Alrighty. Here's the second installment of the series. May I just say, ECLIPSE COMES OUT TOMMOROW!!! HUZZAH! I'm so excited, but a bit torn. The end chapters of this fic have already been written, and I'm sure that my fic's plot line wont follow the book's. Just so you know. DON'T FORGET TO REVIEW!

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"I don't think you understand that I'm saying no for your benefit." Sam Uley said calmly in his kitchen. It was surprisingly not taking a great deal of effort to not explode. The way this girl spoke and phrased things was slightly manipulating. He honestly felt compelled to listen to what she had to say and take it into consideration. He obviously had to take it into consideration, the fact that she knew about them was a mighty bit of leverage, but her arguments were solid. It was becoming more and more difficult to come up with a reason she shouldn't be a surrogated member of their pack.

Grace sighed. She was tired of being charismatic, but if legends meant anything at all she knew she'd have to keep the pack leader calm if she were going to get her way... which she was determined to do.

"Sir, I am able to comprehend what you're telling me." She gnawed on her lip for a second while trying to pull words out of her head. She was having just about the same amount of trouble that Sam was. Her arguments were getting harder and harder to make. "And it's not that I don't care about the inevitable danger, it's just that I'm sure I've faced much worse."

"Worse?" Sam said, whipping back like he was avoiding an attack. "What's worse than a pack of exploding men?"

Grace bit her lip and all eyes fell on her. She didn't look at any of them; afraid of what secrets her eyes might give away. Than it hit her. Her eyes snapped up to Sam. "You keep this pack a secret, right?"

He nodded and opened his mouth to reply but Grace cut him off with her hand in the air. "You do good things though. Things that deserve awards and praise, but you keep it a secret. You've done that to protect your pack. I'm guessing that you've sworn them to secrecy. Correct?"

Sam nodded his head and quirked an eyebrow at her. He wasn't really following her train of thought.

"Well, that's what I'm doing. I'm protecting myself and the people that I used to be with. I have a secret that I would probably be killed for." She took a breath, satisfied with her argument. "Please don't ask me to explain."

Sam held her gaze, edgy about the entire situation. The only thing that he was completely sure of was that he was that he was going to have to kill Jacob for exposing them. He had to hand it to the idiot though. He couldn't have picked a better person to reveal their secret to. She was handling it all very well.

"I need a place to stay." Grace said again. Remembering Jacob's reaction she added, "It's not black-mail, it's just a fact."

Sam still looked at her. He was having mixed feelings about her. There was the sympathy he felt for her not having a home, and then there was the fear of her well being while just being in his house. There was also a bit of suspicion about who she had been with before La Push. Was she another Bella?

He sighed. Sam was the alpha, but this should be the decision of the pack. He looked at Emily and then at Grace. "You stay with Emily." He turned to Jacob. "You come with me."

Jacob winced a little. No more house. No more Emily. No more Grace and her weird way with words.

In short, he was royally screwed.

XXX

Grace sat back on the couch and twiddled her thumbs. She hadn't moved . Her heart beat thumped loudly in her ears. She had done all she could have done. There was nothing she could do. She had presented her argument, and all she could do was hope that they liked it. Or, liked her rather.

Emily, who had been buzzing around her house doing house-wife-like things, sat down next to Sarah and looked at the girl with wonder. Emily had found out that her boyfriend was a werewolf but had stuck with him because she loved him too much to care. Sarah had seen a werewolf transformation and was completely fine with it. What's even more atypical was that she wanted to stay around the werewolves despite the danger that her scar represented.

When Grace had come in, she had sort of stared at Emily's face. By now, Emily was used to it. The way that Grace had looked at her was in a curious way. She had cocked her head to the side and looked between Jacob and Emily and then moved on. Emily knew that people who knew her liked to tell newcomers of her condition, but considering the look of 'Oh shit, I forgot something.' On Jake's face, Emily didn't think that Grace had known beforehand.

Emily opened her mouth to talk to Grace but for a second nothing came out. When words came to her, she said. "I don't want to jinx it, but I think that they should let you stay."

Grace looked up at Emily, unsure if she wanted to be kind and cool or just push her off with the first thing that came to her mind ("It's not like they have much of a choice.").

She opted for a smile and a nod in Emily's direction.

Honestly, Emily was bit surprised at her lack of talking. When she was talking with Sam and Jacob, her mouth had nearly never stopped. Of course, that was when she was trying to win an argument. But Emily wasn't one to let her mental questions go unanswered.

"You seem a lot quieter." Emily maneuvered around the coffee table and sat down next to the petite blonde.

Grace didn't look up at Emily. She just sat there and watched herself twiddle her thumbs. "Thinking." Was her only reply.

"About what?" Emily asked. This girl made her curious. There was something about her that made Emily want to ask questions. She was sure that Sam had noticed it too, and she was pretty sure that that was why he was even considering letting her stay. Well, that and the fact that they should probably keep her close to make sure she didn't blab.

"Everything that's on my mind." Grace said without thinking of an answer.

"Such as?" Emily probed.

It was then that Grace looked to Emily. She stopped twiddling her fingers and folded them in her lap. "Well, werewolves for one. How I never even thought that the legends weren't really legends. Seems quite silly now." Grace giggled at herself. "Silly, and somewhat exciting. I thought that I was done with exciting and dangerous, but I guess not." It was at this point that Grace realized she was rambling. She decided to keep going since Emily had asked for it. "I like this kind of sort of danger a lot more. It seems safer and more fun." She sighed and shrugged. "And of course I'm thinking about the life I left when I ran away. What they're doing, if they miss me, are they looking for me, will they ever think to look here. I'm also thinking that if werewolves exist, there must be more than that…" She paused; looking for a way to eloquently put what she wanted to say but gave up with a shrug. "That kind of stuff."

If Emily was being honest with herself, she really hadn't been expecting her to answer and for her to answer it truthfully. Nodding, she gained a level of respect for the newcomer. Most people wouldn't have answered and brushed it off with some witty replies. Emily was sure that Grace could come up with some, but she'd answered her even though it was clear that she didn't really want to.

That was when heard the familiar elephant-like rumble of the pack young werewolves into the back door of the house. Patting Grace's knee, she stood up. "That'll be the boys."

Grace stood too, now quite nervous. She knew she was good at making/winning arguments, but she always felt like there was something that she had missed and that because of it, her argument would fail.

She followed Emily closely into the kitchen where the boys had all gathered around the tiny table. Seeing them made her even more nervous. The boys looked at her, and she hid her hands behind her back to try and hide the fact that they were trembling.

Her eyes fell on Sam. Being the alpha, she expected that he would be the one to break the news to her. She sucked in her breath at the same moment that he did and held it until his voice filled the kitchen. "You still don't seem to understand the danger."

Oh lord. Another argument. Hoorah for distractions.

The thing was, Grace did feel like she understood. Keeping company with supernatural creatures always came with bodily harm. It was unavoidable. "But I do understand that you're trying to warn me, and it's much appreciated. But I'm going to get into danger anyways." Grace gave herself a mental 'meh'. Her argument was weak. So much for being good at it.

Sam, however, seemed defeated. Despite the fact that wasn't making the best points of her life, she hadn't budged on her subject. It had reminded him, and the rest of the pack, of Bella. That situation had ended badly because Bella had already grown attached to vampires. From what Grace had told them, and the reaction he saw her having to Jacob when they had first met, she hadn't even had dealings with vampires before. It was possible that she was lying, but something in her eyes screamed that she hadn't spoken a lie since they had met.

Whether it be that he could see that Emily liked Grace, or that he was glad to see Jacob seemed to be moving on from Bella, or if it was simply because he was intrigued by her secret, Sam didn't know. But he had decided that the petite blonde could stay with them.

The silence hung over them as Sam worked out his pros and cons. He took a final glance around the room, scanning all the faces and finally landing on Emily's. For a second he reconsidered his decision, not wanting the same fate for Grace that had befallen Emily. But if the two were anything alike, he would have to know that there was no stopping either of them once they had made up their mind.

Sam returned his gaze to Grace and said softly, "You can stay."

Grace blinked twice before smiling widely. "I can?" She asked excitedly.

"Yes, you can." Sam said, defeated.

Jacob looked in between the two of them once and on the second time he caught Grace's eyes. He was beginning to wonder where she was going to stay.

Grace could care less. She was completely absorbed in trying to keep herself together. The obvious effort she was putting into keeping herself calm made Emily smile. It would be very nice to have another girl around.

Emily eventually asked the imminent question that was on everyone's mind, but actually hadn't been thought of while the wolves were running. "Where is Grace going to stay?"

Grace blinked around the room. Suddenly realizing that she had stumbled onto a pack of wolves completely composed of males. Where was she going to stay?

Sam turned to Jacob immediately, and Jacob realized that Grace was going to be his punishment. He really couldn't complain about it though. He was the one that hadn't checked before exploding.

The person in question didn't actually like the prospect of staying with Jacob. She wanted to be with the other girl in the wolf pack. The only other girl. She sneaked a glance at Emily, who smiled down at her and patted her back in a comforting manner.

The unspoken arrangement was sealed when Grace dutifully left Emily's side and Joined Jacob's. The entire ordeal made Grace anxious and she didn't know why. She had been okay with the whole thing before she knew that there were more wolves and a girl she could connect with. Hell, she didn't even want to connect with Emily at the beginning.

She mentally kicked herself for being so stupid and sexist.

Living with a man couldn't be that much different than what she had grown up with (which was a bunch of girls of all ages cooped up in one institution). And if it was, she would just have to get used to it.

Or not.