Seth's POV

Maggie's face swam through my consciousness along with her sweet and simple words: "I'm here." I dreamed that she found and cared for me, holding my hand and guiding me through the pain toward healing. This is what carried me through until the smell of bacon somehow broke through into my muddled brain and I woke up. I blinked several times to clear my eyes and looked around at the familiar features of my bedroom. I had no idea how I got here. The last thing I had been aware of was dragging my body through the forest.

I rolled onto my side and groaned with the effort. My body ached and felt old but I pushed through the pain to sit upright. My sister Leah poked her head through the door and gave me a rare smile.

"Finally. Now you can shower and rid the house of that stench." She said.

I rolled my eyes. "I love you too, sis."

"Mom, it's alive." She called down the hallway before stepping into the doorway.

"How long was I out?" I stretched carefully and felt my left leg for tender spots.

"Two days. But at least you're on time for mom's Monday morning breakfast extravaganza. She has been staying here since they brought you home and she was kind enough to move the feast here this week. They aren't expecting you at the shop today but you'll probably want to stop by and catch up on the latest gossip anyway."

"Is there some new drama I should be worried about?"

"No, nothing more exciting than you revealing the pack's secret to your imprint Friday night."

"I was trying to figure out if that was a dream or not." I admitted and finally stood up. I put a little pressure on my leg to test the break and it felt surprisingly good. "So, how mad is Embry?"

Leah turned to lead the way to breakfast. "He's actually not too mad. After Brady filled him in on what happened during your patrol, I think he's just glad you didn't get yourself killed. Plus your girl Maggie seemed to handle everything really well even after you freaked her out. Collin told me she was really worried about you getting better."

I couldn't stop the smile that spread across my face at hearing that as we walked into the kitchen. "She was worried about me?" I leaned in to kiss my mom's cheek as she tended the pancakes on the stove.

"I'm glad you're okay baby. Now eat up and get some energy back." Mom said, pointing at the piles of food on the table just waiting for us. I didn't need to be told twice and loaded up my plate quickly. My stomach was growling so loud I figured they could hear it clear on the other end of La Push.

"He's alive!" Embry cheered as he let himself in and saw me at the table. "Everyone will be so relieved. Especially Brady; he's been trying to figure out how to make it up to Sue here if you died."

"It's not his fault I'm an idiot and rushed into a fight. He had his own leech to take of." I said around a mouthful of eggs.

"It could have been any of us. I mean, who's run into twins like that before? If it was me, I would have gone in guns blazing just like you before I knew what was happening. Brady showed us the thoughts you sent him that night and we agree that we would have been fooled too." He began filling his own plate. "And you really didn't leave much for us to do besides clean up. The second leech was injured and freaking out over the pieces of his brother, so he was easy pickings by the time we got there."

I just grunted and kept eating. I had really messed up this time and I didn't want to dwell on it too much. Sure, I was glad that even through the pain and everything I had seen Maggie again, but bringing her into the secret this way was definitely not what I would have done given the choice. Maggie. What did she think of me now? She had been shown too much too fast – too much of me. Sure, nudity wasn't really an issue with the pack anymore, but I didn't exactly strut around naked with them either.

"Is little Sethy blushing?" Embry's voice broke into my thoughts.

"Have either of you seen Maggie since Friday night?" I asked. Embry elbowed me with a knowing grin while my sister came to my rescue.

"I haven't exactly seen her myself, but Quil said that Claire went over to see her Saturday to assess damage and then Maggie spent part of Sunday over at Claire's. They're turning into real buddies or something." She put a forkful of pancake in her mouth.

"So she knows everything?" I asked.

Embry nodded and swallowed. "When we went to pick you up I talked to her a little and found out that she saw you phase back to human. Somehow she dragged your sorry butt into the house and laid you on a spare bed. She even had the decency to cover you up."

"How freaked out was she?"

"She took it all a little too well at first, but that may have been the shock talking. Claire has been filling her in on the finer details of shape shifting and helping her adjust the last two days. I'd say you owe her one."

I nodded. "Does she know about imprinting?"

"I think they told her about the basics and she's been around Quil and Claire for two days, so she has some idea. You know that it's up to you to tell her your feelings." He leaned forward and set down his fork. "Is that why you went there that night? For her?"

I shook my head. "I don't know. I think so. I was hurting and I couldn't hear anyone or see anything. I hadn't even started healing yet and I was losing a lot of blood. And then I heard her voice and dreamed that she held my hand and took care of me. That's when I felt something change and I stopped bleeding and started to heal. I thought it was a dream until I woke up."

Leah stared at me open-mouthed and mom stood still watching me with her spatula dripping eggs on the floor.

Embry cleared his throat. "That's definitely a new one. But like any imprint, there won't be anything normal about the two of you anymore."

"As if he ever was normal." Leah scoffed. My sister was back.

"So, am I officially in trouble, O Great Alpha?" I asked Embry as I filled up my plate for the second time.

He grinned. "I like that title. Maybe you should use it all the time from now on." Leah smacked his arm.

"I'm not calling you that." she said.

"Not even in bed?" he smirked and she glared at him.

"None of that talk in the kitchen." Mom demanded.

"No you aren't in trouble. But I don't want you patrolling for at least a week to get all your strength back. Just put in some extra hours at the garage and we'll call it good." Embry said.

"So, do you have any good advice for telling someone they are your soul mate?" I asked.

"You're asking me? I'm in avoidance mode, remember?"

"Right. Do you know where Jared is?" I asked with a grin.

"Try the shop. And good luck."

I finished off my breakfast and gave my mom a quick hug from behind. "Thanks for being here mom. Sorry if I put you out."

"No problem, sweetie. But if you are okay now I'll head back to Forks today. Charlie still feels weird staying here."

"Sure thing. I'll be fine now. Love you mom." I kissed her cheek and went off to take a shower.

Once I was clean and dressed in my usual t-shirt, shorts and flip-flops I walked the several blocks to Black's Auto Repair. Jacob, Quil and Embry had started it up years ago while Jacob was still leading the second pack and waiting for Nessie to grow up. He left it to the pack to run since we could work on the cars around our crazy schedules. Luckily our lives weren't quite so busy anymore with vampires. This weekend's encounter had been the first sighting in 8 months.

It felt good just to be moving again and my body was quickly feeling more like normal. Embry had beat me here after having breakfast so no one was surprised to see me. He and Quil poked their heads out from under cars to greet me and I found Jared in the back sifting through parts.

"Hey." He nodded to me and kept scanning the shelves for what he needed.

"I was wondering if you could tell me more about explaining the imprinting thing to Kim?" I didn't see the point in beating around the bush.

Jared looked at me and a slow smile spread across his face. "Already considering telling her huh? Well, you might need to take things a little slower than I did with Kim. I was lucky that she already liked me, so telling her I was her soul mate was like the ultimate present for her. You only met Maggie a few days ago, and while she may be handling the wolf thing pretty well right now, springing a soul mate on her might be too much. Try getting to know her a little and see what she needs you to be: think Quil."

"I knew you were the man to talk to. Thanks." I followed him back out to the work area where the others were.

"Seth is looking for girl advice, anyone have some gems to share?" Jared announced in a loud voice. Trust the guy to be deep one-on-one and throw you to the wolves in public. Gleeful chuckles answered from the cars in front of me.

Quil stood up and wiped his hands on a cloth hanging from his back pocket. "She's nice, Seth. Claire and I were with her yesterday and she's great, but maybe a little shy. I'd take things slow if I were you."

I nodded.

Collin stuck his head up over the side of the car he was changing a tire on. "Look at this way man; if seeing you as a wolf, watching you phase, and seeing you naked didn't make an impression on her, you're screwed."

"Thanks for that." I grimaced and fought back the blood rushing to my face as I thought of the nudity again.

Quil clapped me on the back. "Claire's been explaining everything to her, so she gets that clothes don't magically make the change with us. But you will be happy to know that when we got to her house to get you there was a blanket over your bottom half."

"Which only means if she did ogle you, she made sure we couldn't tell." Collin teased. I threw a grease covered rag at his head which he easily dodged.

"There was also a wet cloth she used to clean your face and chest." Quil couldn't help but add with a smirk. "And you mumbled her name and the word 'girlfriend' too. Yeah, she heard that."

"Thank you, thank you all. I was unconscious for all this you know. And I won't have you making fun of Maggie before we even get to know her." I gave Collin the evil eye and he shrunk down behind the car again. "It was really nice of her to take care of me at all after what happened."

Things calmed down after that and I signed up for day shifts every day that week.

Maggie POV

School on Monday was boring and I found it hard to concentrate in my classes. That was kind of weird for me, but so was the fact that I was doing this amazingly normal thing of going about my day like nothing had happened, when in fact, the whole world had changed this weekend. I looked around at all the familiar faces and objects around me and I wondered how everything could go on seeming so normal, when nothing was normal anymore. There were wolves and vampires and mythical guardians wandering among us and nobody knew. And I couldn't tell them either.

I honestly didn't know how Claire did it. She came and acted all normal with her friends and classmates and went home with a shape-shifter every day whose only desire was to make her happy all the time. And here I was, knowing all these things, but not having the excuse of an amazing soul-mate to go along with it. I had been brought into the secret by accident. By all rights, I should still be in the dark about all this stuff like the rest of the world was. But I knew. Now I knew and I couldn't give it back or un-know it.

And when I really thought about it, I didn't know if I would willingly give up the knowledge now that I had it. And I knew why I wouldn't give it back too – because now I could really get to know Seth. He wouldn't have to lie or keep things from me like Quil had done when Claire was little. I could understand his life completely and in a way no one else could. Unless he imprinted of course. Of all the craziness that is being a guardian I found this to be the most interesting part, probably because I had spent the last two days with Quil and Claire, watching this kind of relationship first hand. They had explained that normally when a wolf imprints he doesn't have to keep secrets from her so they can truly be together and have a good relationship.

So I knew that I was an oddity. The rest of the girls who knew were either mothers or wives or girlfriends and they had a legitimate reason to know all the secrets. I was an accident, a crazy fluke that happened because Seth wasn't in his right mind at all and happened to wander into sight. If I hadn't been outside that night, one of the others would have followed his scent, taken him home, and I would have remained in the dark. Seth would have been a nice guy who smiled at me on occasion and that would have been the end of it.

That thought left me feeling small and empty. I didn't know how Seth would feel about me knowing everything once he woke up and was healed. I had no idea if he would be glad or angry and how he would treat me, but I couldn't help but hope that this could turn out to be a good thing.

The bell rang and jolted me from my thoughts. I gathered my things, realizing I hadn't heard a word the teacher had said all during class and somehow I didn't care so much. I could get the notes from someone later so I could study for the final. All that mattered was that this long day was finally ending and I could get out of here and maybe find some way to feel sane again.

Claire joined me at my locker as I collected the books I would need for homework tonight. When I saw her I took a deep breath of relief. "I'm so glad to see you." I said.

She smiled widely. "I told you we have to stick together. Are you okay? You don't look so hot."

We starting walking down the crowded hallway and I shook my head. "I couldn't concentrate much. Everything is just so normal and it feels so strange somehow. That doesn't even make sense."

"I understand perfectly. Just give yourself time to adjust and be patient. Want to come over and study?"

"Sure. But I do have to get a few things done." I said, unsure how much studying she planned on doing.

"Of course. I always try to get all my homework done early so I have time to be with Quil. Those are the house rules."

"Sounds good then." I pulled the hood of my jacket over my head in an attempt to stay a little dry in the drizzling rain as we walked into the parking lot. As I quickly learned was the new usual routine, Quil's truck was parked as close to my car as possible.

"Come straight over if you want." Claire said as she hurried the last steps toward the truck. The door opened for her and out of the corner of my eye I saw someone hop out to let her sit by Quil. I fumbled with my keys in my hurry to get out of the rain and when I opened the door I felt someone behind me. I glanced back to see jean shorts and a blue t-shirt. Then I looked up to see Seth smiling uncertainly at me.

"Hi Maggie." He said simply.

I looked up and down his body again, seeing that his arms and legs were completely fine and scar-free. Even his left leg looked normal and showed no signs of trauma as he nervously shifted his weight.

"Embry was right." I finally said. "There isn't a mark on you."

"Freaky huh?" he smiled again, but his eyes were watching me carefully for my reaction.

"No; super-fast healing is a really good thing. I'm glad you are okay."

He relaxed visibly now and nodded toward the car. "Can I get a ride?"

"Oh, yeah. Hop in."

I was aware of the rain and the sounds of the parking lot again. I glanced around as he rounded the car and saw that Quil and Claire were watching from the truck and only pulled away now that Seth was climbing into my car. I got in too and dropped my bag into the back seat. I started the car with a shaking hand. The cold of the rain finally registered in my brain now that the initial surprise of seeing Seth again was passing. I flipped the heat on and started rubbing my hands together to warm them up. A large hand closed over mine and Seth pulled my right hand toward him, enclosing my numb fingers in warmth. Without thinking I turned and put my left hand on top of our hands to warm as well.

I looked up to meet Seth's friendly gaze and our eyes locked. I felt small and foolish next to him but his eyes were warm and reassuring.

"I think this if the first time I've been really glad that we run too hot." He admitted and looked down at our hands. I hadn't even realized that he put his other hand over mine so both were surrounded by his warmth. I gently pulled away.

"Thanks. That is handy today." I swallowed and put the car in gear. "So, what brings you to school today?"

"I wanted to talk to you: to thank you for helping me Friday night."

"Oh, I didn't really do anything. I mean, you would have been fine no matter what."

"I still appreciate it." He sad simply. "Besides, you didn't know that I would be okay when you took me in. And with all that you saw, I wouldn't have blamed you for leaving me out there and running away."

"You were hurt." It was lame, but it was all I had. And it was true.

"You are very nice." He said.

I shook my head, trying to clear it so I could concentrate on driving through the pouring rain better. "So, where am I taking you exactly? I have no idea where you live."

"Oh, you don't have to take me home or anything. I just wanted to talk to you. You can just go to your place and I'll walk from there."

"Claire invited me over to study so I'm going to her house."

"That's cool. I can keep Quil busy while he waits for Claire to finish her homework. He owes me a game of monopoly."

I laughed at the absurd image of two wolves playing a board game. "Whatever you want." I turned toward Claire's house.

We drove in silence for a minute before he spoke again. "I know all of this may be overwhelming and all, and I'm sorry that you had to find out about us the way you did. I don't normally go around scaring people or changing forms in front of them."

"I figured that. It didn't seem like you saw me at all until I was trying to help you up."

"I didn't. We rarely phase in front of people and we do our best not to be seen in our wolf form by anyone, so I accidentally broke a whole bunch of rules. But mostly, I'm sorry if I scared you."

"Thanks, but it's really okay now. I mean, I'm still getting used to the whole thing and all, but it's kind of nice to be one of the few people who knows about you and what you do."

"I'm glad you think so." He sounded relieved.

I pulled up in front of Claire's house and stopped the car. Before I knew it, Seth was outside, opening my door for me. I grabbed my backpack and followed him up the front walk. The door opened before we got there and Quil ushered us in, pointing me toward the kitchen where Claire was just starting her homework. I went toward her while Quil pulled Seth off into the front room. I was happily surprised that they really did leave us alone to work and we only spoke occasionally for the next hour and half while we worked. The silence was comfortable, however, and I think we were both eager to get finished so we could join the boys.

I finished all I could, leaving a hand-written outline for me to do a little research at home online and type up later, but it wasn't due til Wednesday, so I was kind of ahead on it. Claire and I packed up our things into our bags and went into the front room to find the guys sprawled out on the floor with a monopoly board between them. Seth had stacks of money and properties in front of him and Quil was silently fuming. Claire sat down next to Quil and ran her hand up and down his back. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. When he opened his eyes he looked much calmer and less likely to rip Seth's head off.

I sat down beside the board game as well and Seth shifted closer to me. "Do you like rich men, Maggie? Because in this game I am the man!"

"Congratulations." I said.

"He just got lucky." Quil grumbled.

"So what was the bet this time?" Claire asked as she cuddled into his side to cheer him up.

"20 bucks." Seth said happily. "A nice addition to my car fund."

"Don't you have a car?" I asked in surprise. He worked at a garage after all.

"Of course he does, that's just his code name for his savings. He won't tell anyone what he really uses the money for." Claire answered.

"He doesn't even let it slip when we're wolves." Quil added. "Most of the time he's an open book, but for all we know he's secretly loaded."

Seth's grin just widened. "Maybe one day I'll tell you, but I'm not making any promises."

"You are so weird." Claire accused.

"Saving money isn't that weird. It's probably better than just spending it because it's there." I said.

"See, Maggie understands me." He wrapped his arm around my shoulder and gave a small squeeze. "I knew I could count on you." he said softly into my ear.

My heart began to race and I shivered from his breath tickling my neck. He gave me another small squeeze before releasing me to focus on the game. I silently berated myself for reacting so strongly to his attention. This was only the third real conversation we've ever had and I was already starting to crave his burning touch.

"Alright, let's finish this." Quil said as he picked up the dice and rolled. He landed on Marvin's Garden with a hotel and promptly handed over the rest of his cash and his one remaining railroad. Then he pulled out his wallet and handed over a 20 dollar bill as well. Seth tucked it into his back pocket.

"Nice doing business with you."

"Just wait until the rematch." Quil warned as they both collected all the pieces and put the game away.

"Now what should we do?" Claire asked.

I glanced at the clock on the wall. "I ought to get home and make dinner for dad. Thanks for letting me come over though. It was nice to not be alone all afternoon."

"Can't you just call and tell him you won't be home?"

"I always have dinner ready on school days. If I didn't cook he would just eat pizza or burgers every day and have a heart attack sooner. I make the healthy stuff his doctor wants him to eat." I explained.

"Fine, but one of these days you'll have to stay longer." Claire conceded.

"Okay. Thanks again." I grabbed my bag from the kitchen and headed toward the door. Seth was there waiting for me and he followed me out to the car after I said goodbye to Quil and Claire.

"Want some help, or at least some more company?" he asked at the door to my car.

"Sure, I guess. It's not that exciting."

He shrugged and got in the car with me. I started driving home.

"So it's just you and your dad?" he asked.

"My mom died of cancer when I was 12." I explained.

"I'm sorry."

"It was a long time ago. She was sick most of my life so I was lucky to have her as long as I did." Time to change the subject. "What about you? What's your family like?"

"I have a sister, Leah, who is in the pack too. Dad had a heart-attack when we both phased on the same day for the first time. Mom remarried a few years ago and lives in Forks and Leah pretty much lives with Embry these days so I have the house all to myself. Well, unless the pack comes over."

"Do you get lonely living by yourself?"

"I'm not alone much. When I'm not at work I'm usually with some of the pack. Do you get lonely?"

I pulled up to my house and let us in. I shrugged. "I'm just kind of used to it now, so I don't think about it much, but yeah, I get lonely. I guess that's why I keep myself busy with school work, so I don't have to think about it. But now I get to graduate a year early, so I won't complain." I set my bag in the hallway and turned on the kitchen lights.

"Congrats on graduating early. So, how old are you then?"

"Just sixteen, but only for two more weeks. How old are you?"

"That's a hard question to answer. Physically I'm stalled somewhere between 20 and 23, but according to my birth certificate I'm actually 28. And when people ask me I find it easiest to tell them I am 21. Confused yet?"

"No, Quil told me about that this weekend; how he's technically twice Claire's age, but it's not weird because he hasn't really aged since he was 16." I opened the dishwasher and paused. "Is it true that he hasn't dated since then, since he imprinted on Claire?"

"Yep. Collin and Brady, two of the other wolves tried to get him to date for a while, but finally gave up a few years ago."

"That's impressive." I started unloading the clean dishes.

"I agree." He jumped to my side and held out his hands. "I may as well make myself useful." He said and he started pulling out dishes which he handed to me to put away.

"You don't have to do this."

"I know. But I want to."

We fell into an easy rhythm of working as we talked some more. I was amazed by how normal it felt to have him there. I shook my head as I tried to understand how easy it was.

"What are you thinking?" his voice was warm and curious, not demanding.

I closed the now empty dishwasher and starting pulling things out of cupboards and the fridge for dinner while he leaned casually against the counter.

"I was just enjoying having someone around to talk to. It's pretty quiet here most of the time."

"Don't your friends come over? Or do you go to their houses?"

"No. its just usually me until dad comes home." I sighed. "I haven't had friends over for a long time. After my mom died it was weird and sad to have people come over who knew her so we just stopped doing it. I really only talk to them at school now." I started tearing lettuce and got ready to chop cooked chicken and veggies for a big salad.

"But you do have friends?" he sounded worried now.

"Of course. They are really nice actually. I just got out of the habit of doing stuff with them outside of school. They used to invite me to stuff, but I'm pretty shy and I was kind of messed up for a while after mom died so they don't try to push anything on me. They've been really understanding and just let me do what was comfortable, and eventually when I felt better I just didn't change much."

"Why not?"

"It was safer to just focus on schoolwork. Homework doesn't change or go away and it can't hurt you like people." Warm arms encircled me and I set down the knife in my hand. I wasn't chopping anything anyway. I choked on a sob and the tears began to fall. I turned into his chest and buried my face in his shoulder, slipping my arms around his waist. Seth rested his head on mine and rubbed my back soothingly.

I haven't cried about my mother in a long time and I knew I had no reason to cry now, but I didn't feel bad about doing it now with Seth. He didn't panic like some guys do when a girl cries. He just held me tight and whispered that everything would be okay. I didn't cry for very long, and even when I stopped I didn't pull away from him either. It's been a long time since I was just held and allowed to feel however I wanted like this.

When my breathing was calm and normal again Seth stroked my hair. "Are you alright?" he asked.

"I think so." He released me and I wiped at the dry tear stains on my cheeks. "Thanks."

"Anytime." He rinsed his hands in the sink and went back to my cutting board. "Mind if I finish this up?"

"Go ahead." I went to the bathroom to wash my face and then returned to set the table for three. I didn't ask if he was staying, and Seth didn't look surprised when I did it either. He looked pleased, like this had been his plan all along. Sneaky wolf.