs, covered in grey fur. Now she had the control be here. She had to have the control to be here.
The front door finally creaked open. Leah took a few steps back to take in the sight before her.
The girl was young. Or at least the girl was younger than Leah. She was technically a woman now at eighteen. She was made up as she always been; high heels, fresh designer clothes, perfectly made up face, and shining, deep red curls. She stared back at the cooper skinned woman on her porch with wide hazel eyes.
"What are you doing here, Leah?" the girl asked.
Those words hit Leah in the chest like bullets. She had never been asked that before. She had always been welcome at the Larson Manor. Hell the family didn't even have to be home for her to get through the door.
"You're leaving," Leah said. It wasn't a question. Still the girl nodded. "When were you going to tell me? I had to hear it from Brady!"
The girl raised an eyebrow. "Tell you? It's not exactly like you've been interested in my life these past two years."
Shudders raced through Leah. For once she was thankful that Jake had Alpha ordered her not to phase. But with the more time that passed the less sure Leah was that she'd be able to obey.
"You know shit has been crazy," Leah snarled.
The girl shrugged. "Yeah, and? That's the same excuse everyone has used." The girl dropped her eyes to the ground. "I've called everyone every day. None of them have ever answered. Not even you. The only ones that have stood by me are Collin and Brady. So yeah I told them I was leaving instead of you."
Leah was growling now. The girl trembled in her doorway. Leah closed her eyes, placing a finger and thumb on the bridge of her nose. She took deep breaths. She needed to calm down before she made another mistake.
"Why don't you just go home Lee Lee," the girl said. Leah's head snapped up. The girl never used that name. Not unless she was trying to push the older girl away. "Just go back to Sam."
Everything suddenly clicked into place. Why her best friend of sixteen years couldn't look her in the eye. Why she had stopped coming to the house. And why she had never told Leah that she was leaving for college on the other side of the country tomorrow morning.
"You think this is about Sam?" Leah asked. She already knew the answer but she wanted to hear the girl say it.
"You've always been pretty good at choosing him over me," the girl replied.
Leah saw the tears rolling down the girl's cheeks. They were silent but she could see them glistening on the girl's tanned skin.
Guilt raced through Leah. This was not how she wanted to end things. She had come to make up. She had come to get her sister and bring her back home. She should just open her mouth and apologize. Angie wasn't the type to hold grudges. If Leah could just tell her she was sorry, Angie would not doubt welcome her back with open arms.
Leah just couldn't find the words.
"Fuck you Angelica!" Those three little words tumbled out of Leah. They hung there in the air. Angie said nothing, staring down at her shoes. "Have a nice life."
Leah Clearwater turned her back on the red headed girl. She leapt down the porch steps. Without glancing back she took off down the road. If she had bothered to look back she would have seen Angelica Bianca Barron opening her mouth to call her back.
~ Oh My ~
The last time I had stepped foot in La Push, Washington I had been sixteen years old. I had never planned on it being my last. It just kind of happened. But even after six years the thought of stepping foot on the reservation made my skin crawl with a cold sweat. And my eyes sting with unshed tears. This certainly was not how I had imagined I would come back.
Sam Uley's front yard was littered with cars. Lights blared from every window in the house. From where I sat in my Jeep Patriot I could just barely make out multiple shadows of people moving about inside. I knew that wasn't where the party was at. Even with my engine running I could hear the music and voices roaring from the backyard. The entire reservation had to be here.
I looked at the clock glowing on the dash. The party had started about an hour ago. I was only supposed to be half an hour late. I'm sure Aunt Connie is throwing a fit right now. To her being anything later than being ten minutes early meant you were late. It had been her idea for me to be a surprise. As much as I would really love to make her sweat just a little bit more I knew I should get my ass inside.
I did one last check of my make-up in the review mirror. With nothing smudged I moved on to fussing with my hair. I've always had a nervous habit of examining every little detail of my look. It gives me confidence to be well dressed.
My deep red curls were loose and silky. My hazel eyes were outlined by perfectly applied eyeliner. My naturally tan skin was free from blemishing but beginning to take on a pink glow as I thought of all the faces I was about to see. Not wanting it to be noticeable I grabbed my dark sunglasses that covered half my face.
Pocketing my keys I slipped out of my car. From what I could tell no one was lingering around the cars. But still I crept past the vehicles, throwing glances over my shoulder. Aunt Connie may not kill me over being late but I'll definitely be put six feet under if I ruin her grand surprise.
Creeping up the porch steps, I peek through the front window. I didn't think he would be in the house but I had to make sure. My suspicion was right. There were no men in the house. The Uley kitchen was full of nothing but women.
I slipped in through the front door, trying to close it silently behind me. I thought I did a pretty good job. I couldn't even hear the click of it closing. When I turned around I was greeted by Aunt Connie's famous crossed arms and glare.
"Well it's about damn time Angelica," she scorned.
I was getting ready to apologize when Aunt Connie started to smile. She threw her arms around me, pulling me into a tight hug. Squeezing her back I sighed deeply. She smelled of rain and cherries like she always has.
Pulling back I took in her long, black hair that was free of its usual braid. It was so wavy and almost reached her waist. Her light brown eyes were surrounded by laugh lines. Her russet skin was just beginning to show her age. Still she was just as beautiful as she always been.
"I'm so glad you're here Angie," she said.
I smiled and kissed her cheek. "And I'm here for a long time."
Aunt Connie dropped her arms and shooed me towards the backdoor. I glanced over at the other women gathered in the kitchen. I recognized most of them. All those I did know looked surprised to see me. I didn't blame them. Only one of them was beaming at me, opening her arms for a hug. I shot her a sad look.
"I'll be right back to love on you," I told her. "I have to surprise Collin before he finds out I'm here. Or…" I threw a glance over at Aunt Connie, "someone is going to kill me."
The woman laughed. She had been at the receiving end of Aunt Connie's wrath more than once.
Reaching the backdoor, which was wide open, I hide off to the side. I peeked out at the backyard trying to spot my younger cousin. He was standing far off towards the edge of the party. He was talking to two mountain sized men with his back was to me. Perfect.
Collin Littlesea was on a rant. He has been ever since he turned eighteen. Now that he was an adult he felt that he could take on more responsibility with pack duties. Of course the first time he brought it up Sam had told him no. He told Collin that he had to finish school first.
Well now Collin was all graduated. In fact right now was his graduation party. Well his joint graduation party with his best friend, Brady Fuller. So he had cornered Sam, along with Jacob Black, to talk them into letting him do more for the pack.
The two Alphas stood tall and wide. Sam Uley had more of a stoic look to him. His face always set into hard, stern lines. Jacob Black had the same authoritative voice as Sam. But his overall look was softer than the older man's.
Both Alphas agreed that Collin had proven himself over and over again. He did as he was told without question. He even volunteered to help out Jake when Sam allowed him. It wasn't Collin's attitude or work ethic that was stopping the two men from giving him what he wanted.
Connie Littlesea was not usually an intimidating woman. The majority of the time she was a sweet, mother like figure to all. When it came to her own children, Connie was a true mother bear. When she got wind that Collin wanted to take a larger role in the pack she had marched into the Uley house, held Sam by the ear, and told him no. She didn't want her son throwing away his future for the pack. He had to go to college.
Sam folded his arms over his chest. Collin huffed. He knew that meant his alpha was done talking to him. So Collin turned to Jake who had his hands shoved in his pockets. He was studying the ground but that didn't stop Collin from launching into his well rehearsed speech.
Sam looked over Collin's head. He had just caught sight of someone coming out of his house. She had wild red hair that tumbled down her shoulders. And she was by far overdressed for the party. Most of the people mingling around the yard were wearing t-shirts and jeans. The pack was in their usual cutoffs. She had on a flowing white shirt that hung off her shoulders, tight red pants, and black heeled ankle boots. Could she even see anything in those sunglasses? When she caught Sam staring, she placed a finger on her lips and pointed at Collin.
Sam watched as the girl quickened her steps. She bent her legs and leapt into the air, aiming for Collin. With the boy's heightened senses and quick reflexes, she didn't quite make it. Collin spun around, outstretched arm catching the girl in the chest and knocking her to the ground.
"What the fuck Collin?" the girl gasped. The hit had clearly knocked the wind out of her.
"Oh shit. I'm so-," Collin began to apologize. When his eyes landed on the girl he knocked over his face lit up. "Angie!" He pulled the girl from the ground and crushed her in a hug. "I didn't think you were coming."
Free from her cousin's grasp, Angie stepped back and smoothed out her clothes. Her eyes roamed over Collin. He had grown so much in the past year. He only used to be half a head taller than her. Now she barely reached his shoulders in heels. Since when had the boy gotten so muscular?
"Your mom thought I'd made a good surprise, cousin," Angie said.
Sam frowned. He had known Angie for what seemed like most of his life. She had always been around when they were younger. Leah, his ex-girlfriend, and her had been attached at the hip. Not once in all that time had he ever heard Angie refer to Collin as her cousin.
"You two are related?" Sam asked, his booming voice causing Angie's head to snap in his direction.
Angie's face broke out into a large smile when she saw Sam. That only made Sam's frown deepen. Angie had never exactly been his biggest fan. When he left Leah for her cousin, he sincerely thought Angie was going to make an attempt to end his life.
"Hi Sam," Angie greeted.
Sam noticed that she dug her fingers into Collin's arm. She turned her head toward Jacob. Both of their faces twisted into a look of disgust. Angie gave him a friendly nod. Jacob mumbled something about finding someone before walking off.
"Um, yeah," Angie said, turning back towards Sam. "We're cousins. Our dads were half brothers."
Sam cocked his head in thought. He knew Kevin Littlesea had a couple of sisters that had moved off the reservation. He couldn't remember him ever having a brother. Not even a half brother.
"Why does no one know that we're related?" Angie asked Collin, smacking the boy on the arm.
Sam let an amused smile play on his lips when he saw Angie shaking her hand. He looked at Collin waiting for the answer.
The young pack member shrugged. "Probably because Grammy thinks you're a disgrace."
Angie nodded slowly. "You're right." She whipped her head around. "Speaking of family disgraces, where's-?"
Before Angie could finish her question she found herself being rolled in the dirt. It took a moment for her to realize that here was an abnormally hot body clinging to her. Sam looked down at Brady Fuller as he hugged a struggling Angie. Collin shot a glance at his alpha before diving onto the pile. As the two boys forced Angie to take part in their excitement over having their favorite cousin home, Sam slipped away. Angie may have smiled at him but that didn't mean she was genuinely happy to see him.
~ Oh My ~
Jared Cameron and Paul Lahote were taking bets. They had been watching the whole exchange between Collin and the alphas. They knew Sam wanted to put Collin on more patrols. He thought it was time for the younger boys to do more. Sam wanted to give the older pack members a break. Especially considering Jared was planning on proposing to his long term girlfriend, Kim Conaway. As they watched Sam cross his arms over his chest they knew he was taking Connie's threat seriously.
Paul cursed under his breath. He had put his 'money' on Sam to be the one to crack. Jacob seemed to be honestly considering whatever it was Collin was saying to him. If he agreed then Paul was going to owe Jared a week worth of patrol shifts.
"No fucking way."
Paul turned his head toward Jared. His fellow pack member's jaw had gone slack and his eyes were wide. Paul followed his line of sight to find a red headed girl bouncing across the yard. There was something familiar about the swaying hips and plump ass.
"She's back."
Paul looked back at Jared to find him grinning. Before he could ask who she was, Jared was calling out to Seth. The younger boy was in the middle of stuffing his face. He looked up at Jared before grabbing the bowl of chips and jogging over.
"What's up Jared?" Seth asked, plopping himself down in an empty chair.
Jared punched him in the shoulder before pointing to the poor girl that was being attacked by the young pups. Seth sighed and tossed the empty bowl away. He rubbed his hands on his legs before turning to face the still grinning Jared.
"We're probably the last people she wants to talk to," Seth said. "I mean when did you event talk to her last? Cause I haven't talked to her since my dad's funeral."
Jared's face fell. He had remembered seeing Angie at Harry Clearwater's funeral. But he had never spoken a word to her. In fact Jared couldn't recall saying anything to her since he started hanging out with Sam. Angie had been like a sister to him since he was four and she asked him to eat a worm. With one order from Sam, Jared cut her out of his life.
Seth jumped as Jared suddenly stood, his hands trembling. Paul rolled his eyes and took a long drink from his beer.
"Tell Kim I went for a walk," Jared growled out, disappearing into the woods.
Paul studied Seth. The younger boy was looking longingly at the dog pile still rolling around on the ground. The girl was finally broke free from the boys. She stood over the two of them trying to straighten her clothes. Paul cocked his head and gestured across the yard.
"Who is that, Seth?" he asked.
Seth ran a hand through his hair. "That's Angie, Paul."
Paul inhaled sharply. He had never met Angie personally. Due to sharing a telepathic link with his pack brothers, he had seen several memories of her played out in his mind. She had been a huge part of the pack's life before they all phased. With Sam's gag order in place none of them were able to tell her why they suddenly could no longer speak to her.
"Well shit," Paul said. Seth nodded in agreement.
This night was going to be disaster.