I've never been on a motorcycle before and while I was nervous to get on Jake's, I felt more excitement. All of my nervousness was set towards meeting his friends anyway. A motorcycle I can handle. Socializing? Not so much.

"You only have one helmet?" I asked when he handed it to me.

"Yep," he said as he got on and started it. He looks back at me with that adorable smug grin of his. "Don't worry though. I have a hard head. I'll be fine. You on the other hand…" he trails off, laughing.

I give him a gentle shove. "Ha ha. Very funny."

Jake laughs again before taking the helmet from my hands and putting it on top of my head. I let him do it, and shivered when I felt his fingers brush against my cheek when he buckled the strap under my chin. When it was done, he reluctantly removes his hand and gestures with his head to the seat behind him. "Hop on and hold tight."

And boy did I ever hold tight. That's an understatement. I held on for dear life.

Jake's laughter echoed in the wind, mixing with my frighten screams when he first took off. Eventually though, my cries went from fearful to cheerful. I found myself having a blast.

My nervousness was gone and was replaced with pure bliss at having Jake pressed against me. However, it returned once we pulled into the reservation.

I've been over at Jacob's loads of times. Just...never to go to a party/cookout with people only he knows. It's going to be awkward. I may not have Alice's gift to see the future, but I know for sure that I'm going to embarrass myself. I shouldn't have agreed to go. I should have told Jacob straight up when we were on the phone with each other that I wanted my answers right then and there. He just sounded so hopeful that I would go, and to be honest, I am kind of curious. Not because of the answers to my questions, which he said he'd give me afterwards-and he better-but because of my invite. If these monthly bonfires are just for tribe members, why am I allowed to go? Jacob could have invited me long ago, so why now all of a sudden?

"So where's the bonfire at?" I asked, loud enough for him to hear.

"At my house." He replies, taking me off guard.

"Seriously? Why didn't you say that before? I could have just met you at your house. You also should have told me that it was being held tonight so I could've prepared myself."

Jake chuckles. "You'll be fine, Bells. Just be yourself."

"Oh yeah, that's a great idea." I muttered, my voice dripping in sarcasm.

"As to why I didn't tell you that it was at my house," Jake went on, "I knew you wouldn't want me to come and get you, and I really wanted to show you the bike. I also wanted to spend some time with you alone before you met everyone. So...here we are."

"Well," I begin, feeling my face slightly heat up. "I'm definitely not complaining."

Jake didn't say anything else, but I knew he was happily smiling.

There were no other vehicles when we make it to his house, but people were definitely there. I could hear their loud laughter from behind Jake's house, and I saw their shadows moving in the fire's light. I put my hands on Jake's shoulders to keep my balance as I got off first, and just as I expected, my legs felt like jello. If I wasn't holding onto Jake, I would have most likely fallen.

Jake got to his feet with ease and took the helmet off of me after I unbuckled it. As he sets it down in the motorcycle's seat, I dug into my bag to grab the plastic container filled with brownies. "I hope they like them." I said, feeling my heart pound rapidly against my chest.

Jake wraps an arm around my shoulders and starts leading us to his backyard. "You're cooking and baking is amazing, Bells. They'll love it."

I nodded, hoping he was right. I then released a shaky laugh. "I feel like I'm your girlfriend who's meeting your family for the first time."

Jake chuckles and I swear I feel his arm tighten its grasp on my shoulder. "Well, you may not be my girlfriend, but in a way, everyone you're about to meet are part of my family. Besides my father, the others are all friends who I consider family. They've become my brothers and sisters. After all, it's the people you care about and who care about you that make a family. Not DNA."

I knew that perfectly well. None of the Cullen's are related, but that didn't matter. Carlisle and Esme love Edward and the others as if they were truly their own kids, and I know that their five adopted vampire "children" love them back just as fiercely. I know they loved me too, except for Edward.

"Wow," I say, sarcastically as I shook him away from my thoughts. I don't want to think about him, especially since I'm with someone who stole my heart without me even realizing I was losing it to him. "Since when did you become an Albert Einstein?"

"Since the day I was born," Jake retorts.

A voice suddenly reached our ears then. "Yo, Jake!"

Jake and I look away from each other and see Quil jogging toward us from behind Jake's house. I haven't seen him in weeks, but I could obviously see the differences from the last time to now. He's taller, buffer, and has short hair like Jake. I bet he has the same matching tattoo that Jake has as well. What kind of trend is going on here?

"It's about time you showed up. We started to think you ran off with Bella somewhere," Quil said, smirking. "Nice to see you again, by the way."

I sent him a smile. "Nice to see you again too, Quil. You look-"

"Hotter, right?" He interrupts, flexing his arms.

I heard Jake scoff next to me, and I had to suppress a giggle. "I was going to say happy as ever."

Quil grins. "That's because I'm hotter." He sends me a wink and I swear I heard Jake growl. Like, a real animalistic growl.

"You better watch yourself, Quil," Jake said in a warning tone. There was a mixture of playfulness and seriousness in his voice.

"You're just jealous," Quil remarks then gasps when he sees the brownies I made. "Dude, please tell me those are for us? More specifically me?"

I giggled and handed the container to him. "Knock yourself out."

Quil cheers as he takes the brownies from me. "Hell yeah! I've always liked you, but you totally just stole my heart right now. I could kiss you."

"Try it and I'll rip your lips right off," Jake threatened, his tone no longer a mix of seriousness and playfulness. It was fully serious.

Quil merely laughed, not intimidated. "Damn, Jake, can't a guy dream?"

"Nope."

They continued to bicker until we make it to the backyard, and upon seeing the others, Quil says: "Hey guys, Jalla is here! And they brought brownies!"

Multiple hi's and hello's and welcome's were heard by the people sitting around the fire, but all I could think about was Jalla. "Did he just...combine our names?" I whispered to Jake and he nods.

"Yeah, he's done it to Sam and Emily and Jared and Kim. You'll get used to it."

"Are you sure it's okay for me to be here?" My worrying is really getting to me. "I don't want to be a cookout crasher." I would have said party crasher, but he made it clear earlier that a party is not what this is.

"Well," Jake starts, "technically you're a council meeting crasher. See," he points to the circle of people, "there's my dad, Harry and Sue Clearwater, and Old Quil, Quil's grandpa. They're all council leaders."

I stopped dead in my tracks and removed Jake's arms from my shoulders. "Okay, I should so not be here."

"Hey, you're okay," Jake assures me. "I thought...well," he looks over at everyone, who were all suddenly silent. Are they eavesdropping? Or are they actually talking and I'm unable to hear them over the pounding of my heart in my ears "...they thought it would be a good idea for you to hear our histories."

"Histories?" I repeat, confused until it quickly clicked. "The tribe's histories? Aren't they sacred?"

"Yes they are, but you're one of us now."

"How so?" I asked, not getting the memo at all.

"I'll explain later," Jake said as he took my hand and continued walking towards the group. "It's Leah's, Seth's, and Quil's first time hearing them too. Although, you are the first outsider. Ever."

"If I had known then I definitely would have dressed better," I admit, making him smile.

He looked like he was about to say something until the young boy I saw the other day came running up to us. "Jake!" He said. "It's about time. By the way, Bella, awesome brownies."

A chorus of voices behind him praised me too, and when I looked over the kid's shoulder, I saw every eating the brownies I baked. The the nervousness I felt was slowly drowning away and I found myself smiling. "Thank you."

"Bella this is Seth Clearwater," Jake introduces. "Harry and Sue's son, Leah's younger brother, and the youngest person here at only 14."

"I'm 15 now," Seth declares, smugly. "I'm also the newest, bestest, brightest-"

"And slowest," Jake interrupts as he puts Seth in a headlock. As Seth struggled in Jake's hold, I couldn't help but wonder what he meant by newest. Newest to what? The meeting? Why does that feel like the wrong answer?

When Jake let's go of Seth, the kid runs off back to his spot. "Now onto the next person."

I didn't need to be introduced to Embry, Quil, and Billy, but the others were a definite yes. Despite seeing Sam when he rescued me from the woods, I didn't really get a good look at him at all because of how blurry everything was, and every other time I had seen him he was always a distance away. Along with Jared and Paul. I finally got to see them up close, and they are definitely attractive. Emily and Kim are lucky to be in what looks like a very loving relationship with Sam and Jared. Will I be in a happy relationship with Jake if I just came out to him? Probably, but...I'm too scared.

Moving on, even with murder in her eyes that reminded me of Rosalie, Leah looked absolutely gorgeous, and so did her cousin Emily despite the three scars that ran down the side of her face. Kim looked just as shy and awkward as me, Sue and Harry both wore friendly smiles, and Old Quil was actually the opposite. He didn't seem to enjoy me being there. I don't think Paul and Leah did either, but I was probably overthinking that part. Hopefully.

When the introductions were done with, and everyone had a plate of food, Billy began to speak, filling the air with his words, and my mind with wonder.

And as time went on, all I felt was warmth. That's all I felt for the last two hours, and I love it. I love it so much. I've never felt such warm happiness like this before. Not when my parents were together, and not even when I was with Edward. He and his family did make me happy, but they could never make me feel like this.

I don't feel like a burden here. I feel like...like I belong, which is weird because I know I don't. I'm not part of the tribe despite Jake weirdly telling me that I am. But I feel the definite bond between everyone and I can't help but connect with it.

"And now for the last story of the night," Billy says, then sends a wink to the two couples who sat next to each other. "I know this one is your favorite." His gaze then drifted to me. "You might like this one the best too, Bella."

I ignored the few gazes I received, the way Jacob's hold on me tightened, and the way my heart quickened. My focused was purely on Billy. He's an excellent storyteller.

"This is a story about an Imprint," Billy began. "The best of all the stories I have told. Which is why I saved it for last. This is the story of a wolf's soul mate, his imprint, and the sacrifice she made for her tribe, her family.

The Quiletes have been a small tribe since the beginning, but we have always had magic in our blood. We were great spirit warriors; shapeshifters that transform into the powerful wolf.

This enabled us to scare off our enemies and protect our tribe. One day, our warriors came across a creature that looked like a man, but it was hard like stone and cold as ice."

My body tenses. Vampire. He's describing a vampire.

Jake must have felt me tense because he leans his mouth toward my ear and whispers: "You okay?" I kept my focus on Billy, but still nodded.

"Our warriors' sharp teeth finally tore it apart," Billy continued, "but only fire could completely destroy it."

My gaze moved away from his face and looked into the orange and yellow flames that rested in the center of our circle. The Cullen's had used fire to destroy James. It seems like that happened ages ago. That whole day is a blur.

I held onto my wrist, the one that bears James's bite mark, and continued to listen as Billy went on. "They lived in fear that the cold man was not alone. And they were right.

The mate of the creature that had been killed, the vampire as some would call it, took her revenge on the village. Our Elder Chief, Taha Aki, was the only Spirit Warrior left to save the tribe after his son was killed. His third wife, his imprint, could see that he would lose against his fight with the vampire woman, so she took action. She was no magical being, with no special powers but one: courage. She stabbed herself. The blood distracted the cold woman long enough for her husband to destroy her. She saved the tribe."

As he told the tale, I found myself becoming lost in his words. I only ever lose myself to words when they're written in a published book that I'm reading. Not when someone is speaking them. Billy just has a way with his tales. It's like I can actually see them really happening in my mind. I can see the random vampire woman terrorizing the Native village. I can see giant wolf warriors fighting back. I can hear their screams of fear and pain. I can feel it.

"Over time," says Billy, "our enemies have disappeared, but one remains." He pauses for dramatic effect and his eyes land on mine. I knew his answer before he even said it. "The cold ones. Vampires."

I looked away, down at my fidgeting hands, nervous and definitely uncomfortable. The warm feeling I had felt amongst these people was now beginning to become too hot. Way too hot. I can't believe it. They know. They know about the Cullen's. They must know of my association with them as well. Do they? I'm not about to ask. They have to though. Why else would Billy sound so serious and keep staring at me? Perhaps only he knows?

Billy's eyes left mine as he glanced at everyone else. His son decided to watch me then. I felt Jacob's eyes on me, but did nothing about it as his father continued to speak. "Our magic awakens when they're near, and we sense it now. We feel the threat in our blood. Something terrible is coming, and we must all be ready." His gaze landed on me once more. "All of us."

There was a brief moment of silence until Kim breaks it. "That story never gets old," she says as she sighed dreamily.

Despite how uncomfortable I became when I realized the antagonists were vampires, I truly did enjoy it. However, now it has me wondering. I know for sure vampires are real, but are werewolves real as well? Could it be possible that they exist? Is it possible that...that someone among the circle is one? Are they all one? Is Jake one? Billy said that the wolf spirit's magic run through their veins. Is it possible that I am sitting amongst a pack of werewolves? Is the story true?

If it is real, did Carlisle know the vampires that were killed? Did he know the tribe's warrior wolf ancestors? Jake did tell me long ago at the beach one day that some sort of treaty was made with the Cullens. He also said that the tribe is descended from wolves. I should have asked for more infirmation, but he had assured me that they were nothing but stories. Does he still think the same? Are all the creatures we've heard about in fairytale stories real?

"Yeah," Leah said, her voice dripping in sarcasm. "Nothing like killing yourself to save a guy who had two other wives. Maybe you should follow her example, Emily."

"Leah!" Harry, Leah's father, snapped. "Apologize now."

Leah rolls her eyes and releases an annoyed scoff. "I'd rather stab myself like the Third Wife."

"Good," says Paul, sounding just as annoyed. "You'd be saving us like the Third Wife did. Except it'll be your own self you're saving us from."

"Shut the fuck up, Paul!" Leah yelled.

"Make me!"

"Paul," Sam snapped, making me jump. His voice was deep, powerful, and threatening. It honestly scared me. "Not another word." Paul rolls his eyes, but does what he's told like a dog.

Well, it wasn't as awkward at first when I arrived, but it sure is now. The silence, while it was short, was still thick and intense.

"I think," says Quil's grandfather, "That we should call it a night. It was nice to meet you, Bella. I'm sorry for the recent mishap." He glared at Paul and Leah, who were also glaring, but at each other. I wasn't sure if he meant what he said, but I gladly accepted it.

"It was nice to meet you too," I say, hating how small my voice sounded.

He nods and goes to stand up, everyone else, myself included, does the same. Everyone then said their goodbyes to each other, and I was actually surprised to receive a hug from Emily and Kim.

"We need to have a girl's day," Emily said. "Just us girls away from these lame boys."

"I am not lame," Sam said as he wrapped his arms around Emily's waist and spun her around. Emily shrieks and laughs. It was then that Jacob decided to grab hold of my hand, our fingers instantly interlocking.

"Let's get you home, Bells," he said, and the way he said my nickname made me shiver.

"Okay." I turn back to Sam though and said, "I don't think I properly thanked you for finding and bringing me home back in September. I'm sorry for being so late, but thank you."

Sam nods. "You're very welcome, Bella."

"And please stop by the house sometime whenever you'd like," Emily offered. "I'd love to get to know you better."

I nodded. "I'd like that."

I then said bye one more time to everyone before getting back on Jake's motorcycle. I'm honestly exhausted, but sleep is the last thing I need right now. Now that the bonfire is over, it's finally time for my questions to be answered. The only problem is that…

I'm not entirely sure I'm going to like the answers.

I probably wasn't going to like them anyway, but now, after hearing everything at the meeting, is it truly possible that my best friend and new crush is a...werewolf? If so then...

Fuck.