---------------------------------------------------------- Old Friends -------------------------------------------------------------

"Jake, I hardly think you'll need more than 5 bags of chips. The store isn't going anywhere, we can always come back for more." He looked at me with an expression that showed, quite clearly, he wasn't open for negotiations. He bundled the 8 bags of chips into the trolley and began towing it towards the soda. I huffed a sigh and dragged myself along behind him. It was a good thing I had brought Dad's credit card with me, Jake's food shopping wasn't going to be inexpensive. I watched the other shoppers get an eyeful of Jake as he loaded the groceries onto the belt at the checkout. It was a relatively sunny day in Forks, uncharacteristically warm. Jake was only sporting a pair of combat shorts and a vest, and his muscles looked intimidating, despite his large smile which was clearly friendly. One man in particular stared unashamedly at Jacob, gawking actually, with an almost disbelieving stare. Jake saw me gazing at the man and followed suit. The blonde haired man just stared back. He was maybe in his early thirties, and looked like he may have been quite pretty, by human standards. Jake looked uncomfortable under the man's gaze, but there was something else there as well. Worry?

"Sorry, do I know you?" Jake asked the man warily. He seemed to jump out of his trance at hearing Jake's voice.

"Oh, um, no, sorry. I thought… sorry, you look like someone I used to know." His eyes were full of apologies. He looked away from Jake, toward me, to apologise with his eyes again. But then he stopped. He stared at me more pointedly than at Jake. His eyes widened significantly and his mouth fell open. I cringed from his gaping.

"Mike," a woman said, approaching him. She had unruly, thick curly hair that hung to her shoulders. In the baby seat of the trolley she was pushing sat a small baby, no older than a year. It looked lazily around itself. The man blinked repeatedly and turned to look at her. She glanced at me with a confused expression. "Something up?" She looked at him.

"No," he said, dazed. "No, no, lets go." They walked away towards another cashier. The man whispered to his partner, "Jess, does that girl look familiar to you?" His whisper was laced with an almost urgency. The woman glanced back at me again, trying to be discreet by hiding behind her thick curls.

"I don't think…" her eyes narrowed infinitesimally, "wait… she kinda look's like… do you remember Bella Swan?" I started at the mention of my mothers name. Especially because the woman used my mothers maiden name.

"Exactly, that's what I thought. But… she looks kinda like Cullen too." He said in amazement to the woman. They both looked back, and I was immediately panic stricken. I realised I had been frozen since the man, Mike, had mentioned my Mom. I unfroze quickly and moved toward Jake, who was handing the cashier my Dad's bank card.

"Jake! Jake." I said in an critical whisper. "Jake, did you hear that couple?!"

"Yeah." He sighed under his breath, not moving his eyes to look at me.

"What do we do?" I was worried by his unperturbed attitude.

"Nothing, Ness." He laughed slightly. "They're just a bit shaken, they don't actually think anything of your resemblance to your parents." He smiled at me.

"Huh," I huffed. I looked to find them. They were a couple of booths down, packing their groceries, almost oblivious to me. "Do you know them?" I asked Jake as we headed out towards the car.

"Em, the guy looked kinda familiar. I think he was a friend of you Mom's at school." Jake smiled slightly at a memory, and I pursed my lips at him. He just shook his head, loading the bags, and then himself, into the car.

"You gonna eat all those chips Colin, or you gonna let us have some too?" Brady teased Colin from across the table. A quick flash of irritation crossed Colin's face before he surrendered the bag of chips to Seth, who was reaching out for them. The sun was setting in the distance and there was a slight chill in the air, but nothing that a jumper couldn't combat, and certainly it meant nothing to the warmer members of the group. The two packs had all gathered for dinner in Emily and Sam's back garden. It was good to see everyone together so harmoniously. All the wolves were there. Colin and Brady, Seth and Leah, Embry. And then the imprinted partners. Claire was there with Quil. It was very good to see Claire again. She had just passed her 18th birthday and looked just as happy and cheerful with Quil as ever. The others were older now. Kim sat across from me, Jared by her side, one arm around her shoulders. Kim looked well, glowing as most expectant mothers did. Despite only being in her second trimester, her belly had expanded hugely. I guess that's what you had to deal with when you were expecting twins. Rachael sat relaxing on Kim's other side, watching fondly as Paul chased their 3 year old son, Daniel, around the garden. Both Paul and Jared, like Sam, had began to stop phasing, beginning to slowly start the ageing process again. They were all in their early thirties now. It was mind boggling, and also quite upsetting, to watch them age that way while the others remained young. I slowly took in everyone's expressions as I looked around the table. Everyone had wide smiles on their faces, chatting casually to each other. It was a lot easier than I expected it to be, having both packs (and Alphas) together, but they found it very easy, it seemed, at least while in human form. However, there was one face, sitting slightly detached from the circle, that didn't look so happy. Toby sat slouched in his chair, staring at his knees. Frowning really. I couldn't imagine how he must be feeling. Like Jacob had guessed, Sam passed on his title to his son, so now Toby was left to be in charge of the entire pack. Of course, he was still training right now. Learning from the others while he got the ropes. But he was so young, 13 years old. He didn't look it. Already he was beginning to grow. His figure was that of a well built 17 year old, and he was still maybe only half way through his growth spurt. It abruptly made me very sad. Toby looked up and caught me gazing at him in my reverie. I smiled timidly at him. He smiled back, but his eyes were still conflicted. Jake squeezed my waist.

"You okay?" he whispered in my ear. I turned away from Toby to look up into Jake's eyes.

"Yeah," I said weakly, "Yeah, just thinking. And you?"

"Great." He smiled. "This food is really great Emily. I forgot how good a cook you were." He addressed Emily. The others murmured in agreement. She smiled back at him.

"You don't visit often enough." Leah said, as she took a seat beside Toby.

"It is good to have you back," Embry added. "To have everyone together."

"I guess one good thing came out of this mess, then." Toby spoke for the first time since we had sat down, his tone bitterly humoured. Sam gave a great sigh.

"I just wished we knew what had caused it." Jared sighed. There was a brief silence while everyone thought about Toby's implications.

Seth broke the silence. "Are we going for a run then?" He asked in a cheery tone. Colin and Brady immediately perked up. Jake stood up and sighed, walking round to where Seth sat.

"Well… I guess…" his voice was quiet and thoughtful, but it immediately gained volume "If you can keep up!!" And Jake sprinted off into the forest. The three boys were on their feet immediately, exclaiming with joy under their breaths as the chased into the forest after him. Colin, in an attempt to gain the lead, didn't bother phasing in the trees, but instead burst into his wolf form at the edge of the garden, leaving scraps of clothes behind him. Embry, Leah and Toby all stood up too, jogging towards where the others had disappeared. Quil looked into Claire's eyes, pleading.

"Go on." She laughed, and he rose too, following his friends.

The rest of us all stayed where we were, laughing at the wolves happy-go-lucky attitude. I was sure Jake had just acted the was he did to lighten the mood of the party.

"It's really good to see you, Nessie." Claire said to me.

"You to Claire. It's also kind of strange. I can't believe how old you are now. A woman." We laughed.

"Not really." She laughed. "But you know what's even weirder? I'm technically older than you?" She made a face, and so did I. I hadn't really ever thought about it before, but yes, Claire was older than me. Yet I've been an adult now for years, and she was just on the fringes of it. "I hope you'll be able to stay a while."

"Me to. I miss this place. La Push, Forks. It's nice to be home." We both smiled at each other. Just then a loud howl came from the forest. I recognised it at once. Jared, Paul and Sam all got to their feet and began toward the trees, but I was already paces ahead of them. We all sprinted through the trees together and were at Jake's side within a matter of minutes. All the wolves were there in their wolf forms and the small space we had gathered in was very crowded. Jake stood, in his human for, ready to explain to the four of us.

"Can you smell that?" He asked us. I focused on trying to identify any new scents, but all I could smell were the wolves and me.

"I don't smell anything out of place…" I said, confused. I noticed that all of the wolves' eyes were on me.

"Wait… no, I can smell that." Jared said. "It smells like… you." He looked at me.

Both Paul and Sam nodded in agreement. Now everyone in the clearing was looking at me. I felt very pressurised.

"It does smell like you, Ness, as a human." He qualified. "But as a wolf, it smells like something else. Like you but… different." He gave me a serious look.

"But… I haven't been here." I stated dumbly.

"Remember that trail that Leah and I found last night? Your trail." I nodded. "And I asked if you were wearing perfume, because it smelled different? Well, this is the same smell. It's just like you, but…. It's not the same as you." His brow ruffled as he tried to explain. I focused harder, and then I could smell it. It smelled like my clothes, like my hair, but… floral. With a more lilac smell to it.

"So, it wasn't my trail you found last night?" I asked.

"No. It was this trail."

"What is it?" Sam asked.

"I don't know."

Every one fell silent. What on earth was going on? Who, or what, had left this trail in the forest? There were a few minutes of silence before anyone spoke.

"Seth, Quil, Embry. Split up and cover the range to see if you can find anything else." Jake ordered. "Leah, you and I will search the forests near the Cullen's place to see if we can relocate those trails." As Jake's pack headed into the woods, Toby, Colin and Brady headed in the other direction, obviously at some sort of silent command from Toby.

"Call if you find anything." Were Sam's parting words to Jake, and then Sam, Jared and Paul headed back towards the garden party. It was strange how all the happiness had faded into straight business in less than 15 minutes. Jake took me hand and then we were running through the forest back towards home, Leah running beside us. One minute Jacob was running beside me, then next it was a giant red-brown wolf. We all picked up the pace a little.

As we neared the great white house Leah split from Jake and I, running faster - at her own pace - to make a wide loop around the house. Jake ran me straight to the front lawn before turning to look me in the eyes.

"Come back soon." I said to him firmly. But my eyes were filled with worry. He sighed and moved to rub his nose against my cheek. I wrapped my arms around his neck and held him there. "Be careful." I sighed and then pulled away. He gazed at me for a long moment and then turned and ran away. My shoulders slumped and I headed toward the front door. As soon as I opened it I was met by the gaze of 8 beautiful statues, which all turned to concerned expressions at almost exactly the same moment. I turned to close the door, and when I turned back Dad was at my side.

"What happened?" he asked anxiously. I sighed and then pressed my hand to his face,