I walked into the diner, tying my apron around my waist and putting my hair up in a ponytail. My daughter, Adrianne hung onto my pants and waddled with me towards the counter, where I picked her up and sat her on a barstool. My boss smiled at me from the other end of the counter. She was extremely laid back and didn't mind that I would bring my daughter to work. She had a daughter of her own and did the same thing when she was a child. I gave Adrianne a coloring book, my iPod and some crayons and moved over to where the coffee cups and pots were, took two and a pot and poured them for the couple that just sat at the counter. Deb came down from the other end and greeted me.
"Morning, Rachel." Deb was an elderly woman with greying hair and laugh lines. She was slightly taller than me and extremely thin, but amazingly strong at the same time. She was super sweet, and I remember that she was great friends with my mother. "How are you settling in?" Adrianne and I had recently moved back here to La Push from Boston, where I had moved three years ago right after I had her. I had decided to move back for multiple reasons; I missed my family, I wanted to mend the rift that had formed between my brother and I, and I felt a responsibility to my pack.
"Good, thanks. It seems like Dria doesn't even realize we left Boston." I glanced over at my daughter who quietly colored. She was a great kid, very quiet and so low maintenance. Deb chuckled from beside me and I turned back to her.
"That's always good. Well, why don't you take tables 1 through 4 today." I nod and take two glasses of water over to a couple that walked in a few minutes earlier. I made small talk about how their day was going, filled their coffee, took their orders and went back behind the counter. I went up to Adrianne and asked how she was doing, and colored with her for a bit before I heard the door open and a girl came up to the counter. She was pretty, brown haired, pale skinned, average height. The only reason I didn't call her beautiful was because I could smell the cold, sweet scent that came off her. She was a vampire, and the beauty was all a mask to me, so I looked beyond it to what she used to look like as a human. I looked at her eyes. Golden yellow. I instantly knew who she was.
"Good morning, can I get you any coffee or tea?" Why she was here, I wasn't quite sure. She probably wasn't going to eat anything, mostly because it tasted like dirt to her. Bella Cullen looked up at me. Her nose flared and eyes widened slightly, before a smile slowly crept onto her lips.
"Water is fine, thank you." I nodded and went to turn away, but as I suspected, she stopped me. "Its nice to meet you, Rachel." I slowly turned around and nodded, slightly stiffer than needed.
"You too, Bella." I turned away and tended to my other customers. I noticed Bella talking to Deb and Pat, the cook, and stayed to where I was supposed to waitress. When Dria asked for breakfast I got her some pancakes. I walked by Bella and she stopped me.
"Are you going to come by the house soon?" I stopped at turned to her and shrugged.
"Maybe sometime within the week." She nodded.
"Esme told Emmett and Rose you were back in town, and they have been trying to contact you." Yeah, that wouldn't happen because I changed my number after Sam tried to call a few times and figure out where the hell I was. I never answered any of his calls or texts. I literally haven't talked to him since he kicked me out of the house. I didn't tell the Cullen's because once I moved to Boston, I decided I needed a little time to stay away from all that. I would call the house every now and then to check up and keep in touch, but I didn't let anyone have my number. And I explained that to her. "Ah, they aren't going to be too happy about that." I nodded and poured another cup of coffee for a man who sat down at the other end of the counter. As I came back she smiled at me. It seemed fairly genuine. Edward wouldn't marry anything less. So, I decided to ask her. I knew they worked with the pack every now and then, so I decided to check how it was going.
"How's the pack?" She looked at me, pausing for a minute before answering.
"Good, I think." I quirked an eyebrow.
"You think?" She shrugged.
"Well, Jacob Black and the Clearwater's broke off for a bit during the whole thing with the Volturi, but then the pack came together again. Sam always seems tense and a little upset though." I frowned and nodded. Bella didn't know I was actually part of the pack. All she knew was that I was Sams sister. Or, that's what Alice had told me.
"Who is part of the pack?" I asked after I gave a couple their breakfast.
"Jacob Black, Leah and Seth Clearwater, Jared Hall, Embry Call, Quil Atera, Paul Walker, Brady Sky and Collin Pine. And Sam, obviously." Dang, a lot of my brother's old friends had shifted. A few of the guys I knew because of Sam, others because they tormented me in school, like Jacob, Embry and Quil. Yeah, that was fun. I nodded and went back to my job. After a bit, Bella paid and left and I told her that I would be over soon. I wanted to meet her daughter, Renesmee, who was Jakes imprint. So obviously I would see her sooner or later. I had a feeling that she and Adrianne would be good friends.
I stayed the rest of the day and kept Adrianne busy while I earned money to pay off the house. There came a dead time where I sat with Adrianne and colored in princesses, most of hers going out of the lines. Adrianne was my pride and joy. She was the best thing that has happened to me ever since my mother died. Having a child has helped me become what I truly needed to me, and that is the leader of my pack. She had taught me responsibility and the love for family, which was what my pack was, and I knew I needed to get back to them ASAP.
A familiar man rolled into the diner in a wheel chair and as I turned to look at him, I noticed that he was with Bella's father. But I smiled and stood, going behind the counter again and filling two cups of coffee before setting them down in front of the two men. Billy Black looked up at me, his eyes wide with surprise before a crinkled smile filled his face. He leaned up onto the counter and crossed his arms over each other as he looked me over to see how I was doing. He was an old man in a wheel chair that had been for me more times than one. It was good to see him.
"Hello, Billy." He was an old friend of my mothers, I had been calling him by his first name since I could practically talk.
"Rachel Uley. When in the world did you get back in town?" I smiled and got them water.
"Couple days ago. Moved in just on the boarder of La Push." He nodded with a wide smile.
"Dear girl, how are you?" I shrugged.
"Living. Yourself?" He chuckled and shrugged as well.
"Living." Billy, Charlie and I made small talk there at the counter for a bit before Billy looked at me oddly as Charlie went to the bathroom. "Sam hasn't been right since you left, Rachel." I frowned and looked at him, slightly confused. "He isn't meant to lead the pack." I sighed and turned, giving an elderly woman some tea.
"That's why I've come back." He frowned at me, slightly disapprovingly.
"It was a childish move to leave." I turned around quickly and pointed to Adrianne.
"I was sixteen and pregnant and my brother kicked me out of the house. What the hell was I supposed to do, Billy? I had nowhere to go, and no family to turn to." I growled, feeling my wolf step forward and try to push out. I shoved her back. "I did what I had to do." I turned around again and handed the woman the steaming cup of black tea.
"You had an entire pack to turn to."
"No one but Sam and I had shifted yet."
"Jared shifted the day after you went to the cold ones." I sighed and leaned back against the back counter. I crossed my arms.
"Sam seems to have a good handle on things." Billy shook his head violently.
"The pack could be a lot better. He is too stressed. He doesn't pay enough attention to Emily, he is starting a family and he is too stressed. You need to come back. Now." I growled and shook my head.
"Id rather not have my head bitten off by an angry Sam Uley. You remember what happened last time? Would you like to see my back?" When I was 15, Sam had his first change. I tried to get him outside but he shifted and gave me four large scars across my back from my right shoulder to my left hip. They healed, but my back isn't as pretty as it once was. Billy sighed.
"Just talk to him. You may be surprised." A few minutes later Charlie came out and the two left. I sighed and looked over at Deb and she gave me and sympathetic smile. She knew I had family issues and she knew Billy knew about them and was giving me a hard time about them. I sighed and went back to waitressing.
Two hours later I grabbed Dria and brought her out to my jeep and packed her up. I threw my apron into the backseat and pulled my hair from the ponytail and headed back to my house in La Push. I was tired and I needed some sleep. I was never a morning person, so waking up earlier than noon and not having enough time to make coffee, plus having to deal with people always took a lot out of me. I drove home, keeping myself from falling asleep while driving and parked the car in my driveway, bringing Dria inside, sitting her in front of the Dora and passing out on the couch.
I woke up in the middle of the night with Adrianne sleeping on my back. I looked at my phone. It was a little more than three in the morning. I awkwardly shifted onto my back and picked Adrianne up, carrying her gently up to her room and tucking her in, turning on her night light. I closed the door behind her and heading back down the stairs. I knew I wouldn't be able to get back to sleep, so I went out the back door, locked it again and stripped on my back porch. If anyone were watching, it would be a slightly awkward sight.
I closed my eyes and felt my wolf leap forward in excitement. I let her go, let her take over my body as I fell to my hands on the concrete and practically purred in content. I felt my spine elongate to form my tail, felt my jaw move forward for my snout, felt the tickle of fur across my skin and the roughness of paws on my palms. I shook myself out and opened my eyes. Although our wolf seemed to take over, the human mind still had a good hold on them. We let them run, play, even sometimes hunt if we were in the mood for it. But we were always aware and able to pull them in if something were to happen, like a human got to close. We were shifters, rather than weres and had more a human mind than a wolf.
I padded to the forest mouth and turned back to double check the house. Everything seemed fine. I wouldn't be long. I turned and trotted through the brush and ferns before I took off, feeling the damp soil beneath my feet and the humid, salty air run through my fur. I leapt, jumped, ran. It was a great feeling I hadn't felt in a long time. Ever since Dria was born, I had shifted about six times. Once every six months. It was hard, at times I could feel my wolf slipping away from me and that's when I would go out. Being here, I knew I had people to watch her when I went out, I knew people would keep her safe.
I made my way to the cliff tops and walked to the very edge and looked out at the horizon. The clouds covered the moon so it was hard to tell where the ocean ended and the sky began. I remembered jumping off these cliffs all my teenage years. I remembered coming up here with my brother and his friends, diving into the cold, icy ocean waters below. I mentally smiled at the thought. The only time I didn't have a good time up here was when I pissed Sam off and he pushed me off the cliff. I shook my head and turned, padding down to the sandy beaches. The sand was rough against my paws, the water cold and matting my fur against my legs. I trotted down the beaches, the wind pushing my fur against my body and my tongue out to one side. It was nice to have this feeling of slight freedom.
I wish I could do this more often, run with my brother and the pack, come down to the cliffs and go cliff diving again. I missed it so much and now that the pack was bigger, I knew that we could do more. The bigger the pack, the more family-like it felt. And pack was your family. It was my family. A family that didn't know about me.
I turned and headed back into the forest, following the scents home and coming to a halt on my porch again. I shifted, pulled my clothes on and walked into the house, locking the door behind me. I checked on Dria and grabbed some ice cream, settling myself on the couch and passing out after a couple reruns of Jay Leno.