The alarm clocked blared exactly at 8:00 am. Paul continued to snore through it. At 8:05, Gene Lahote entered his son's room to turn off the alarm. He watched Paul spread out on his bed, still snoring, showing no signs of waking up anytime saw. He noticed how Paul's feet dangled at the edge of the bed. He wondered how he missed his teenage son's growth spurts. Were 18 year olds still allowed growth spurts? A cough coming from the living room brought him back from his thoughts.

"Paul," Gene said. Nothing. Gene reached out and began to shake Paul. The warmth of his skin surprised him. "Wake up, son! Paul!"

Paul instantly sat up. He looked around, seemingly disoriented. Gene placed a hand over Paul's forehead.

"I think you have a fever," he told him.

"What?" Paul said, still groggy. He reached up and felt his forehead. It felt fine to him. "I feel fine, Dad. What time is it?"

"Eight. Get up and get dressed. We have company."

"Dad, I gotta get to practice."

"Did you hear me? You have a fever. You're sick. You're staying home."

Paul glared at his dad. "Dad! I'm the quarterback! I can't miss practice!"

"That's why they have back-ups, Paul," Gene said calmly. He moved to the doorway. "Get up, change, and meet us in the living room."

"Dad-" Paul began, but Gene had already closed the door. Paul sat in bed, already angry. His day barely started and he was already pissed off. He made sure to take his time when he was getting dressed. Almost half an hour later, Paul walked into the living room. He stopped as she saw Sam Uley standing behind the arm chair. In that arm chair sat Old Quil. His dad sat on the couch and he indicated Paul to sit next to him.

"What's going on?" Paul asked, suddenly getting nervous. He knew Sam Uley from when he went to La Push High School. He graduated two years ago and Paul rarely saw him around. Sam changed a lot from the last time Paul saw him. He seemed to have grown a few inches taller and he certainly looked a bit more built. He wore a shirt with the sleeves cut off and Paul noticed a tattoo on his right arm.

"Just sit down, Paul," Gene said. Paul made his way to the couch and took a seat next to his dad. "You remember Sam?"

"Yeah," Paul said. Sam only nodded as a greeting.

"And of course, Old Quil."

Paul nodded. He felt like he should be bowing his head or something. Old Quil was considered an Elder and he was the head of the council. The council of what, Paul had no idea.

"Good morning, sir," Paul said.

Old Quil gave him a smile.

"How are you, young Lahote?" Old Quil asked.

"I'm good."

"Do you remember the legends of the Spirit Warriors?"

Paul thought it was an odd question to be asked. Did he remember the legends? No, not really. He stopped attending the bon fires when he was fourteen. He certainly didn't want to admit that to Old Quil. For as long as he could remember, it had always been Old Quil who told the legends. At the same time, he felt ashamed just thinking about lying to him.

"Uh, I can't say that I do. I remember parts of it," Paul finally said.

"Then I suggest you listen carefully this time around, young Lahote," Old Quil said. Paul felt his dad settle back into the couch. He eventually followed suit. Paul glanced at Sam who was preoccupied looking out the window. Paul turned his attention back to Old Quil who began to retell the legends of the spirit warriors.

.-~*.~-..-~*.~-..-~*.~-. .-~*.~-..-~*.~-.

The halls of La Push High School were busy with students scrambling to get to their first class of the first day of the school year. Kourtney, being a senior, was used to it. By now, she knew which teachers were strict with the tardies and which teachers didn't care. She was at her locker, tearing out all her pictures with Alex. Since it was a small school, the students kept the same lockers for all four of their high school years.

"Hi, Kourtney," Devin said as he stopped by the locker beside hers.

"Hey, Devin," she said with a smile. She made an effort to be nice to Devin. Everyone thought he was weird. They weren't wrong, but Kourtney felt bad with the way people isolated him. "How was your summer?"

"It was awesome! I got to go to Comic Con, finally!" Yes, he was that kind of a geek which just made him even more of a loner. "How about you?"

"Eh, it was alright."

"I'm sorry about Alex. That was a really jerky thing for him to do." Kourtney sighed.

"Thanks, Devin. I'm alright, though," Kourtney said.

"I know," he said with a smile. Kourtney's brows burrowed in confusion.

"Get lost, Jackson!" Brian said. Devin closed his locker and left without another word.

"Come on, Brian! You can be a little nicer!" Kourtney lectured. He only laughed.

"Lahote come in yet?" Kourtney stiffened at the mention of Paul. She hadn't spoken to him since the kiss. The same went for Marianne. For once, she was glad that her best friend was busy with whatever she was doing in New York. "Have you heard from him?"

"Can't say that I have," Kourtney said.

"He's ignoring you, too, huh?" Little did Brian know, it was the other way around. "He missed practice all last week. Our first game is already this Friday! If you see him, let him know that coach wants to talk to him."

Kourtney nodded. She doubt that she would be seeing him anytime soon. It wasn't until the end of school that she realized she was right. Paul didn't show up for school at all. The first day and he was already starting off on the wrong foot. Kourtney wondered why she cared. 'Because he's your friend,' a voice in the back of her head told her.

Devin was already at his locker when Kourtney got to hers.

"Is Paul okay? I heard coach pulled him off the games and Brian is the starter now."

"I haven't heard from him since last week," Kourtney shared.

"Been a little busy huh?"

"Yeah, Leslie likes to keep us busy." Kourtney felt her phone vibrate. She pulled it out of her back pocket. It was Alex. Again. He had been calling her twice a day since they broke up. Kourtney groaned.

"Everything okay?" Devin asked.

"Yeah, some people can't take a hint."

"Some people meaning Alex? He's still calling you?"

Kourtney nodded.

"You should tell him to stop," Devin suggested, making Kourtney laugh.

"Trust me, I have tried. Maybe I should change my number or something. Well, I gotta get going. I'll see you, Devin."

.-~*.~-..-~*.~-..-~*.~-. .-~*.~-..-~*.~-.

Paul was on the couch watching TV. Ever since Old Quil's visit, he had been confined to the house. He wasn't allowed to have visitors unless it was Sam Uley and Jared Cameron. He glanced at the clock. School was let out half an hour ago. Jared had slipped out to pick up his girlfriend. Paul guessed that he would be back shortly. He felt annoyed when he realized that he would have been on his way to practice if he had been allowed to go to school. He missed a full week and with a game coming up, he knew he wouldn't be able to play. Actually, it was already decided for him: he no longer could be part of the football team. According to Old Quil, he was going to have bigger responsibilities coming.

Paul was still in denial. He was not a shapeshifter. He was not going to shift into a wolf any time soon. Sure, his temperature was high even though he felt fine. Yes, he seemed to have grown half a foot taller within two weeks. However, he highly doubt that it meant he was a werewolf. He wondered how long he had to be babysat before they realized he wasn't a freak.

He heard a knock on the door.

"It's open," Paul called. He didn't even bat an eye when Jared walked in. Jared didn't say a word and plopped down on the arm chair. The two sat in silence, watching TV. A ringing sound came from Paul's room. He quickly got up to get his cell phone. He was surprised when he saw that it was Alex's number. He picked up immediately. "Hello?"

"Did you kiss Kourt?" Paul was rendered speechless. How did he know? "Hello?"

"Uh, yeah I'm here," Paul said.

"Did you kiss Kourtney?" Alex repeated.

"No," Paul lied. He still hadn't had the chance to speak to Marianne; it was something he was clearly avoiding even though he promised Kourtney. If Alex found out, he was sure to tell Marianne and it would just be a bigger mess. "What makes you say that?"

"Devin told me he saw Kourtney kissing some guy in the parking lot last week."

"Really?" Paul mentally began beating Devin up.

"Yeah," Alex said. "You sure it wasn't you?"

"Yeah," Paul said.

"You put that on our friendship?" Paul cursed to himself.

"Yeah, man. That wasn't me. Why was Devin telling you this anyway?"

Alex laughed. "Little loser wanted to let me know that Kourtney moved on and told me to stop bothering her. Can you believe that shit?"

Paul forced a laugh. "Crazy shit."

"Yeah, it is. You don't think it's true, do you?"

"Uh, no. I mean, she seemed pretty broken up about…you two."

"Really? Maybe I still have a chance. I've been calling her but she hasn't been answering." Paul gritted his teeth as he listened to Alex go on about trying to get Kourtney back. "If it is true though, wouldn't that be bullshit? Two fucking days after we break up and the bitch is already tonguing someone else."

Then it happened. Something inside Paul snapped. Next thing he knew, his phone dropped to the ground. His clothes tore away from his body. He was covered in fur and he no longer stood on his two feet.

'What. The. Fuck!'

"Paul?" came Jared's voice. Soon Jared was at his doorway. He had a look of shock on his face. "Shit!"

'Paul?'

'Who the hell-'

'It's Sam.'

'Why the fuck are you in my head? What the fuck is going on?' Paul began to move around his room. He heard a crash and he looked back and saw that his tail had knocked over his table lamp.

"Paul, calm down!" Jared told him. "Is Sam talking to you right now?"

'Is Jared with you?'

'He's in front of me.'

'Where are you exactly?'

'In my room.'

'I'll be there. Just sit still!' Paul immediately sat down like a dog. Within minutes, Paul heard the front door open. Sam soon appeared beside Jared.

"Alright, Paul. You just shifted for the first time."

'This shit is real? The legends?'

"I can't understand you right now," Sam told him. "We have to be in our wolf form to communicate like we were earlier. But right now, you are going to have to calm down."

'I'm a fucking wolf!' Paul growled. Sam held up his hands.

"Hey! Calm down, alright? Just lay down. You need to calm down and concentrate. You have to be calm and think about trying to phase back into your human form."

Paul slowly laid down. He tried to calm down, but his mind was still racing. He was a wolf. He transformed like Old Quil had told him. Sam was also one, and he was guessing Jared was one too.

"It might take some time," Sam told him. He turned to Jared. "Tell Gene that it's happened and he should probably stay somewhere else until Paul phases back. Let Old Quil know, too. Maybe he can come down and help Paul phase back."

Jared nodded obediently and took off. Paul guessed that Sam was the boss.

'Welcome to the pack, Lahote.' Paul heard Jared's voice.

AN: I hope you enjoyed! Please review! I may be a little slow updating now. The holidays are nearing and finals are coming up. I also have to start working on a fanfic that I planned to upload in the new year (It is called Greatest Weakness: Life. It is a Vampire Diaries fanfic). Plus, things in this fanfic are starting to pick up. ;) I want to do the upcoming chapters justice, because things are about to get more complicated.

Review, review, review! I love hearing what you think! Special thanks to EJM87 for the reviews! :)