Just wanted to say thanks to everyone who has read and/or reviewed thus far. My lovely StealthLiberal, Beaches of La Push, Wasipi, xoxocullenluverxoxo, The all mighty and powerfulM, krissybabes4e, bombon, Kitten Little, kaykayM, and TickTockBANG555. You all are beyond fabulous and I love replying to your input.


Chapter 7: Fighting with the wolves


Sunday, November 5, 2006

It was by unlucky chance that Jacob discovered Jezzie was an absolute crack shot.

Jacob, Embry, Quil and Sam were on their way back from their DNA testing with Carlisle and Embry's wolf would just not shut up about Jezzie Sullivan. Truth be told, Jake wanted to know for himself how far outside the treaty line she was and Embry just wanted to know how she was doing, because she wouldn't call Embry back.

Jacob insisted that it had been barely a week and that he maybe shouldn't blow things out of proportion quite yet. But Quil and Sam were not willing to continue listening to Embry's wolf whine petulantly in the communal mind. Because Embry's human and Embry's wolf were almost never in sync about that girl. But they were all pretty sure that if Paul told him to "just tap that" one more time, Embry might just lose his shit.

Jezzie was outside that day, enjoying the rare Forks sunlight and capitalizing on the dry air by hanging some clothes on the line. Her and her father had yet to get a dryer and were contenting themselves with hang drying. And the gentle upward motion of hang-drying laundry did wonders for her muscles, sore from a few Saturdays worth of rugby practice.

Archie lay next to the wicker basket full of clothes and Jezzie felt the whole affair was nice and properly post card perfect. She picked a scarf out of the basket and was shaking it out when Archie lifted his fawn head out of the grass and glanced into the woods. Jezzie assumed it was a small animal; Archie was still getting used to the abundant wildlife in the area.

However after a moment of staring he raised himself to his legs and trotted to the tree line. He stared into the woods that bordered the Sullivan's yard on all sides and growled. Jezzie held on to the scarf and walked towards him. When she was almost an arms length away, Archie darted into the trees.

"Archie!" Jezzie called before trotting in after him. "Archimedes!" she stomped through the thick underbrush as gracefully as she could, following Archie's path of crushed foliage and bellowing growls. After a few minutes, Jezzie lost sight of her property behind her and was running out of breath as she had to haul over downed trees and big bushes that Archie made much quicker work of. She supposed she at least wouldn't have to go on her run today.

"Archie," she called again, pausing with her scarf-laden hand against a tree. She caught her breath and looked around for any sight of Archie or his path. She finally spotted a shivering patch of ferns about twenty feet ahead of her. She made careful work towards the spot and when she reached it, she discovered Archie, her precocious bloodhound, crouched in the dirt growling at something unseen in the thickening wall of trees ahead of them.

"There you are, Archie," she said rubbing his head and hoping he'd be wiling to forgo the possum hunt for today as she was going to have a hard enough time finding their way back without having to physically drag a dog that weighed more than her.

When Archie not only refused to stop growling, but refused to stand, Jezzie's lips pursed in consternation. What had her dog in such a huff? She glanced up as the trees ten yards in front of her shifted as something moved within them. Jezzie watched as whatever it was progressed to the left and the trees moved with it. She froze in terror.

Archie began to emit a small whining noise and Jezzie was sure her eyes were wide as saucers. She swallowed thickly and clutched at the scarf in one had and Archie's scruff in the other. She followed the shifting trees without blinking. Was it coming closer or moving away? It was hard to tell... Jezzie slid her hand from Archie to the earth beneath her feeling around. With eyes unmoving she grasped onto a rock the size of her fist and tucked it into the loop on her scarf as she held both ends. She slowly stood and muttered to Archie, who unwillingly followed with his tail between his legs.

Jezzie began to slowly back up when whatever was in the woods made a step obvious enough to prove to both Jezzie and Archie that it was a rather enormous being. Jezzie was fully convinced she was going to get eaten by a bear.

Jezzie swung the scarf quickly like a baseball bat, let one side of the scarf go and sent the large rock zinging through the air and into the trees. It hit a soft body with a thud, a crack, a growl and an earthy thump.

Jezzie heard the growl and both her and Archie turned tail and ran full speed. With the adrenaline pumping through her system, Archie was only a hair faster than Jezzie. He ran ahead and thankfully took them right back to their yard. The two vaulted the last log before open grass and sprinted up the back steps and Jezzie jumped ahead to wrench the door open.

It wasn't until the doors and windows were locked, the shotgun was loaded by the door and both Jezzie and Archie had had a gratuitous sip of her dad's single malt that their heart rates returned to normal.


They honestly had not been trying to scare her, but judging by Jacob's shattered right shoulder, they might as well have threatened to kill and eat her. What the hell was she doing in the woods anyways? Jake sat on the hospital bed in the Cullen's second floor infirmary room – having sent the others home so he could go back to the Cullen place – and was trying not to wince as Carlisle set his shoulder to heal.

Edward was peering at the x-rays across the room - Jake didn't know who the hell had digital x-rays in their house, but he'd long since stopped asking those kinds of questions.

"Jacob," Edward began cautiously, "If you don't mind my asking, what precisely was this? It would have probably killed a bear."

"Jezzie Sullivan," Jake grumbled as Carlisle rigged the sling. Edward spun in the computer chair and Carlisle quirked a blond eyebrow.

"The new girl in town?" Carlisle inquired. "I just treated her father in the ER a few weeks ago..."

Jacob noticed that Carlisle's statement was only slightly leading. Edward didn't miss it either. "Yeah, he's a little fruity. They seem like good people though. Jezzie got me with a rock."

"She threw it?" Edward asked skeptically glancing back at the fractures on the computer screen.

"Nah," Jacob snorted. "She frickin' slung it at me. With a scarf. Right out of some David and Goliath story. I seriously didn't think it would hurt that bad."

"Your shoulder is broken in four places," Edward shook his head. "That rock must've hit at a hundred miles an hour. Girls quite a shot."

"And quite an arm," Carlisle added.

"Tell me about it," Jake grumbled.

Jacob spent the afternoon with Nessie, teaching her how to make tacos good and proper while her Aunt Rosalie complained incessantly of the scent of food and dog making her nauseous.

After a few hours and a strong recommendation from Carlisle to remain human while his shoulder healed, Jacob called Embry, yelled at him about his crazy ass girlfriend and how he could be the one to creep on her since she apparently guarded her property like a deranged Amazon, and to come get his crippled ass.


Wednesday, November 8, 2006

There was a loud clatter as Jezzie's front door swung open. She recognized the jangle of her Dad's keys and didn't glance up from her work. Kyle had just finally gotten through to her and she wanted to see if she could finish one teensie problem – "Jezebel!" – maybe not.

"One sec, Dad." She polished off the equation and laid her pencil in the book. "Be right back," she mumbled to Kyle, still fully absorbed in trying to understand Faust.

"Jezebel!" her father shouted again from the kitchen.

"I'm coming, Dad," she insisted as she pushed the swing door open that lead between the kitchen and the living room. "Dad? What gives?"

Alfred Sullivan was a loud man. There wasn't a lot of getting around that. However, he'd never been prone to yelling and usually only did so on special occasions. When Jezzie stopped inside the kitchen, she found her Dad pacing back and forth between the island and the kitchen table, rubbing his gristled beard fiercely. There was a plastic bag on the counter top. She peeked inside: an adjustable wrench, a roll of fishing line, electric tape and plumber's tape.

When her father didn't answer her first question she tried for another. "Where have you been Dad?"

"Hardware store," he responded gruffly. He paced a few more laps before stopping. He turned at the kitchen table and looked at Jezzie. "On edge of the reservation..." He shook his head, trying to find a way to organize his thoughts. "Do you know any of the council members? In La Push?"

It wasn't an accusing question but it was a serious one. Jezzie didn't know if she liked where it was going. "Yeah, Dad," she nodded. "It's a small place. It's kinda hard not to know people."

"Hmph," he grumbled before continuing his pacing and beard rubbing. Jezzie slumped against the counter, her forehead in her hand. The only local hardware store was in La Push. It was starting to make sense.

"Jezebel, you know I've never made any fuss about the friends you make. You're a good girl and you run with good people. Besides, I have quite liked all the kids that have been by: Kyle, Veronica, that mute boy. The reservation kids included: Embry, Leah Clearwater, that kid brother of hers Seth - even if he's only here between midnight and sunrise - that Anna, too. All nice kids. But," he shook his finger in consternation. "And this is a big 'but' m'dear. If I hear that anyone has been less than civil to you in your time there, so help me I have still got the twelve gauge behind the seat of my truck."

"Dad?" Jezzie sighed trying to sort her responses out. She leaned against the counter, catching her face in her hand. "Number one: I'm pretty sure that's illegal." Her father only snorted in rebuttal. "Number two: no one in La Push has been rude to me." Rude? Well, at least not to her face. Mostly. Cold-hearted to the point of social discomfort? Yes. Small differences. Some people just made her crawl inside own skin. But it was hardly the majority.

"If that changes I want to know the instant it happens," her father insisted forcefully.

"Dad..." she had to ask. "What'd you hear?"

"Not important," he said evasively. "I want you to promise to tell me if anyone gives you any lip."

"So you can go down there and crack skulls? You said yourself, I'm an adult, Dad."

"And you're still my daughter. And you still live under my roof. I don't care how old you are. Whether you're twenty-one or ninety-one I'm not prepared to hear any bull spoken against my child."

"Dad, if that happens - and that's a long shot if - I will promise to tell you so long as you don't do anything irrational that'll just make the situation worse. But no one's going to hurt me, so I think you need to let me learn to fight my own battles. You've taught me well."

Al stared at his daughter pensively, mulling over her offer. He wasn't sure. He did have an itchy trigger finger. "All right," he finally agreed. "So long as you stay honest with me Jezebel?"

"Of course, Dad," she replied. She felt a small shoot of guilt when she thought what she'd heard on Halloween. "And you too?"

"You bet your bottom dollar!"


Thursday, November 9, 2006

"Jacob? It's Carlisle. I think you boys should come back over."

"Did you figure anything out?"

"No, actually. And… bring another wolf. Someone you know is related to any one of you. Cousin, full siblings or anything like that."

"Okay."

A few days later and Carlisle had dissected the entire genetic make up of the whole La Push Pack. Seth and Leah were apparently doomed from conception because they had all three major bloodlines in their system in hefty quantities – Black, Uley and Ateara. Their cousin Brady, only had traces of Ateara blood.

Sam and Paul seemed to be the last holders solely of Uley blood. The two were related through some grandparent.

Collin had almost as much Black blood as Jacob did – which given that they shared a line of grandparents up through Ephraim Black made sense (and further debunked myths of inherited Alphadom). And if Quil wasn't related to you directly, you probably had his family's blood in your veins.

"Okay, Carlisle," Jacob sighed. "I get it; we're related as hell." He'd spent too much time on this doctor's overexpensive office furniture with too many packmates. It had now thankfully dwindled back down to just him, Quil, Embry and Sam. The room got awfully crowded as Carlisle dug deeper. "Who the hell is Embry related to?"

Carlisle glanced back down at his results for the tenth time, wondering if the data could've possible rearranged itself. It hadn't.

"Emily."

"What?" Sam reacted almost instantaneously.

"Remember about two days ago, I took samples from Claire and Emily as constants? They were the steady variables. There's also no commonalities between him and any of you as representatives of the Quileute tribe's genetic material. Not only is he not any of your half-brother, he's probably not even related to any of you. There are other bloodlines on the reservation but none – you say – that carry the ability to phase. I haven't tested those bloodlines, though they do intersect at points with most of your Pack. None of the Pack is of a 'pure' lineage."

"So…" Embry tried to reason out. "I'm related to some family that has no history of phasing? How does Emily figure into that?"

Carlisle shook his head. "You share absolutely no common genetic matter with any of the members of your Pack. None whatsoever, therefore, the odds of your having any Quileute DNA in a quantity that matters is slim to none. It seems that substantial amounts are required for the phase. Since your mother is Makah, you'd need a father with a strong genetic tie to the phasing bloodlines. You and Emily share about 10% DNA. You share 5% with Claire. That's substantial."

"So he's related to the Youngs?" Quil asked.

"This would be hard to prove but, Embry, it looks to me like you're full blood Makah. You don't have any Quileute DNA in your system."

"But I still phased," Embry said. He glanced to each of his sides to Sam and Jake. "What does that mean."

Sam was the only one that spoke. "It means Makahs phase."


Sunday, November 12, 2006

Embry was patrolling from the coast, along the river, and to the gorge where his path used to overlap Jared's. He saw him a few times and they nodded to each other in canine acknowledgement. Further down, Sam was also on patrol. Ever since that true werewolf had come within Forks, the new schedule had been shot to hell. Instead of regular one and two man shifts, Jake had at least three wolves running the borders for the next two weeks. Just in case.

They'd been running this new schedule with regular shifts for about a week now and Embry was starting to feel this sort of weird tickling in his head. He'd brought it up at dinner once and Leah corroborated it. Not only could she hear Quil but she was starting to get whispers of Paul and Brady's mind again as they patrolled the land just south of her. While the meetings about the werewolves had forced their heads together, bringing Pack Mind back into sync had proved to be a lengthier process. Jake could only shrug. He heard all of them whenever he wanted.

"It's just a way for us to sync up," Leah mused. "To be able still patrol the best way we can. Staying in communication is key. If we keep the schedule we might be able to communicate just like we used to.

"But I can't hear Paul or Brady. I only hear Jared vaguely. It's not even Jared. It's like, I feel whatever's foremost on his mind. Usually it's Kim... But still."

"I think it's because Sam is phasing out," Jake offered. "It doesn't make sense with our numbers to have two separate Packs running over the rez. Neither Jared or Paul want to Alpha Sam's Pack once he can finally fully phase out. They're assimilating back into us the better Sam gets at it."

It was hard enough having the smaller Pack inside a person's head on a daily basis.

Today was mostly normal, though. Jared was definitely exhausted and Embry was getting way more attuned to his brain then he'd been in a while. He was ambling from the cliffs and bumping along, swaying and leaning from tree to tree and killing time. He couldn't wait until they went back to the new schedule they had so quickly abandoned. That had been a nice schedule.

Noon. So close. Hungry. Meatloaf. Home. Mom. Laundry. Food. Hungry. Sleep? Sleep. Jezzie.

Jared's mind was still hazy at best and it was pretty peaceful. Embry was making a half assed effort to chase a fox that had stumbled out of the underbrush when his mind exploded.

Out of nowhere there was blood curdling screaming. It scared the crap out of him and he was momentarily bowled over as he yelped in pain. Embry's paws flew instinctively over his snout trying to block out the screaming in his head, when his wolf reminded him that this was probably important. The screaming was not one of his brothers. It was way too high pitched. It was like a banshee screeching.

And then the realization hit him.

Anna. Anna Ateara. He perked up and tried to focus, to find out where she was.

Anna! Anna! Don't worry! Anna, it's okay. Calm down. Please stop screaming.

Embry heard a whine escape his snout, it was almost too much to handle. He had to find Anna; he couldn't handle her screaming and her unbridled panic for too much longer. All there was was screaming, panic, anger, fear and pain. It was total chaos and it made him nauseous.

Where are you, Anna? Where. Are. You. Think Embry. Think. Can't think. Screaming. Keening. Panic. Head. Pain. Legs. Feet. Paws? Paws!

His thoughts and emotions were blurring with Anna's. Hers were too all encompassing, too enormous and chaotic.

School. Embry got a glimpse of Forks High from Anna's mind. The dumpster and the back of the cafe.

Anna! Anna, I'm coming. Stay where you are. Stay in the woods.

Embry started off at a run southward. He crossed into Jared's territory and could feel him acknowledge him mentally but he felt no different. Embry hoped he picked the chaos out of his mind, realized it was not time for a shift change and could put two and two together. Embry figured if Anna had shifted and was screaming in his mind and not Jared's, it probably meant she had Black Pack loyalty. At least Sam would hear.

Embry made it closer to QTS and could hear Anna begin to howl. Well, that certainly saved him from having to issue the distress call. She probably would have everybody from both Packs in wolf skin in minutes.

Anna! Embry shouted as she took a breath and finally made it to where she was.

Embry? Embry, is that you? Why can I hear you? Why are you in my head?

She was still screaming but the mental talk lessened that. However, the fact that she could hear Embry in her head seemed to be upping the panic.

Panic. Chaos. Anxiety. Insane. Insane. Insane.

Embry steeled myself and separated his own emotional plane from Anna's. Hopefully, she could catch the calm. Doubt it. Shut up, subconscious.

Embry made his way carefully into her line of sight. Communicating the whole time as she'd have no way of knowing the disembodied voice was coming from the wolf in front of her.

Anna, it's okay. It's just Embry. I'm coming in. You can see me. See the wolf? That's me. You've just phased, Anna. You're not insane. It's totally normal.

Anna had known about the wolves. It was hard to keep it from her when she was so close to Quil's age and both his mother and his grandfather knew. But she didn't know much – of her own choosing. She just knew that her brother and the rest of the rag-tag group were the real life manifestations of the legends she'd heard since she was a kid. She admittedly didn't want to know much else.

MY FUCKING SISTER

Hi, Quil, nice of you to join us. Please remain calm or go back to being human. You're not gonna help if you're panicking too.

I'm not panicking. Panic. Anxiety. Nausea.

Embry could hear other wolves moving through the woods and see them coming through the trees. Then he heard Sam.

Anna. It's Sam Uley. You are all right.

Coming. Coming. Coming.

Jake, we're behind QTS.

Everyone get out of my head! Chaos. Anger. Panic. Screaming.

Sam and Embry made a loose circle around Anna when Quil and Jake finally arrived. Anna was looking absolutely manic and ready to make a break for it.

Quil, she's gonna run; either you jump her or I do.

Quil, talk to her. She knows you best.

Where's Leah? We need another chick.

No Leah now. Class. She's not back until tomorrow.

Dammit.

Panic. Panic. Nausea. Insane. Chaos. Fear. Fear. Fear.

Guys, we're psyching her out. Quil and I have this. The rest, fall back.

Permission to phase? My head's gonna explode.

Someone needs to get Claire from daycare.

Fine, just let me get human!

Uh… Embry? We have a situation on the main side of QTS…

Fear. Fear. Fear. Accompanied by lots of screaming that Embry was just now realizing was not the right pitch to belong to Anna. He was hearing it in her head, but it wasn't her voice.

Define 'situation', Jake…

Embry was around the front of the school and hidden from sight along the edge of the treeline before Jacob could even pull out a mental image. Embry probably wouldn't have believed what he saw in Jake's mind anyways. On the pavement in the parking lot of QTS, Jezzie sat frantically clutching at her hair and screaming for all she was worth.

A helpless Jared Cameron – who had only met Jezzie a handful of times – was crouched at her side, trying to slow her hyperventilating and preventing her from making a scene. Apparently, he figured out what was going on, Embry thought momentarily. He looked as terrified of the small girl as Jezzie was of what she'd just witnessed.

It was Jezzie's screaming in Anna's head. Sure, Anna was terrified about what was happening to her, but the fact that she might've hurt Jezzie was also there. She knew about Quil. Knew about the Pack. Her phase was unanticipated, but not a complete shock.

Is she okay?

Jake was shocked into silence, his stream of attempted calming words stopped, as Anna formed one of her first intelligible thoughts as she caught the visual of Embry's sight. Embry focused quickly on scanning Jezzie's form. No blood. She smelled like terror, but not pain or blood.

She's horrified, but she's fine.

And Embry phased human, barely pulling on his shorts as he crossed the parking lot. He skidded to a halt in front of Jezzie on the ground, skinning his knees in the process.

"Dude, she won't stop screaming," Jared supplied from just over her shoulder. "You need to shut her up before she draws a crowd. Crazy white girl is making a scene."

"Jezzie?" Embry tried, reaching slowly to remove her hands from her tear-streaked face. That didn't go so well. Jezzie just screamed louder at the contact and lurched backwards, fists and elbows flying. When she crashed into Jared's chest, she caught him in the solar plexus and her screaming spiked again. She began to scramble around looking for a way to escape. Girl was damn strong and Jared coughed as she knocked the wind out of him.

"Back up, Jare," Embry nodded before firmly, yet gently, grabbing Jezzie's wrists – forcing her to make eye contact with him and also not punch him in the face again. Embry assumed it worked, because she stopped screaming. Embry was glad for that; he was thinking his eardrums might be hemorrhaging. "Jezzie?" he said softer. "Jezzie, it's Embry. It's Embry and Jared. You're okay. Everything's going to be all right."

And then – out of nowhere – Jezzie launched herself at him. Embry just kind of froze as her arms and legs wound around him and her tears began to soak his skin as she buried her face against his shoulder. This was not really what came to mind when he imagined having any girl – especially Jezzie – wrapped around him.

"Awesome," Jared said. "She's wrapped around you like a spider monkey. Let's capitalize on this moment and get her the hell out of here." Embry closed his arms, his hands finding Jezzie's back and he and Jared made for he and Kim's place – by far the closest to QTS.

When Embry burst into Kim's living room babbling "What do I do? What am I supposed to do?" with a hysterical redhead clinging to him for dear life and sobbing, Kim became a bit concerned. Kim stepped around the counter and grabbed one of Embry's ridiculously flailing hands. She guided him to her couch and gently forced him to sit.

"Talk to her, Embry," Kim intoned, sitting on the coffee table across from him as Jezzie continued to sob and hiccup uncontrollably. "What happened?" She looked up at Jared as he came to stand next to her.

"Anna phased," Jared said around a bite of leftover meatloaf. "In front of Jezzie."

"Oh god…" Kim grimaced. That must've sucked.

"Yep," Jared nodded. "She's been like this since I found her. She only recently attached herself to Embry like a sea urchin. He hasn't been much help though. At least she's not puking like Rachel did. Remember that?" Kim looked up, and Embry looked terrified. "Get it together, man," Jared offered unsympathetically before returning to the kitchen.

Jezzie's hysteria still showed no signs of relenting and Embry was sure her tears were probably going to hit Kim's carpet soon.

"Embry," Kim continued in a measured and more helpful tone. "You need to talk to her. You know her better than Jared and I. She's just going to work herself into shock or a panic attack."

Embry nodded wide eyed and swallowed. He steeled himself momentarily and his hands found her shoulders. "Jezzie… Jez? You're just fine. You're okay."

Kim mimed taking a deep breath and was thankful Embry caught on. "I need you to calm down. Take a deep breath, okay?" She wasn't exactly following instructions and Embry could feel her lungs and her heart beating a rabbit's pace against his own chest.

"Jezzie, you're gonna make yourself sick. I can feel you breathing. Here, breathe with me." Embry lowered a hand to her back and took a large intentional breath, "Inhale." There was a small stall in Jezzie's crying, a small hiccup, and Embry felt her make the conscious effort to inhale.

"Exhale," he instructed her as he did the same. She let it out in one giant puff, but she also repeated the pattern with him for the next few minutes. When Kim felt comfortable that Embry and Jezzie could symbiotically breathe together without issue, she made to stand and fetched a cup of tea from the kitchen. Tea fixed everything. She sent Jared for a sweatshirt of hers in their dresser and when she returned to the coffee table, Embry was actually making progress in disentangling Jezzie from him. She moved stiff and mechanically but progress was progress. Finally secured in a corner of the couch, a hunched and tearful – though significantly more coherent – Jezzie glanced at her hosts. "Kim, right?"

Kim smiled good-naturedly and nodded. "You remembered."

"Jezzie remembers everyone," Embry intoned lightly, recalling his similar reaction the first time he'd called her house. Jezzie smiled. She may have needed post-its to remember everything else in her life, but she forced her often disabled brain to remember the people she met.

Kim offered her the cup of tea and Jezzie took it with grateful thanks. After a few sips, Kim watched her glance over her shoulder. Jared stood behind Kim with her old, comfy U-Dub sweatshirt. "Thanks, hon. Take a seat, wouldja? I think you're weirding her out."

Jared plopped down in the armchair behind his fiancée, closed his eyes and sighed in relief, thankful that the emergency had passed. "Thank you, Jared," Jezzie said quietly. Jared's eyes snapped open to meet Jezzie's green ones. He wasn't expecting that. Though he was sure Embry mentioned something about Jezzie doing that every now and then. "For back in the parking lot? I know it was a mess… but thanks, for staying with me."

Jared nodded, accepting her thanks and he noticed how she dipped her head ever so slightly to him. An unconscious show of submission.

"And you too," she said quietly as she patted Embry's knee. "Thanks. You did good, Embry. So, when are you guys having me committed?"

Embry's pace of recovery seemed to be mirroring and highly dependent upon Jezzie's. Jared thought that was really ridiculous considering Jezzie, y'know, had to reason to be absolutely crazy right now. Embry didn't.

Embry had been pretty screwy about this girl for a while. At first, Jared just thought it was because Embry was sexually retarded. This was mostly true. Embry hadn't been nearly the smooth talker Quil had been pre-phase. Exploding into an overgrown man in the course of a few weeks hadn't helped that. He was worried Brady and Collin would go the same way, having phased so young. But at least they had time to adjust. And Jake? Well that was a whole other clusterfuck entirely. Jared supposed that at least Embry was very lucky he wasn't Jacob.

Regardless, Embry was pretty female-illiterate. But Jared suspected only a small part of his issues stemmed from his lack of experience. Embry could at least talk to girls, didn't moon over them or worry constantly. Jezzie was different. Jared had slowly but surely picked up the tenor of Embry's mind now that they shared patrol and he knew that Jezzie was always on the periphery. Mostly just wondering what she was doing or how she was. Jared was pretty sure Embry didn't even realize it. If Jared wasn't much mistaken, Embry liked Jezzie a lot and wasn't even aware of it.

Not only did that seriously screw with Jared's perception of Pack relationships, because he stood on the total other side of the imprinting debacle – also a whole other clusterfuck entirely – but it was definitely problematic that Embry didn't even recognize feelings he had for another human being.

Well, that was a bizarre man talk for another time. Right now, they had to convince Jezzie she wasn't insane.

"Jezzie," Jared replied. "We're not having you committed."

Kim reached from her spot on the coffee table and took Jezzie's hand. "I'm pretty sure I just experienced a total psychological and mental breakdown in the parking lot of QTS."

Jared thought it was odd that Jezzie was more concerned about her reaction to Anna's phasing and not Anna's phasing itself. Kim picked up on the misaligned concern as well. "Jezzie, what do you remember?" she asked quietly.

Jezzie took a deep breath and sifted through her recent thoughts and memories. It took her a moment to sweep aside the panic and the worry that she was absolutely losing her mind.

"What were you doing at QTS today?" Kim helped.

"Um…" Jezzie's eyes glazed as she tried to remember. Remembering. Not her best strength. She pulled her phone out of her pocket and checked the calendar in it. "I was with Anna going to rugby…" Then Jezzie's memory jogged. She remembered walking across the lot and offering to drive Anna home afterwards. She remembered thinking that the strap from her bag was seriously digging into her shoulder and that she wasn't sure if she remembered her tape. She had just mentioned to Anna that they were late when… "Oh my god," and her hand snapped over her mouth. "Oh my god!"

She could feel the anxiety wash back into her system once again. Gray and black fur popping out of nowhere, snarling, barking… "Where's Anna? Where's Anna?" She shrieked. "Is she okay? We were attacked! By— something! A wolf or a bear!"

Kim held tight onto Jezzie's hand and Embry prevented her from standing up. "Jezzie, she's fine. No one was attacked."

Her memories of the incident were so foggy, she doubted them immediately. "I am crazy," she moaned as her head crashed down towards her knees.

"Jezzie," Jared continued with an arched brow as she curled up – convinced of her own insanity. "We're going to tell you what happened. But there's a catch. It doesn't leave these walls. It's really important – for the safety of the Pa-people involved – that you keep it a secret."

She peered up slightly and looked quizzically at Jared. "Secrets don't make friends."

"This secret makes you friends by default, actually. Look, once you know, I'm sure you'll agree – but please don't rule it out as the preferred option." Jared, having met Jezzie on a few occasions, had learned that she was a good person and generally had people's best interests at heart. And he got the sense that she quite liked Embry. He thought this was something the Pack could trust her with. Not like there was anything they could do about it at this point.

"Is this a gang or a cult or something?"

"Not quite," he replied with a sly grin. "So, here on La Push we're a pretty tight knit community. And within our gene pools there's this trait that only manifests in some of the people some of the time. It's a protection mechanism and something you shouldn't be afraid of, because it's only used to help people."

Jezzie continued to watch Jared with her mouth slightly agape. "Dude," Embry supplied. "You are way better at explanations than Sam ever will be…"

Jared rolled his eyes and continued. "Jezzie, Anna's a shapeshifter. You two weren't attacked; Anna just phased – as we call it – for the first time. The first phase is usually unpredictable."

"A shapeshifter?" Jezzie responded unconvinced. "And what – praytell – shape did she shift into?"

"The Quileute people assume the form of a wolf."

"Werewolves? You guys are a bunch of werewolves."

"Shapeshifters." Kim, Embry and Jared all spoke simultaneously. The Pack had developed a bit of a sensitivity to the term 'werewolf' after recent events.

"Sorry," Jezzie muttered. "Wait… People, you said? Quileute people? As in plural? As in she's not the only one?"

Jared shook his head and Embry continued. "It's a Pack, Jezzie. There's a handful of us and we protect the reservation and parts of Forks. That's why you see us at random times of the day in the middle of nowhere, because we're just coming off a patrol shift."

Jezzie blinked a few times and tried to think of a logical question to ask or something to say. Jezzie nodded, swallowed once and licked her dry lips. "Prove it."

"What?" Jared replied.

"I don't believe you," she shook her head. "You want me to believe something like that you need to prove it to me."

"Anna exploding into a giant dog in front of your very eyes wasn't enough?" he asked in a half laugh.

She shook her head again. "I don't remember it. It happened way too fast and I panicked."

"Fine. Proof the woman wants, proof she shall get. Embry," he nodded his head towards Kim's back door, "let's go."

The two disappeared out the back door, shedding clothing as they went. Jezzie felt that was really strange and didn't want to know why those two boys were stripping down in the backyard. Maybe it was a cult.

Kim had all but read her mind. "It's so they don't ruin their clothes," she supplied, having followed Jezzie's line of sight. "The clothing doesn't shift with them and that – along with shoes – turns into a really big expense really quickly."

"That's why none of them wear shirts?" Jezzie asked. Kim nodded in confirmation.

"Okay, so we're gonna go see some shapeshifting wolves. It's okay if you're weirded out – because that's totally normal. But please try not to super freak out? They're not gonna hurt us…"

Jezzie nodded. "I'll try, but no promises." Kim smiled and stood, leading Jezzie towards the back of her small house. She didn't even open the back door, she simply pointed out the window next to it. Jezzie gasped when she peered out and saw two absolutely huge wolves sitting in Kim's backyard as if it was no big thing. There was one wolf – a bit smaller than the other – with gray fur and darker patches across its back. The other wolf was even more gigantic than the gray one, but with brown fur that blended seamlessly with the tree trunks that abutted Kim's property.

Jezzie watched in amazement. She'd never seen wolves so big in her entire life. Their paws must've been the size of trashcan lids. They were bigger than bison. The smaller gray wolf chuffed at the bigger one, and the bigger one reciprocated by batting the gray one's nose and biting his ear. The gray wolf whined and tried to tug his ear back but only ended up rolling on his back, while the larger wolf followed suit and continued to chew on the gray one's ear.

Kim shook her head. "Boys…" she muttered. "Seriously," she continued when she noticed Jezzie glance up at her. "They're such 'tards. Come on? Want to come see them?"

Jezzie shook her head shyly, still far too wary to forgo the safety of having a full building between them. The two wolves soon caught sight of the girls peeking at them from the window. The gray one trotted up to the spot and sat down. At their height, Jezzie could just see the wolf's nose when he extended it upward. There was a chuff and the doggy breath fogged up the window immediately.

"Ew!" Kim whined. "Embry Call, that is disgusting! Don't you dare defile my house with your dog snot. Jared, bite him!" Jared did nothing of the sort, but still came over and laid his head on Kim's steps and Jezzie could see him through the screen door. The gray wolf – Embry – at the window began to whine pathetically. "What a ham," Kim muttered as she rolled her eyes.

Jezzie took a careful step closer to the now de-fogging window and peeked out. She could see Embry's face and his whining immediately stopped. Instead, his mouth opened wide and his tongue lolled out. The teeth were a bit terrifying, Jezzie had to admit, but that action didn't seem menacing. In fact, it appeared down right goofy.

She couldn't help the small chuckle that escaped her lips. Kim joined her at the window and peeked out through the glass. "He's smiling at you," she said through her own toothy grin. Jezzie reached down and grabbed the window's sash and carefully but purposefully yanked it up and open. She rested her chin on the windowsill and smiled as Embry yipped in what she assumed was happiness and Jared groused in what she assumed was annoyance.


Having decided she was still too shook up to go home and feign normalcy for her father's sake she called him told him she was having a sleepover.

"No, not at Anna's, Dad, but she's here… Yes, it's at Kim's… No, you haven't met her yet. I met her at the beach last week… Yes, she's a nice girl… No, no guys or drugs, I know Dad… Yes, I have my phone. I'm calling you from her house phone so you can use that as well, if you like… Thanks. Love you… I'll see you tomorrow."

"No guys or drugs?" Jared glanced at her with a smirk and a raised brow as she deposited the phone on the coffee table.

"Yeah. My Dad does not approve of unruly boys and illicit drugs," she said smartly before sticking out her tongue.

"Well, good thing I sold all the heroin the other day and I have to leave for patrol, because we all know Embry doesn't count as a guy."

"Hey!" Embry shouted from the kitchen, soon followed by a projectile apple. "I'm right here, you ass!"

"Nice catch," Jezzie commented from her ducked position. Jared had caught that hunk of fruit without even looking! "And I'm a fantastic liar. I'm brutally honest enough with myself. Makes me a good liar."

"How does that work out?" Jared questioned with a quirked brow, taking a bite of the apple he'd caught.

Jezzie shrugged. "Well, if I'm honest with myself that means I know the truth. And that honesty lets me see things not quite so subjectively, I guess. So I know when lying to someone is for their own benefit. Like not telling my Dad that you and Embry are here? I'm pretty sure I'm safe with you lot. Why cause undue stress?"

"So you're a good liar in the moral sense," he replied. "Not necessarily that you are a skilled liar?"

"It's both," she grinned to herself.

"Slippery slope," he nodded with a wise look. "That's a hell of a lot of power. What makes it so fair your deciding what truth people should know?"

Jezzie quirked her lips in thought and hunched one shoulder. "I don't know. I guess that's what makes it hard. I don't tend to lie when it makes me feel really uncomfortable. That brutal honesty comes with a conscience about the size of Texas."

"Wow," Jared nodded as he propped his feet on the coffee table and turned on the TV. "You got a preference for viewing pleasure, spider monkey?"

Jezzie rolled her eyes, not taking too kindly to Jared's new name for her. He was using her panic-stricken reactions against her. She was pretty sure she preferred 'Detroit' to 'spider monkey'. "No," she shook her head. "I don't really know what's on; I don't have a TV."

Jared glanced at her slowly. "You don't have a television? You know it's the twenty-first century, right?"

She nodded. "Not worth the cost. My Dad can never figure it out and he prefers the radio. I just watch stuff online. I have an old laptop. I also don't have a dishwasher or a clothes dryer."

"Holy hell," Jared muttered as Embry returned with three plates of food. "And I thought we were behind the times."

"Dude, your making me a sandwich while I watch TV does nothing for the case for your manhood…"

"Embry, this sandwich is bigger than my head!"

"You," Embry pointed at Jared. "Shut the hell up. I made that as an act kindness for explaining Pack BS to Jezzie. You," he pointed to Jezzie, "could use it. Now eat up. Let's put some meat on them bones."

"Are you calling me scrawny?"

"I'm calling you 'girl who had a spaz attack earlier and has not eaten since'. It's been a long day. Have some calories."

Kim had left for her shift at the local grocery store in Forks. That left Jared, Embry and Jezzie alone for four hours. Granted, Kim had left a half hour late and only after total reassurance that the boys wouldn't terrorize or haze Jezzie.

"So, wolfy traits?" Jezzie asked in reference to Jared's earlier cat-like reflexes.

"Hm?" he glanced at her pulling his attention from the TV. "Oh, yeah. Now that we're phased, we have heightened abilities. It's why we look older than we are, why we're stronger than we should be. We're also really fast and have awesome reflexes. And I definitely have the best eyesight in this whole damn Pack."

"Okay, Batman… we get it," Embry groaned.

"You two rag on each other a lot," Jezzie observed.

"We're brothers," Jared shrugged as if that explained it all. "It happens."

"Really?" Jezzie replied after swallowing her bite of sandwich and looked towards Embry. "I thought you were an only child?"

Jared glanced hesitantly at Embry. He'd meant 'brother' in the Pack kind of sense. Because they were all family now. No matter what. But Jared also realized that his statement dug up some seriously ambiguous territory for Embry. Jared might not have been his biological brother but lately they weren't quite sure who Embry was related to…

"In the Pack sense," Embry supplied. "We all consider ourselves family. And when we first phase we sort of tag along with another, older, more experienced Pack member. Jared was my 'big brother' of sorts."

Jezzie continued to eat – this really was a good sandwich – and watched Embry speak.

"Sam couldn't teach all new wolves at the same time and once we got control over the phasing we were sort of relegated to another wolf. Jared has taught me all I know, god help me. The same thing happened with Quil and Paul."

"Quil Ateara?" Jezzie questioned.

"Yep," Jared confirmed. "And Paul Lahote. We're ten strong. Sam's the old Alpha, then there's Paul and Brady and Collin. Jake's the new Alpha, then there's Embry, Leah, Seth, Quil and now Anna."

"How do you have two Alphas in one Pack? Isn't that just asking for trouble?"

"Two Packs," Embry corrected. "We split after—" he caught himself just in time. Neither of the boys had explained vampires, hybrids or imprinting to Jezzie yet. The look in both their eyes said they weren't ready to go there yet.

"We split after some personality clashes between Jake and Sam," Jared supplied, catching Embry's dangling statement before Jezzie could make too much of it. "But Sam's starting to phase out of Pack business. He was Alpha because he phased first, but he hasn't had a good experience with it. He's slowly pulling himself out. It's pretty much just Jake's job now."

"We're pretty much one again, now, though. It's the mental part that's taking longer than the meetings," Embry continued after stealing the remote from Jared. "I can start to hear you again on patrols. That's been the first time that's happened in weeks."

"Same," Jared agreed. "If Sam is having trouble phasing out, he's certainly not having any trouble giving up Alphadom. Though I don't know how much I like the prospect of answering to Jake, so far."

"He's not too bad," Embry acceded.

Jezzie just listened, trying to piece together information as the two boys spoke – mostly to each other. It was a long and interesting night, to say the least. Kim eventually came home and was surprised to find that Embry had made her a plate, too.

Jezzie was mostly quiet and content to listen to the boys discuss Pack life. She discovered – through observation – that the Pack seemed to communicate in their head somehow. They were also very wary of something that had happened recently but didn't anticipate more trouble. They ragged on Jake for overcompensating and there was a lot of discussion of a 'them' – a group who it sounded lived in town and was giving the Pack a bit of a hard time.

"Wait," Jezzie interrupted after her own prolonged silence. "Is there only one other girl in the Pack?" She'd heard them mention about ten names so far – that's how many there were supposed to be, right – and only other one girl, Leah Clearwater, had been mentioned.

"Just Leah and Anna. And Leah's not gonna be back until tomorrow – she goes to school in Seattle with Rachel and Addie."

"Leah isn't here?" Kim asked looking from the TV. "Who the heck is with Anna then?"

Jared and Embry shrugged simultaneously. "When I went outside to supervise shift change?" Jared supplied. "It sounded like Quil and Jake. Don't think they're making much leeway, though."

Kim and Jezzie's jaws dropped in unison. "What?" Jared replied looking confused.

"Jake's her Alpha," Embry supplied. "He's got it under control."

"Like hell he does!" Kim stated flatly as she sprung off the couch.

Jezzie leaned forward to help clarify. "So Leah's your only other female wolf?" she double-checked.

The two boys nodded.

"And Anna just phased for the first time?"

More nodding.

"And Jake and Quil are talking her back to sanity?"

Nod.

"Well," she sighed in exaggerated consternation. "How could that dynamic not lull her into calmness. You guys," she huffed standing up. "She just experienced a total shift of species. And I'm admittedly the last person to offer advice on such wolfy matters, but having her brother and his best friend talk her down sounds about as good an idea as having them explain menstruation to her."

Both Jared and Embry took turns staring at her – mouths agape. Jezzie stood and made her way towards the kitchen where Kim had dropped her bag after kindly retrieving it on her way home from work.

She pulled her raincoat out and was tugging it on when Kim rejoined her. "Where are you two going?" Jared asked as he and Embry followed Jezzie to the kitchen.

"To get Anna!" Kim shouted like it was obvious. "I cannot believe you dopes left her out there with Jake and Quil! She's probably horrified and embarrassed!"

"Whoa, whoa, wait!" Embry said, stepping in front of the kitchen door and blocking the path to the front door. "There is no way you two are going stumbling blindly through the La Push underbrush at 10PM in the pouring rain with an unstable new phase out there."

"Embry Call," Kim growled as she stepped forward. "Get out of my way in my house before I turn your furry ass into a throw rug."

"Listen," Jezzie said more calmly as she placed a hand on Kim's shoulder. Kim seemed like a scrappy girl and she didn't want a brawl to erupt in her kitchen. "You guys can come, but we can't – in good conscience – leave her alone out there."

"Girl code and all that," Kim supplied with a smile. Jezzie saw their opportunity and gave Kim a small push and the two powered under Embry's outstretched arm, past Jared and towards the front door.

"What kind of girl code extends to shapeshifters?" Embry whispered to Jared.

"I have no fucking clue."


A short jog to QTS and a few flashlights later and Jared, Kim, Embry and Jezzie were under the slightly drier cover of the trees. Jezzie clicked on her flashlight and Embry lead the way. Having arrived during the first few minutes of Anna's first phase, he assumed they hadn't gone very far. It didn't take very long to begin to hear the tell-tale noises of the Pack and find them based on sound alone.

When their party of four arrived there were already three wolves in the small thinning of trees. Jezzie's flashlight revealed one reddish wolf and a dark brown one. The two were standing and admittedly put Jezzie a little on edge. She imagined getting used to the Pack took a while. Further away there was a smaller wolf – blonder through the legs and belly and darker on the back and head. The fur was particularly long and shaggy, making the wolf look more like a water buffalo. Jezzie recognized the fur from the flashes of her memory.

"That's Jake," Kim indicated the red wolf. "And that's Quil," she flashed her torch to the brown wolf.

"That's definitely Anna," Jezzie supplied, watching the much smaller wolf lay very low in the pine needles. She was emitting lots of whining and grousing noises, occasionally she chewed on her right paw and she kept trying to dig her snout into the dirt.

"They don't want you near her," Jared offered.

"How do you know?" Kim retorted.

"Because the waves of Alpha mind control rolling off Jake are kind of overwhelming. It's hard to ignore. In fact it's giving me a headache." He offered that last pointed remark in Jake's general direction.

"I thought Jake wasn't your Alpha?" Jezzie asked.

"He's not, but Sam isn't fighting him on the matter. Having a new wolf in Jake's Pack makes him more powerful and makes it easier for him to assume the rest of the original Pack. Regardless," he shook his head, "Anna's too unstable, too dangerous. They don't want you near her."

"Fine, we won't go any closer," Jezzie compromised looking towards a wolfy Jacob. "Stupid question but can you still keep track of her if you can't see her?"

Quil looked quizzically towards his Alpha. Jacob nodded slowly. "Of course," Jared offered. "But he wants to know what you're getting at."

Jezzie glanced at Anna then back towards Jacob and steeled herself. She took a few precarious steps and crossed the distance between the humans and the wolves. When she reached Jacob she tried to concentrate on her task and not her heart trying to punch itself out of her chest. She waved her hand at him, indicating for him to come closer so she could whisper.

His head cocked to the side, but she didn't care if he thought she was crazy. He obliged anyways, extending his enormous ear towards Jezzie's height.

"Jake," she whispered, cupping her hands to direct the sound only to him. "She's probably embarrassed. I know that this is something that your Pack is getting used to handling but a girl and another Packmate's sister is a slightly different circumstance, don't you think? If what I've learned about you guys these past few hours is true, she's probably really embarrassed. You can read her mind and her phasing back is going to mean she's gonna be sitting out here in the woods naked and horrified. Just do the poor girl a favor and turn around."

Jake sat back up after Jezzie was done speaking. "Please?" she asked using her best pouty face. Jake turned to Quil and nodded his head. The two stood and turned around, facing into the woods. Quil sighed audibly. "He doesn't like this," Jared offered.

"Tough," Kim replied.

Jezzie sat down in the leaf layer in her spot, only an arm's length from Jacob. "Hi, Anna," Jezzie offered, facing the newest wolf and still complying Jake's request not to move any closer. She was pleased to at least see that Anna was no longer burrowing into the earth but mostly still. "You really scared me half to death today. I'm okay, though," she smiled. "Would you believe I thought you and I were attacked by a bear? I was babbling like a crazy person. Embry and Jared can tell you about it sometime. It's really embarrassing."

Kim walked over to Jezzie's side and sat down beside her. "The key to phasing back is control," Embry offered. He seemed to be speaking more to Kim and Jezzie than Anna. Though at several hours in, this was information Jezzie was sure Anna had.

Jezzie turned in her spot and extended a hand to touch Jake's hip. "Could you guys, like… crouch down?"

Jake issued a small growl at that request. Jezzie sighed. "I doubt she's gonna challenge you for rank, Jake. But I think you're making her nervous."

"You two turn around as well," Kim nodded towards Embry and Jared.

"Actually, can you guys go up to my Jeep – it should still be in the QTS parking lot from earlier – and grab some clothes from my back seat. For when Anna phases back?"

"Sure," and the two left soundlessly.

"So control, huh?" Jezzie offered as she picked up a leaf to play with.

Kim nodded. "That's the key. It took Paul so long to phase back, that dork." Kim laughed once. "He's so out of control all the time. I bet Anna beats them all out for quickest phase." She checked her watch. "She's still made way more progress than any of the rest of them at this point."

There was a light crackle of leaves and a bundle of clothes was dropped into Jezzie's lap from above her. "Thanks," she responded, looking up to see Embry followed by Jared. "Now go sit with the others. No peeking."

"Girls," he muttered shaking his head, but the two joined Quil and Jake.

"That's cool though, even if it's a little scary," Kim continued. "That's one more girl on our side. And Anna can definitely talk sense to these morons."

"Hey!"

"Hush! It's totally true. I swear they're like cavemen sometimes. I can't wait to watch Anna and Leah tag team them!"

"Girls rule," Jezzie admitted, feeling a bit like a twelve year old again.

"Boys drool," Kim laughed.

"Although, I dunno. Embry makes really good sandwiches. He would be a good housewife someday. Does that mean he's on our team?"

"What? What is going on over there?"

Kim and Jezzie covered their mouths quickly to stifle their laughter, forgetting the boys standing sentinel behind them. "Female empowerment and all that," Kim choked out around laughs. "Could you just imagine him in an apron putting a roast on? 'Excuse me? Where have you been? Dinner's been ready for over an hour!'" Kim imitated and Jezzie rolled onto her back with laughter. Kim did a very funny Embry impression.

"Look!" Embry stated, "I can make a good sandwich because I've spent my whole life with my Mom. It comes with the territory. If you spent your whole life with a woman you might learn how to cook too! Now quit calling me a girl; it took so long to get Paul to stop calling me gay! He was gonna have me advertised as a house boy."

Kim rolled into the leaves along with Jezzie, both of them unable to control their laughter. Imagining Embry as a gay house boy was down right hilarious. And through the fog of all their laughter, Jezzie heard a scuffling of leaves and glanced up momentarily to see a fully human – and very naked – Anna on her hands and knees in the leaves laughing herself to tears.

Kim and Jezzie glanced up at each other with mutual smiles. Anna was back. "Boys, no one turn around, got it?"

Quil chuffed once and he and Jacob moved into the woods, ahead of them presumably to phase back. From her spot Jezzie tossed Anna the bundle of clothes Jared and Embry had brought.

"Thanks," she said as her laughs subsided. She slipped on the gym shorts and t-shirt easily.

"Is everyone decent?" there was a call from Quil in the woods beyond. "Because I'm really not okay with having my sister's visuals of my best friend as a gay house boy floating through my head."

"Same here," came Jake's addition.

"You guys can come out," Jezzie turned around. "Embry? Jared? You can look now, it's safe." Jezzie stood up and approached Anna. She smiled and carefully brushed the few leaves off her shoulders. Jezzie offered her a hair tie when Jake and Quil reappeared.

"Anna, thank God," Quil muttered. Quil marched up to his little sister and hugged her rather forcefully. She seemed to reciprocate the act.

"It's good to be human," she sighed into her brother's shoulder.

An hour later found their whole delegation – Kim, Jared, Embry, Jezzie, Jacob, Quil and Anna – in Kim's house, which seemed smaller and smaller with each Quileute shapeshifter that ducked through her front door. Jezzie was perched on Kim's counter nodding her head to the radio as she trimmed Anna's hair to a length that was reasonable for phasing.

She had been giving herself and others haircuts for years now, and she promised to make sure Anna still looked like a girl in the end. She opted for a pixie.

"You're kind of an edgy type, anyways," Jezzie commented as her legs swung in time to the music.

"I can't believe you're letting her cut your hair," Embry remarked from over the back of one of Kim's kitchen chairs as he watched Jezzie work. "I wouldn't let her touch my head."

"Oh ye of little faith!" Jezzie replied, pointing the scissors at him. "Your hair's easy. You don't even need scissors, just a good set of electric razors. Bzzz!"

"You," Embry stated flatly, "would cut my head off."

"Psha!" Jezzie said, brushing him off. "You are done, Anna! And looking Rihanna red carpet ready, if I do say so myself." She offered Anna the handheld mirror and she peeked carefully. "I left it a little longer in the front, but not too much. If you find that it becomes an issue let me know and I'll trim it up higher."

"No! I like it," she smiled. "I like it a lot actually. I was really scared, not gonna lie, but this is good. Thanks!" Anna put the mirror back on the counter and hugged Jezzie forcefully.

The Ateara's liked to hug, Jezzie had learned. Not that she really minded much, but one of them was going to suffocate her one day. "Air, Anna. Can't… breathe…"

"Right! Sorry… that's gonna take some getting used to." She carefully released Jezzie and picked up the plate of leftovers Kim had heated up. "Does Mom know we're here, Quil?"

In an odd turn of events, Kim and Jezzie ended up spending the night in Kim and Jared's bed, while Embry, Jacob and Jared slept in the living room.

Jacob and Quil put the kibosh on a true sleepover, because Anna was such a new and unpredictable wolf. So they wouldn't let either human sleep with, near or around her without a barrier. Anna didn't want to go home yet, and was feeling claustrophobic so she decided to sleep under the stars, since the rain stopped. Her brother joined her and the two Ateara kids slept phased and curled together like puppies, their presence guarded by the trees on all sides of the yard. That left the boys in between and in the living room.

Paul clearly stated that he didn't even want to know when he arrived the next morning. He was just instructed to be here. Seth turned on his heel and went back down the stairs yelling, "my virgin eyes!"

"Virgin, my ass…" Jake mumbled as he sat up and knocked Embry's feet off the couch. He'd spent the whole night on the floor and felt entitled to something softer than hardwood under his ass after several hours.

"I'm fifteen," Seth said aghast as he reentered the house.

"Are you arguing the case for your not getting laid?" Embry asked.

"Yes? You guys are older than me. Aren't you supposed to be setting an example for my fragile psyche?"

"We're all equals here," Jared offered in his most serious voice around his toothbrush as he stepped out of the bathroom and stared.

"Exactly," Seth agreed as he sprawled out on the floor.

"The day Jared turns into our life coach is the day I eat this cushion," Embry yawned.

"Get Anna and Quil, let's start this Pack meeting…"

Jezzie woke up to the tones of what sounded like important business-y things. She contented herself with rolling back over, noting that she was still extremely tired from yesterday's activities – which were many and varied – and she really enjoyed whatever fabric softener Kim used.

She was on the cusp of drifting back to sleep when her and Kim were unceremoniously dive-bombed. "GOOD MORNING, MAMA WOLF!"

Jezzie was all but jostled upright as Kim fell off the bed entirely. Seth had landed directly between them. "Ugh… good morning Seth…"

"So, word on the street is your part of the club now?"

"Mhm," she mumbled groggily, burrowing back into the sheets.

"Embry," Seth called into the living room. "Does this mean I get a Mom now?"

"Excuse me?" Jezzie asked opening a single eye.

"Embry's my Daddy Wolf. When I phased he got to train me up; he's been my Yoda, my Mr. Miyagi – that kinda thing."

Oh, that was right. The Pack had 'families'. Hadn't Jared been the one to do the same thing for Embry? "Does that make Jared and Kim, grandpa and grandma?" Jezzie asked.

"Chyeah," Seth insisted.

"It most certainly does not," Jared said matter-of-factly from the open bathroom across the hall while Kim laughed climbing back on the bed.

Seth leaned in closer so the whole house couldn't hear, "I'm pulling for you to be Mama Wolf." Seth's following smile was huge and Kim's giggling from the other side of the bed was none too obvious, as well. Jezzie just hid her blush behind a pillow.