Only At Night
Chapter Two
Siblings
Author's Notes: I know it's not compulsory or anything for you guys to leave a comment, but it would really help me know if this story is worth writing because then I would also know if people are actually reading it. I'm saying this because I got quite a number of hits for the first chapter but got only one review. (Thanks for being the first ever reviewer, Kagomae.)
Anyway, I've totally ignored the disclaimer, haven't I? I own only the plot and the characters you won't recognize from the books, not that there'll be too many OCs. I also changed the rating, because the previous one was limiting me. Here's the story now and enjoy :)
* * *
Sa POV
"Are you going to be a spoiled little Alpha queen and sulk there all day?"
A round of laughter and giggles erupted from almost everyone present, and a deep rumbling sounded from my chest as I growled, staring daggers at nothing in particular from where I sat on a chair, facing the forest that was our backyard with a beer in hand. I took a swig, not appreciating my fiancé's sense of humor. At any other day it would have been one of the things I adored about Emily Young, but today wasn't just one of those days.
"That wasn't funny." I spat, taking another swig of beer. "And yes, I'm going to sulk here all day because I'm not going to prepare anything for that slut's daughter." I added, anger lacing the second to the last word I'd uttered. Someone gasped from inside the house – Sue Clearwater, if I was correct – and then someone was stomping outside where I was on the back porch in a matter of seconds, slapping me upside the head. It didn't hurt; I didn't even budge.
"Sam!" my fiancé exclaimed, and I looked up to find her giving me a reproachful look, her eyes narrowed dangerously and her hands on her hips. This was not good – my Emily was always so mild mannered. But at the moment my anger over the situation and everything really was clouding everything, and I didn't particularly pay any attention to what my mouth was spewing. "Don't you dare say that again; she's your sister!"
"Half sister," I corrected coldly, resuming to glaring at nothing in particular as I took another sip of my cold beer. It was the only thing keeping me near sane at the moment. "And why shouldn't I? If the bitch who bore that kid who's going to be living here now wasn't a slut, why did she seduce a married man?"
Emily sighed patiently, but I knew she was about past my childishness. We'd been at this for at least a week now. Ever since my manwhore of a father announced that the daughter he had with another woman long ago was coming to stay in La Push with him, us, after being put legally under his care due to the mother's death, I'd seen nothing but red. Emily had been trying to make me see reason for seven days straight, but I don't think I wanted to be sensible about the entire thing. I'm sure no one was going to blame me for acting the way I was doing now, because you just didn't allow a complete outsider to walk into your life, an outsider whose mother was partly responsible for your unhappy family. You just didn't.
There was another sigh, this time less patient as my fiancé spoke in a barely composed voice. She was getting annoyed, but I was furious so her own laid back anger was harmless and unimportant compared to mine, at least where I was concerned.
"The stranger that you're referring to is named Aiyana, and you're not going to mess up her first day in La Push by being a brat." A hand found itself on my shoulder, and Emily applied a little pressure upon it as she squeezed. "Sam please. You're not going to punish your sister because your dad and her mom committed stupid mistakes."
I sighed and had nothing to say to that as Emily walked back inside for the rest of the preparations for this girl's, Aiyana's arrival. Finishing my beer, I just wanted nothing more than to phase and run around in wolf form until she disappeared from my life, but that wasn't anytime soon. This was going to be her new, permanent home. Whether I liked it or not, she was going to live with me and my dad.
Wasn't it bad enough that she existed? I took it well, as much as I could like a real man, when I first found out that I had a half sister who was years younger than I was with one of my dad's many women. I'd had a few outbursts, expected ones mind, and then I got past it and moved on. But this was another story. Fate was pushing her luck way too much – I wasn't going to freely accept this girl into my life just because she was orphaned and put under my dad's list of legal responsibilities.
I was literally seeing red and shaking by now, and was on the verge of phasing right on our back porch when Emily's voice rang from inside the house. She was talking to everybody, including me, and the cheerfulness in her voice calmed me somewhat. It was a little unsettling however, that she was so eager to meet this half sister of mine. I sure wasn't.
"They're here."
Yes, they were. I could hear the car coming up the driveway; hear the gravel crunching underneath the moving car tires. Emily called out again, this time to me. "I said they're here Sam. Greet them at the doorway." And I found myself huffing in anger before I was entering the house and doing as I was told like a pathetic puppy. I heard a car door being slammed closed, and then another as I headed for the window to spy on my dad and the intruder before they could get in. I could smell her now – she was a new scent, one I was going to smell very often from then on. Swatting the annoying curtains obscuring the view in front of the house aside, I looked outside and found a girl standing with her eyes closed under the rain just beside my dad's car.
I scrutinized her appearance – there was no doubt she was Quileute, although she had distinguishing features that suggested she was only half. Her skin wasn't as dark as everyone else's in this town, although she had the same dark hair. She was exceptionally tall as well. I felt my anger flare. Overall, she had inherited a lot of the Quileute genes.
Suddenly she opened her eyes and my gaze met hers. Aiyana Brown. My seventeen-year-old half sister. The product of one of my father's sordid affairs with other women, despite the fact that he had such a loving wife and a son. I began shaking violently, and before I ruined the house with my lack of self control which I had not lost in a very long time, I turned around and ran back the way I came from – out the back door and into the forest to the sound of ripping and the shredding of clothes.
No one stopped me, and I was thankful. It would have been foolish if anyone tried.
* * *
A POV
My heart was a thudding mess; everyone in La Push could probably hear it beating erratically in my chest as I began walking towards the house I was going to be staying in from now on with Samuel. And maybe they could – most of them had to be congregated in the Uley household because there were more than enough cars parked on the way. Surely Samuel and his son didn't own too many so… there had to be other people in the house but… why?
Looking up at Samuel questioningly, he laughed at my horrified reaction after realizing that I had been eyeing the other vehicles parked along the way. He clapped my shoulder lightly. "Did you really think we weren't going to prepare something for you on your arrival?" He pulled me closer, and he was so fatherly at that instant that I found myself plagued by distant memories of Christmases spent with my dark Santa as a mere child. My chest constricted, as it had been doing so the past few days.
Thankfully, Samuel's booming voice brought me back to reality – although his words did nothing to help my emotional stability. "I hope you don't mind that we made dinner. It's still a little early for eating, but I'm sure no one's going to complain. I know you're not going to – that is if you still have my appetite and I would presume you do. And besides it's your homecoming so a little get together is normal."
I managed a small smile, and I found myself touched at the gesture. He didn't have to do this, but he did and I was on the verge of tears because of it. Or maybe I was still being overly sensitive, after everything that happened. Either way, I was barely able to control my tear ducts. "No, I don't mind." I replied, trying to tame my rapidly shortening breath. I was not going to embarrass myself by bawling. "Thanks Samuel."
We reached the porch and Samuel awkwardly placed a kiss on my forehead, one arm around my shoulders and the other on the doorknob. "Of course kid. Let's go in and introduce you to everyone then."
He opened the door and ushered me inside, and I prepared myself to have my entire world changed at that instant – but in more ways than one, I would not realize until later.
As we stepped inside, I instantly knew that the outward appearance of the house had served its purpose of fooling me. The weathered, rustic look outside did not reflect indoors. It was decent, if a little small – but decent. It gave the impression of warmth… just like home, I thought without knowing where that came from. I put off scrutinizing the house for later. At that instant, my gaze found a small group of people, all similar with regard to skin tone, hair color and, for the males, body built, all either eagerly or curiously watching me as I stopped by the doorway with Samuel. The men startled me in particular; I would have cowered back in surprise, if my dad hadn't been holding me firmly in place. The guys were huge, like pro wrestlers.
"Hey everyone, we're back. This is she; my daughter, Aiyana."
Oh how casually my dad put it, and I internally winced. It was as though I wasn't illegitimate, as though he didn't have his son from his real family here in the same room as I was. I smiled weakly and raised a tentative hand to wave hello, before the women were fussing over me and I was being introduced to everyone and everyone was introducing themselves to me.
"Aiyana! It's nice to finally meet you. I'm Emily Young – I'm your brother's, Sam's fiancé."
"Oh hello dear. My name's Sue Clearwater."
"That's Paul, Jared, Brady, and Collin. Boys, say hello."
"Hey! What about us! Hi, I'm Embry. That's Jacob. You must be Aiyana?"
"Thanks for leaving me out of the introductions guys. Hey Aiyana, I'm Quil. And this little girl is Claire – Claire, say hi to Aiyana."
"Hi, I'm Rachel and this is Rebecca. We're Jake's – Jacob's – sisters."
And on, and on, and on – I noticed the flurry of tall, muscle toned men more than anything else, because they exceeded the women and normal men in number, and I was getting kind of dizzy. By the time the introductions were over and done with, I had about more than ten names I knew I needed to keep in mind. The welcome was warm (except for a certain group – Paul, Jared, Brady, and Collin were sort of stiff around me) and I was glad that most of my worries were for nothing but…
But the one name I was sure I would never forget, my brother's name… none of the introductions mentioned the name Sam at all. He hadn't come up to introduce himself, and was nowhere to be found when the hesitant thought of introducing myself to him instead came to mind. I looked around, but he wasn't in the room. Where was he? I was pretty sure he was the one I saw looking out the window earlier… had he left? That disheartened me, more than anything.
It wasn't like I wasn't expecting this of course, but it was still very disappointing…
"Are you hungry Aiyana?" my musings broke apart when one of the women, Sue if I remembered correctly, came up behind me and wrapped an arm around my shoulder. Without waiting for me to answer, she was already leading me toward the kitchen where almost every countertop was laden with dishes of food: steaks, mashed potatoes, baked potatoes, whole chickens, corn, barbeques… I gawked at the amount present, and since I didn't bother to hide my surprise, Sue noticed.
Laughing at my reaction, she went off to explain. "I know, there's a lot right? We have quite a number of growing young men here, thus the need for a feast."
She shoved a plate on my chest and gave me a motherly smile as I nodded. As if that explained everything and it didn't. "Anyway, the girls first, or else we risk starving. Come along Aiyana."
I didn't understand at first, and I turned to my dad questioningly. He was only watching me with a grin as he winked, and since everyone felt whatever Sue said explained everything, I began piling my plate with a little bit of everything and more than enough mashed potatoes, leaving it at that. It was only when the girls finished getting their share of the meal and the boys began attacking the dishes did I finally understand.
I was glad I got more than enough, which was normal for me (I guess I did have Samuel's appetite), because by the time they were done, barely anything was left. I laughed a little as I watched a few of them bicker over a chicken leg, the last piece of steak, and left over mashed potato, and wondered then if I would ever fit in… I certainly felt the extent of how much I was an outsider at that moment.
And this feeling of being an alien intensified all the more when someone walked in, wearing a pair of shorts and nothing else – looking so intimidating, with that unreadable expression on his face. My heart stopped beating when my dad addressed the young man who walked in from the back door.
"Sam! Finally, where have you been?" Samuel approached his son, my half brother, and threw an arm around his shoulder. He steered him towards me, and I had to force down the steak I was chewing because suddenly I couldn't swallow. "Sam, this is your sister Aiyana. Aiyana, your older brother Sam."
I looked up at him and tried to smile, again raising a tentative hand for a wave. He just looked down at me for a full five seconds. And then he nodded, turned around, and headed to Emily who already had a plate filled with food waiting for him. My heart cracked, and then turned to dust. I took a deep breath and held it in as my gaze met my dad's apologetic ones.
Damn, I needed a cigarette.
* * *
Author's Notes: Okay, I lied. Not only will reviews let me know if people are reading my story, it'll also make me happy. So please take the time and drop one. Thanks.
