Nudge The Quileute

by Maleficent-darkgoodwitch2416

Nudge is half-Quileute and has the werewolf gene. How will this affect the flock? Embry rejoins the flock, after he left them a few years earlier, and the rest of the story follows the Maximum Ride plotline.

2. Angel'skidnapping,thefirsttimeIphased,me

Chapter 1

Angel's kidnapping, the first time I phased, meeting and defying Sam Uley, Embry Call joining me, when I imprinted on Iggy, telling the rest of the flock, except for Angel, the Quileute legends, and planning how to rescue Angel.

Nudge's POV

I felt my one and only older "sister," Maximum Ride, but we, my other "siblings" and me, none of us, except for the Gasman and Angel, are really related, just call her Max, shaking me awake and heard her say something that somewhere along the lines of "Hey, sweetie, up and at 'em. Breakfast in ten," I think. What, I was still asleep, so how can you expect me to actually know what she had said. I forced my eyes open and struggled to focus on her face. I was still half-asleep and managed to sleepily mumble, "Wha'?" After Max said, "It's another day. Get up and face it," with a great deal of groaning, I slowly pulled myself upward into a crumpled but still technically upright position. Then I glanced over at Angel and secretly wondered how she somehow manages to wake up and be so full of energy. Then I smiled as I remembered that right from the moment I first met her, I had loved Angel, everyone in the flock, that is my family,—Maximum Ride, Max, Fang, Iggy, me, (Nudge), the Gasman, Gasser or Gazzy, and Angel—had loved Angel when she first joined our little family. When Angel first joined the flock, there had been already six members of our group, but the oldest, Ed, had disappeared, soon after she came to the School, which scared the rest of us, especially when we heard that he was dead. I slowly got dressed, fought to get my entirely unmanageable, wild, out-of-control, shiny, and long black hair into my usual ponytail. I'm half Quileute and I've known this for the past four years. My dad, Jeb, when we first escaped from the School, told me that I was 50% Quileute, 48% African American, and 2% bird. He had done a bunch of research on the Quileute legends and bought a book of legends off the internet and I read each legend every night, until I could recite them from memory—700 times. Once, I told Iggy that if I ever got the chance, I would love to hear legends, from another member of the Quileute tribe, at La Push, this little Quileute Native American Reservation on the beach, fifteen miles south of the rainy town of Forks, Washington, after accidentally telling him I loved him. What I was half out of it. I then trotted downstairs, and then I smiled when I smelled scrambled eggs being made. I love Iggy's cooking. Iggy might be blind, thanks to the sicko whitecoats, who "took care" of us when we were younger, but he is a really good cook and my best guy friend in the world. I sat down on the old, beat-up couch, which we've had forever, and then I gagged. I glared at Gazzy, who quickly apologized. I grinned at Gazzy, to show him that I accepted his apology, who then sat down next to Angel at the kitchen table and then I sat down, two seats away from him. I always did this. This way, Iggy could sit next to his two best friends, without having to choose. As soon as Max and Fang, along with Iggy, all three carrying the six breakfast plates, joined me and the two youngest members of the flock, Gasser and Angel, we all started chatting animatedly amongst ourselves, like we did, every single morning. Sometime during the meal, Angel firmly said, "I want to go pick strawberries. They're ripe now." Gazzy said, "Okay, Angel. I'll go with you." Then he let loose and boy did it stink. Fang said, "I'm done," and quickly cleared his area of the table, Iggy grabbed his throat, gasped out, "Gas mask," and pretended to choke, Max said, "Oh, jeez, Gazzy," Angel groaned, and I pinched my nose closed. Gazzy apologized, but it didn't really help with the stench. With a pointed glare at Gazzy, I said, "I'll go too. I think the fresh air will do us all good." Then Max said, "We'll all go." It was a really nice day outside, perfect for some flying practice, and we were driving each other crazy, like siblings will. I think that the funniest part was when Gazzy used Iggy's voice and pointed out Max's lack of cooking skills to Angel. That's about when Angel shrieked in terror. Terrified and angry that we had been found, I glanced around me rapidly, and that's when I saw the Erasers, wolf-men hybrids, appearing to jump from something in the air, possibly one of the choppers, that I had seen when I was back at the School. When Max attacked the Eraser nearest her, I did the one thing that made sense to me, I began to fight as many of the creeps as I possibly could, but during the fight I couldn't stop myself from crying, because I was scared and hurting. I was still trying to learn how to ignore the pain messages that I received. I felt two Erasers grabbing my hands and feet and swing/throw me through the air and I hit my head against a tree. I blacked out almost immediately afterward, barely managed to yelp out "Ow," before everything went black. Later, I weakly pushed myself into a sitting position and looked around for the rest of the flock. Struggling to my feet, I limped over to the rest of the group and we quickly set out to rescue Angel. We caught up with the Erasers and while they were moving Angel from the dirty Hummer, we had been following, to a chopper, we would grab her back. That didn't exactly happen. Fang attacked the first Eraser to emerge from the Hummer, and got hurt. Then a second Eraser threw a grenade at me and Iggy, and grabbing Iggy's hand, I screamed and we pulled back, and up and away. He got away unharmed, but I got a burn on my cheek. Max tried to rescue Angel from Ari, but when she couldn't grab the sack, she leapt into the air, grabbing the landing skid of the chopper, and she let go when she saw Angel shake her head free of the sack and Ari tightened his grip on the trigger of the gun he was holding. I was crying, because it wasn't fair that Angel had to go back to the School, and then I started shaking. Backing away from my friends, with my hands out, trying to tell them to stay back, I exploded. I heard Fang say, "Did they Eraserify Nudge, but we never notice?" Turning, I ran away, scared that my friends would hurt me. Iggy followed me and said, "Relax Nudge, I won't hurt you." Then I heard the voices in my head. I stopped running, and tilted my head to the side to concentrate on the voices. I heard one voice say, "Who are you?" I quickly thought back, making up the name on the spot, "Monique Amanda Black." Someone else said, "My name is Sam Uley, and you can't be Jacob's cousin. She died eleven years ago." Blinking back tears of anger, I snarl/thought back at this Sam guy, "I am Monique Amanda Black and I did not die eleven years ago. I have no idea what you're talking about." Sam then said, "Come to La Push and we'll explain everything there." I asked, "Do you mean tell me the legends, for the first time of my life and everything and you'll take me to my uncle's house and I'll finally have a family that I'm actually related to and..." "Yes. Now shut up. And we'll sort out this mess about you." "You're a big meanie." Realizing that Sam wouldn't let me explain, I snarled at him, my voice carrying this double timbre of authority that I recognized from Max's voice, "The son of Levi Uleydoes not tell the daughter of Ephraim Black what to do." Then all the voices were gone, except for one who said, "Remember me? My real name is Embry Call, but the nickname you guys had given me had been Edwin, or Ed for short, because I liked that name, and I'd escaped from the School, the year before Jeb helped you and your friends escape." "Oh, yeah. Why can I still hear you, but not anyone else?" "I want to stay with you, because that way I don't have to hide my wings." Then I saw Iggy and I found myself staring at him. "Uh, Embry, what just happened?" "Monique, I think you just imprinted." "Imprinted? What does that mean?" "You found your soulmate." I sent Embry an image of our E-shaped house, and then ran home, but stopping to lick Iggy's cheek. I met Embry there and I crawled through the open kitchen window. "Okay, Monique, take deep breaths and shake your head back and forth. I'll be outside if you need me." Then I was a human again and I ran to my room and changed into some clean clothes. I also pulled out the book of Quileute legends, from where I hid it, and went back to the field, where I had left the others. Embry was there, frowning when he learned that Angel had been taken back to the School, from Max, who had returned to talk to Fang, who was about to tell her that I had been Eraserified while at the School. I flipped to the two legends about Taha Aki and handed the book to Max, telling her and the others, except for Embry, who already knew these stories, to follow along in the book, and then began reciting the first of the two stories that told how the Quileutes first gained the ability to turn into giant wolves and how the magic of the Quileutes first began with the spirit warriors and the summary of the meeting of the Cullens and the original Pack, before Embry, Sam, Jared, Paul, and anyone who would join the Pack including my cousin, Jacob, his second cousin, Quil, maybe the two Clearwater kids, or those weird twins, Collin and Brady, that liked to bug Embry, before he became a werewolf and joined Sam's gang, and then my flock, which is where he belongs, because he'll fit in better with me and my genetically enhanced family, and me, the Alpha wolf, of my pack, whether Sam likes it or not, which he probably doesn't because apparently he had been a werewolf the longest out of anyone else, but I can't leave Iggy or the rest of the flock. They're too important to me. They are my family, and Iggy's my soulmate, which I did not see coming, because Iggy had been like a brother to me for the past four years of my miserable, short, painful, complicated, dangerous, secret, hidden, and deadly life of being a Quileute werewolf/African American adolescent, hunted, on the run, in hiding, trying to stay alive, trying to survive, struggling, suffering, weak, scared, frightened, terrified, hurting, and who knows when I'll drop over dead on my expiration date which may come at anytime kind of birdkid, or a child who is either 95% human and 5% bird or 98% human and 2% bird, like me and the rest of the flock—Ed, Embry, Max, Fang, Iggy, me, Nudge, Gazzy, and his little sister, Angel, the youngest member of our group/family unit. Ed suggested that someday we go to La Push and hang out and if someone asked what our group was, we'd call it a cult, and unlike Sam's gang/cult, we wouldn't accept any new members. While we were at La Push, we would only hang out with each other, and hunt down any wanted criminals, who have escaped from jail or something else to keep our friends safe, and keep all the innocent people whose lives were put in danger, because of the Erasers who would probably be following us, so they could kill us and keep the rest of the world from finding out that we even exist. I really find that the Erasers are kind of annoying and that they, along with the whitecoats need to find a new hobby, besides hunting us, attempting to kill us, and turning innocent children into these sick human/animal combinations, some of which still give me nightmares, even after being out of the School for four years. Ed took over as leader, with Max and Fang helping him keep the rest of us under some form of control, because if we were allowed to, we would go crazy and stir up trouble, like blowing up the School, or something like that, or worse, murder the whitecoats, like Reilly. Hopefully, someday, we'll get the opportunity to free all of the experiments that the whitecoats had created, at least the ones who will have a chance at survival in the outside world, longer than a few hours, or a few days, or a few weeks, or a few years. I mean the experiments that will last longer than just six years, like the Erasers, or maybe even longer then we, the flock, have survived so far and will survive singly or as a group unit.

"The Quileutes have been a small people from the beginning, and we are a small people still, but we have never disappeared. This is because there has always been magic in our blood. It wasn't always the magic of shape-shifting — that came later. First, we were spirit warriors. In the beginning, the tribe settled in this harbor and became skilled ship builders and fishermen. But the tribe was small, and the harbor was rich in fish. There were others who coveted our land, and we were too small to hold it. A larger tribe moved against us, and we took to our ships to escape them. Kaheleha was not the first spirit warrior, but we do not remember the stories that came before his. We do not know who the first to discover this power was, or how it had been used before this crisis. Kaheleha was the first great Spirit Chief in our history. In this emergency, Kaheleha used the magic to defend our land. He and all his warriors left the ship — not their bodies, but their spirits. Their women watched over their bodies and the waves, and the men took their spirits back to our harbor. They could not physically touch the enemy tribe, but they had other ways. The stories tell us that they could blow fierce winds into their enemy's camp; they could make a great screaming in the wind that terrified their foes. The stories also tell us that the animals could see the spirit warriors and understand them: the animals would do their bidding. Kaheleha took his spirit army and wreaked havoc on the intruders. This invading tribe had packs of big, thick-furred dogs that they used to pull their sleds in the frozen north. The spirit warriors turned the dogs against their masters and then brought a mighty infestation of bats up from the cliff caverns. They used the screaming to aid the dogs in confusing the men. The dogs and bats won. The survivors scattered, calling our harbor a cursed place. The dogs ran wild when the spirit warriors released them. The Quileutes returned to their bodies and their wives, victorious. The other nearby tribes, the Hohs and the Makahs, made treaties with the Quileutes. They wanted nothing to do with our magic. We lived in peace with them. When an enemy came against us, the spirit warriors would drive them off. Generations passed. Then came the last great Spirit Chief, Taha Aki. He was known for his wisdom, and for being a man of peace. The people lived well and content in his care. But there was one man, Utlapa, who was not content. Utlapa was one of Chief Taha Aki's strongest spirit warriors — a powerful man, but a grasping man, too. He thought the people should use their magic to expand their lands, to enslave the Hohs and Makahs and build an empire. Now, when the warriors were their spirit selves, they knew each other's thoughts. Taha Aki saw what Utlapa dreamed, and was angry with Utlapa. Utlapa was commanded to leave the people, and never use his spirit self again. Utlapa was a strong man, but the chief's warriors outnumbered him. He had no choice but to leave. The furious outcast hid in the forest nearby, waiting for a chance to get revenge against the chief. Even in times of peace, the Spirit Chief was vigilant in protecting his people. Often, he would go to a sacred, secret place in the mountains. He would leave his body behind and sweep down through the forests and along the coast, making sure no threat approached. One day when Taha Aki left to perform this duty, Utlapa followed. At first, Utlapa simply planned to kill the chief, but this plan had its drawbacks. Surely the spirit warriors would seek to destroy him, and they could follow faster than he could escape. As he hid in the rocks and watched the chief prepare to leave his body, another plan occurred to him. Taha Aki left his body in the secret place and flew with the winds to keep watch over his people. Utlapa waited until he was sure the chief had traveled some distance with his spirit self. Taha Aki knew it the instant that Utlapa joined him in the spirit world, and he also knew Utlapa's murderous plan. He raced back to his secret place, but even the winds weren't fast enough to save him. When he returned, his body was gone. Utlapa's body lay abandoned, but Utlapa had not left Taha Aki with an escape — he had cut his own body's throat with Taha Aki's hands. Taha Aki followed his body down the mountain. He screamed at Utlapa, but Utlapa ignored him as if her were mere wind. Taha Aki watched with despair as Utlapa took his place as chief of the Quileutes. For a few weeks, Utlapa did nothing but make sure that everyone believed he was Taha Aki. Then the changes began — Utlapa's first edict was to forbid any warrior to enter the spirit world. He claimed that he'd a vision of danger, but really he was afraid. He knew that Taha Aki would be waiting for the chance to tell his story. Utlapa was also afraid to enter the spirit world himself, knowing Taha Aki would quickly claim his body. So his dreams of conquest with a spirit army were impossible, and he sought to content himself with ruling over the tribe. He became a burden — seeking privileges that Taha Aki had never requested, refusing to work alongside his warriors, taking a young second wife and then a third, though Taha Aki's wife lived on — something unheard of in the tribe. Taha Aki watched in helpless fury. Eventually, Taha Aki tried to kill his body to save the tribe from Utlapa's excesses. He brought a fierce wolf down from the mountains, but Utlapa hid behind his warriors. When the wolf killed a young man who was protecting the false chief, Taha Aki felt horrible grief. He ordered the wolf away. All the stories tell us that it was no easy thing to be a spirit warrior. It was more frightening than exhilarating to be freed one's body. That is why they only used the magic in times of need. The chief's solitary journeys to keep watch were a burden and a sacrifice. Being bodiless was disorienting, uncomfortable, horrifying. Taha Aki had been away from his body for so long at this point that he was in agony. He felt he was doomed — never to cross over to the final land where his ancestors waited, stuck in this torturous nothingness forever. The great wolf followed Taha Aki's spirit as he twisted and writhed in agony through the woods. The wolf was very large for its kind, and beautiful. Taha Aki was suddenly jealous of the dumb animal. At least it had a body. At least it had a life. Even life as an animal would be better than this horrible empty consciousness. And then Taha Aki had the idea that changed us all. He asked the great wolf to make room for him, to share. The wolf complied. Taha Aki entered the wolf's body with relief and gratitude. It was not his human body, but it was better than the void of the spirit world. As one, the man and wolf returned to the village on the harbor. The people ran in fear, shouting for the warriors to come. The warriors ran to meet the wolf with their spears. Utlapa, of course, stayed safely hidden. Taha Aki did not attack his warriors. He retreated slowly from them, speaking with his eyes and trying to yelp the songs of his people. The warriors began to realize that the wolf was no ordinary animal, that there was a spirit influencing it. One older warrior, a man named Yut, decided to disobey the false chief's order and try to communicate with the wolf. As soon as Yut crossed to the spirit world, Taha Aki left the wolf — the animal waited tamely for his return — to speak to him. Yut gathered the truth in an instant, and welcomed his true chief home. At this time, Utlapa came to see if the wolf had been defeated. When he saw Yut lying lifeless on the ground, surrounded by protective warriors, he realized what was happening. He drew his knife and raced forward to kill Yut before he could return to his body. 'Traitor,' he screamed, and the warriors did not know what to do. The chief had forbidden spirit journeys, and it was the chief's decision how to punish those who disobeyed. Yut jumped back into his body, but Utlapa had his knife at his throat and a hand covering his mouth. Taha Aki's body was strong, and Yut was weak with age. Yut could not even say one word to warn the others before Utlapa silenced him forever. Taha Aki watched as Yut's spirit slipped away to the final lands that were barred to Taha Aki for all eternity. He felt a great rage, more powerful than anything he'd ever felt before. He entered the big wolf again, meaning to rip Utlapa's throat out. But, as he joined the wolf, the greatest magic happened. Taha Aki's anger was the anger of a man. The love he had for his people and the hatred for their oppressor were too vast for the wolf's body, too human. The wolf shuddered, and — before the eyes of the shocked warriors and Utlapa — turned into a man. The new man did not look like Taha Aki's body. He was far more glorious. He was the flesh interpretation of Taha Aki's spirit. The warriors recognized him at once, though, for they had flown Taha Aki's spirit. Utlapa tried to run, but Taha Aki had the strength of the wolf in his new body. He caught the thief and crushed the spirit from him before he could jump out of the stolen body. The people rejoiced when they understood what had happened. Taha Aki quickly set everything right, working again with his people and giving the young wives back to their families. The only change he kept in place was the end of the spirit travels. He knew that it was too dangerous now that the idea of stealing a life was there. The spirit warriors were no more. From that point on, Taha Aki was more than either wolf or man. They called him Taha Aki the Great Wolf, or Taha Aki the Spirit Man. He led the tribe for many, many years, for he did not age. When danger threatened, he would resume his wolf-self to fight or frighten the enemy. The people dwelt in peace. Taha Aki fathered many sons, and some of these found that, after they had reached the age of manhood, they, too, could transform into wolves. The wolves were all different, because they were spirit wolves and reflected the man they were inside. Some of the sons became warriors with Taha Aki and they no longer aged. Others, who did not like the transformation, refused to join the pack of wolf-men. These began to age again, and the tribe discovered that the wolf-men could grow old like anyone else if they gave up their spirit wolves. Taha Aki had lived the span of three old men. He had married a third wife after the deaths of the first two, and found in her his true spirit wife. Though he had loved the others, this was something else. He decided to give up his spirit wolf so that he would die when she did. That is how the magic came to us, but it is not the end of the story.... That was the story of the spirit warriors. This is the story of the third wife's sacrifice. Many years after Taha Aki gave up his spirit wolf, when he was an old man, trouble began in the north with the Makahs. Several young women of their tribe had disappeared, and they blamed it on the neighboring wolves whom they feared and mistrusted. The wolf-men cold still read each other's thoughts while in their wolf forms, just like their ancestors had while in their spirit forms. They knew none of their number was to blame. Taha Aki tried to pacify the Makah chief, but there was too much fear. Taha Aki did not want to have a war on his hands. He was no longer a warrior to lead his people. He charged his oldest wolf-son, Taha Wi, with finding the true culprit before hostilities began. Taha Wi led the other five wolves in his pack on a search through the mountains, looking for any evidence of the missing Makahs. They came across something they had never encountered before — a strange, sweet scent in the forest that burned their noses to the point of pain. They did not know what creature would leave such a scent, but they followed it. They found faint traces of human scent and human blood, along the trail. They were sure this was the enemy they were searching for. The journey took them so far north that Taha Wi sent half the pack, the younger ones, back to the harbor to report to Taha Aki. Taha Wi and his two brothers did not return. The younger brothers searched for their elders, but found only silence. Taha Aki mourned for his sons. He wished to avenge his sons' death, but he was old. He went to the Makah chief in his mourning clothes and told everything that had happened. The Makah chief believed his grief, and tensions between the two tribes ended. A year later, two Makah maidens disappeared from their homes on the same night. The Makahs called on the Quileute wolves at once, who found the same sweet stink all through the Makah village. The wolves went on the hunt again. Only one came back. He was Yaha Uta, the oldest son of Taha Aki's third wife, and the youngest in the pack. He brought something with him that had never been seen in all the days of the Quileutes — a strange, cold, stony corpse that he carried in pieces. All who were of Taha Aki's blood, even those who had not been wolves, could smell the piercing smell of the dead creature. This was the enemy of the Makahs. Yaha Uta described what had happened: he and his brothers had food the creature, who looked like a man but was as hard as a granite rock, with the two Makah daughters. One girl was already dead, white and bloodless on the ground. The other was in the creature's arms, his mouth at her throat. She may have been alive when they came upon the hideous scene, but the creature quickly snapped her neck and tossed her lifeless body to the ground when they approached. His white lips were covered in her blood, and his glowed red. Yaha Uta described the fierce strength and speed of the creature. One of his brothers quickly became a victim when he underestimated that strength. Yaha Uta and his other brother were more wary. They worked together, coming at the creature from the sides, outmaneuvering it. They had to reach the very limits of their wolf strength and speed, something that had never been tested before. The creature was as hard as stone and cold as ice. They found that only their teeth could damage it. They began to rip small pieces of the creature apart while it fought them. But the creature learned quickly, and soon was matching their maneuvers. It got its hands on Yaha Uta's brother. Yaha Uta found an opening on the creature's throat, and he lunged. His teeth tore the head off the creature, but the hands continued to mangle his brother. Yaha Uta ripped the creature into unrecognizable chunks, tearing pieces apart in a desperate attempt to save his brother. He was too late, but, in the end, the creature was destroyed. Or so they thought. Yaha Uta laid the reeking remains out to be examined by the elders. One severed hand lay beside a piece of the creature's granite arm. The two pieces touched when the elders poked them with sticks, and the hand reached out towards the arm piece, trying to reassemble itself. Horrified, the elders set fire to the remains. A great cloud of choking, vile smoke polluted the air. When there was nothing but ashes, they separated the ashes into many small bags and spread them far and wide — some in the ocean, some in the forest, some in the cliff caverns. Taha Aki wore one bag around his neck, so he would be warned if the creature ever tried to put himself together again. They called it The Cold One, the Blood Drinker, and lived in fear that it was not alone. They only had one wolf protector left, young Yaha Uta. They did not have long to wait. The creature had a mate, another blood drinker, who came to the Quileutes seeking revenge. The stories say that the Cold Woman was the most beautiful thing human eyes had ever seen. She looked like the goddess of the dawn when she entered the village that morning; the sun was shining for once, and it glittered off her white skin and lit the golden hair that flowed down to her knees. Her face was magical in its beauty, her eyes black in her white face. Some fell to their knees to worship her. She asked something in a high, piercing voice, in a language that no one had ever heard. The people were dumbfounded, not knowing how to answer her. There was none of Taha Aki's blood among the witnesses but one small boy. He clung to his mother and screamed that the smell was hurting his nose. One of the elders, on his to council, heard the boy and realized what had come among them. He yelled for the people to run. She killed him first. They were twenty witnesses to the Cold Woman's approach. Two survived, only because she grew distracted by the blood, and paused to sate her thirst. They ran to Taha Aki, who sat in counsel, with the other elders, his sons, and his third wife. Yaha Uta transformed into his spirit wolf as soon as he heard the news. He went to destroy the blood drinker alone. Taha Aki, his third wife, his sons, and his elders followed behind him. At first they could not find the creature, only the evidence of her attack. Bodies lay broken, a few drained of blood, strewn across the road where she'd appeared. Then they heard the screams and hurried to the harbor. A handful of the Quileutes had run to the ships for refuge. She swam after them like a shark, and broke the bow of their boat with her incredible strength. When the ship sank, she caught those trying to swim away and broke them, too. She saw the great wolf on the shore, and she forgot about the fleeing swimmers. She swam so fast she was a blur and came, dripping and glorious, to stand before Yaha Uta. She pointed at him with one white finger and asked another incomprehensible question. Yaha Uta waited. It was a close fight. She was not the warrior her mate had been. But Yaha Uta was alone — there was no one to distract her fury from him. When Yaha Uta died, Taha Aki screamed in defiance. He limped forward and shifted into an ancient, white-muzzled wolf. The wolf was old, but this was Taha Aki the Spirit Man, and his rage made him strong. The fight began again. Taha Aki's third wife had just seen her son die before her. Now her husband fought, and she had no hope that he could win. She'd heard every word the witnesses to the slaughter had told the council. She'd heard the story of Yaha Uta's first victory, and she knew that his brother's diversion had saved him. The third wife grabbed a knife from the belt of one of the sons who stood beside her. They were all young sons, not yet men, and she knew they would die when their father failed. The third wife ran toward the Cold Woman with the dagger raised high. The Cold Woman smiled, barely distracted from her fight with the old wolf. She had no fear of the weak human woman or the knife that would not even scratch her skin, and she was about to deliver the death blow to Taha Aki. And then the third wife did something the Cold Woman did not expect. She fell to her knees at the blood drinker's feet and plunged the knife into her own heart. Blood spurted through the third wife's fingers and splashed against the Cold Woman. The blood drinker could not resist the lure of the fresh blood leaving the third wife's body. Instinctively, she turned to the dying woman, for one second entirely consumed by thirst. Taha Aki's teeth closed around her neck. That was not the end of the fight, but Taha Aki was not alone now. Watching their mother die, two young sons felt such rage that they sprang forth as their spirit wolves, though they were not yet men. With their father, they finished the creature. Taha Aki never rejoined the tribe. He never changed back to a man again. He lay for one day beside the body of the third wife, growling whenever someone tried to touch her, and then he went into the forest and never returned. Trouble with the cold ones was rare from that time on. Taha Aki's sons guarded the tribe until their sons were old enough to take their places. There were never more than three wolves at a time. It was enough. Occasionally a blood drinker would come through these lands, but they were taken by surprise, not expecting the wolves. Sometimes a wolf would die, but never were they decimated again like that first time. They'd learned how to fight the cold ones, and they passed the knowledge on, wolf mind to wolf mind, spirit to spirit, father to son. Time passed, and the descendants of Taha Aki no longer became wolves when they reached manhood. Only in a great while, if a cold one was near, would the wolves return. The cold ones always came in ones and twos, and the pack stayed small. A bigger coven came, and your own great-grandfathers prepared to fight them off. But the leader spoke to Ephraim Black as if he were a man, and promised not to harm the Quileutes. His strange yellow eyes gave some proof to his claim that they were not the same as other blood drinkers. The wolves were outnumbered; there was no need for the cold ones to offer a treaty when they could have won the fight. Ephraim accepted. They've stayed true to their side, though their presence does tend to draw in others. And their numbers have forced a larger pack than the tribe has ever seen. Except, of course, in Taha Aki's time, and so the sons of our tribe again carry the burden and share the sacrifice their fathers endured before them."

Max closed the book and looked up at me, and said, "Nudge, what these stupid spooky stories have to do with you?" "Max, guys, everyone, I'm not who you think I am. I am Taha Aki's great-granddaughter, and who knows how far back in my ancestry he is, and I have the wolf gene. Once, Max, I would have agreed with you about these stories being stupid and scary, but they're not. They're all true." "Uh, so when you're a wolf, how are we supposed to talk to you?" "Angel." "Let's go home guys, and start planning Operation Rescue Angel." We went home, and I curled up on the couch and started crying. Iggy was howling and sweeping his hand across the kitchen counter, sending a mug flying into Fang's head. "Watch it idiot," Fang snarled at Iggy. Them remembering that Iggy was blind; he looked up at Max and rolled his eyes at her in anger and extreme frustration. Snapping, Iggy yelled, "You watch it? I mean, you can see, can't you? Why couldn't you get Angel?" Gazzy yelled back, "They had guns and a chopper. We're not bulletproof." Max yelled at all of us, "Guys! Guys! We're all upset. But we're not the enemy. They're the enemy." Then she calmly told us, "Just—be quiet for a minute, so I can think." Iggy came and sat on the couch next to me, and I put my head on his shoulder, after all of that arguing. He was stroking my hair, and then I sat up weakly and said, "They could have killed Angel, or all of us, if they wanted to. They had guns. They wanted Angel alive for some reason. They didn't care if we were alive or not. I mean, they didn't go out of their way, to make sure we were dead, is what I'm saying. So that makes me think we can go after Angel again." "But they were in a chopper. They're way gone. They could be anywhere, like China or something," Gazzy reminded us. Max told us, "I don't think they took her to China, Gazzy." Then Fang bleakly said, "We know where they took her." "Where's that?" Iggy asked terrified. Max and Fang looked at each other and then looked us, and said, "The School." Horrified, I gasped and put my hand over my mouth. Gazzy looked scared, but then tried to hide it. Iggy stiffened, and Embry shook his head back forth. "After four years. I thought maybe they had forgotten…" "They'll never forget about us. Jeb wasn't supposed to take us out of there." "If anyone ever found out what they did to us, it'd be the end of the School?" "Well, why don't we tell on them? We could go to a tv station and tell everyone and say, "Look, they grew wings on us and we're just little kids and…" "okay, that would fix them, but we'd end up in a zoo." "Well what are we gonna do?" Fang returned with a pile of faded, and chew-up papers. When he shook some mouse poop off, I wiped my nose on my sleeve and said, "Ew. Ew, was that?" Then he pulled a map on how to get to the School and Max told Iggy and Gazzy to stay behind. Turning, I faced Embry and said, "Stay here and protect Iggy. I can't lose him." Embry nodded and then I turned and faced Iggy. "Iggy, I know you're upset. But I agree with Max. Losing you would be the only thing that it would hurt me to lose. As long as I know you're safe, I can handle anything." "Okay, Nudge. Promise me you'll be careful." "I will. I love you, Iggy." "I love you, too, Nudge." With those last goodbyes, Max, Fang, and I flew into the sunset to save Angel from the horrors of the School.