Chapter One:

Valentyne Lexington decided she hated the house from the moment she saw it pulling into the driveway on one rather rainy day. Then again, from what she had heard from her aunt, rainy was far more common than anything else.

The gray clouds that filled the sky caused a weird sort of shadow to form on one side of the house, causing it to be darker than the other. It made the otherwise plain, white house look far more ominous than it really was. The two story house held a looming attic, the one her aunt had told her she had converted into a type of studio to work in after hearing of her accident. The wounded arm, her right one, pulsed with pain. The odd shaped cut, barely healed, was not very nice to look at. How could it? The memories it brought...

"Val? Are you coming?" Valentyne looked up at her aunt already standing in the door way to her home. Val? Really? She hated that nickname more than anything else... until the accident that is. "Yeah, I'm coming," she answered, hating how soft her voice sounded. Maybe it came with being so withdrawn now. Afraid to touch other people. Afraid to reach out. Afraid to be in more pain than she already was.

She reached down and grabbed her rolling suitcase by its handle, letting it extend as she dragged it along the asphalt of the driveway. She lifted it up the steps and let it roll into the house behind her. The inside of the house, like many other houses, was much better than the outside. The inside was far less plain, filled with paintings, framed poems Valentyne recognized as her own and plants, both real and fake. The walls were a splash of color, each color going with another. Blues, reds, purples. Linda was an artist after all. The living room off of the entrance was filled with things Valentyne knew Linda didn't own before she got the news. She had always been told that Linda preferred simple things. Linda only owned the furniture she needed and a television. Now, the living room included everything a home entertainment system needed, including a whole collection of all types of DVD's and CD's, video games and their systems. It was any normal teenagers' heaven. But it wasn't hers.

Valentyne looked at her smiling aunt. She could tell the smile was fake; it was obvious that it was. It didn't even reach her eyes. "Where's my room?" Valentyne heard herself say, feeling miles away. Her room? Not exactly. "Oh, right! Follow me," Linda replied. She led Valentyne upstairs and into a lavender bedroom, complete with a bed, a laptop and a bunch of school supplies. Linda smiled again, even though she probably already knew Valentyne could see right through it, and left Valentyne alone in her new room, closing the door behind her. Valentyne let herself into her aunts' mind; wanting to know what she was thinking and wanting to know if it was possible. 'I need to keep myself together, for Valentyne. I can't let her see me like this,' Linda kept repeating it to herself and Valentyne was suddenly hit by an image of Linda wiping tears away. She left her suitcase by the door and plopped herself on her bed. All of her other things, the things that had been brought before hand, were already put away and the pictures of her family were already around the room. She sighed, letting herself stretch out on her bed and close her eyes. Maybe this place would be what she needed to move on. It was a small town after all, how bad could it be?

Paul through his head back, roaring with laughter at his friends' joke. Jared had been his best friend for a long time, it was made all the better by him also being part of the 'pack'. So far, it consisted of him, Jared and Sam Uley, the alpha. Sam suspected one of the local boys were also turning, Embry Call who had been gone for a few days already. Sam had made frequent visits to the boys' house, hoping to be able to explain what was happening to both Embry and his mother. No one knew who Embry's father was but no one really cared anymore. Other than Embry himself that was. Paul knew what it was like to be without a father but, much unlike Embry who hung around Quil Ateara and Jacob Black, he also knew how it felt to be angry at his father. Embry didn't have much to be mad about, he didn't know his father, probably never would. Paul however, had a lot to be mad about. His father had left them, his mother and himself, without so much as a goodbye. He had only been twelve, but it contributed to his quick temper. No one but Jared knew that so far.

The most annoying part of being in the pack was the shared mind. When he had found out, he had been hit with an image of Emily, Sam's girlfriend, making cookies. He had been shocked, but Sam had reiterated what Billy Black had told him. The bond of the pack. Since then, he was far more careful of the things he let himself think about in the wolf form, especially when Sam and Jared were also phased. Something Paul realized happened more and more to help Paul calm down from whatever had made him angry. It had been more than annoying having them in his head at that time, but he knew he would simply have to get used to it. If Sam was right, more of the Quileute around the reservation would change.

He didn't want to dwell too much on that fact.

Of course, like any teenage boy, Paul had hormones. Hormones he acknowledged through intense make out sessions with the Quileute girls around and some one night stands. He had had more before the change, having discovered the joys of sex at 13 without being tied to one girl. He had enjoyed it but news of possible "imprinting" had died that joy down considerably. Who in the world wanted to be tied down to one girl forever? He grew more careful about the girls he chose, making sure to look into their eyes first to make sure he wasn't accidently using his very own imprint.

So sue him, he wanted that. More than anything. Someone who would never leave him. Someone just like what Emily was to Sam. Of course, he didn't want to dwell on the scars that ran down half her beautiful face (it isn't like he needed Sam to know that much was true). The disfiguring accident had been chalked up to a bear attack but no one but the current pack and Emily herself knew what had really happened. That Sam had let his anger get the best of him, that he had phased and harmed his imprint in a moment of rage he simply could not control.

That was what Paul wanted to avoid most. But his anger made that difficult. He couldn't help but dwell on the fact he could harm his imprint. Harm the one thing that would become most important to him. That was what put him off of imprinting, what made him begin being with the same few girls... well, more than few, who he had already been with. All involved knew he didn't do relationships and didn't bother thinking they could change him. They went with the flow, didn't bother him unless they wanted to do something. Of course, that something was always sexual in nature. Not intimate like the peaks into Sam's mind showed he was with Emily, just sexual.

Fear, though he would never admit it, stopped him from wanting the imprint. Fear made him hope he wasn't one of the "lucky" ones to do so.

Valentyne looked at the schedule Linda had picked up for her. She wasn't officially starting school until she felt she was "ready" as Linda had put it. She set the schedule down on the desk that held her new laptop and school books. The boredom was starting to get to her already. City girls just weren't made for small towns but Valentyne shook that thought from her head. She'd have to be a small town girl now. It was better than the alternative, better than going back or uprooting her aunt from her home and livelihood.

She let herself touch the bandaged wound on her arm. She winced from the pain but then sighed. Linda had told her she had made an appointment with a hospital so a doctor could take a look at her arm to give her the go ahead to attend school. She had just found herself nodding her head at Linda, unpacking her only suitcase and staring down at the schedule she had received from her aunt.

Forks was different than San Francisco, Valentyne was hardly oblivious to that fact. It seemed behind somehow, the subjects were all things she had taken back home. She would simply have to get used to that fact. Forks was all she had now. No matter how boring the place would turn out to be. Getting under her covers, Valentyne began to ready herself for her doctors' appointment the next day.

Hopefully it wasn't going to be as bad as her last hospital visit.

Author's Note: Here you go, the first official chapter. Two and a half pages, over 1,000 words and so far, only two pack members. No Cullens yet, but they'll be introduced after Val attends school. Thank you for your patience. Next chapter will be coming as soon as I'm done with my other stories' chapters. Check my profile for updates.