Disclaimer: The characters you recognize from the Twilight Saga belong to S. Meyer, but all the other characters belong to the very talented writer yay4shanghai. You can find her fabulous stories, as well as the very good spin-offs written by ari11990, dll10, Guzhong and liljenrocks, in my favorite list, so go check them out!

AN: A very special thank you to my extraordinary beta yay4shanghai, I truly admire your devotion


Real smooth Phil

~*~

POV: Tara

~*~

"Stay..." I breathed between kisses, as his lips moved over mine with a fiery intensity.

The word that had been lingering in my brain for the last couple of hours, finally passed my lips, though barely more than a whisper. Things between Phil and me had changed tonight, there was nothing subtle about it, it had been abrupt, and very clear. It was Anna who had tore open my past, digging in without reserve, determined to find the bones that had been buried there. But it had been Phil who had carefully laid out the pieces, gently brushing off the dirt and uncovering the truth. There weren't any promises made, though it felt as if we had, which was significant enough to want him to stay with me tonight.

The door had already been ajar, in the middle of our habitual good night kiss, which usually lasted over a good 15 minutes, when I said it. It wasn't a question, it wasn't a demand, it was just one single word, but it represented so much more than that. Him spending the night here, was entirely different than it had been the night I slept at his place, this meant I invited him into my family. Though the girls were asleep, and not a part of what was happening now, they would be in the morning.

"Are you sure?" He pulled back just enough to look at me, his bright green eyes piercing mine.

"Unless you don't want to," maybe he had no interest in waking up, and having to deal with Chloe and Ava in the morning.

"Of course I want to!" He said, pointedly shutting the door behind him.

As I took his hand in mine, I turned and pulled him along with me to the bedroom, it was nowhere near as extravagant as his had been, but it was mine. Removing pieces of clothing as we closed the door behind us, he pressed me up against the wall, after letting my panties drop to the floor. Fervently kissing me, sucking on my lower lip he lifted one of my legs, so my left foot rested against his shoulder, while I was standing on the toes of the other.

"I wanted to try that ever since I saw you do that move in your dance class," Phil rumbled between pants, his husky voice sending shivers down my spine.

A moment later I felt him in me, entering me only with his tip first, slowly filling me as he moved deeper. Unleashing every ounce of sexual tension I had been building up, after the first time we'd been together, which apparently was quite a lot. Damn, this man was truly gifted! He knew just how to move, to hit the exact right spot, to send me into a frenzy, desperately craving that delicious release. That climax had been the first of the many that followed during the night.

~*~

Still woozy, I grabbed onto the kitchen counter top, inhaling deeply in order to regain my balance, after having downed at least three glasses of water. Guess he wasn't kidding when he said women regularly passed out on him, and supposedly Quil, I had yet to ask Claire about that. Which after tonight I would most definitely, but I couldn't help to do some research on my own, it was 5 a.m. everyone including Phil was sound asleep. As soon as my vision cleared, I refilled my glass again, and headed towards the living room, where I grabbed my laptop.

Settling on the couch, I googled a high body temperature, there was a lot to be found, but each and every one was described as a fever, which occurred whenever the body was fighting off an illness. The illnesses could be varying from a simple flu, to the worst of diseases out there. The average human body temperature was 98.6 degrees Fahrenheit, but could be anywhere between 97.7 and 99.5, in a healthy state, Phil was a lot warmer than that.

After almost an hour, I'd found nothing remotely close to what it could be, that would make his body heat that extreme. Determined to get an answer, I snapped shut my laptop, and got up, leaving it there on the couch. Grabbing the ear thermometer from the medicine cabinet, I marched into the bedroom, where Phil was still asleep, good! Hovering, trying not to wake him, I placed it in his ear, and pressed the button, waiting for the device to give me a result.

"Tara, what are you doing?" Phil mumbled sleepily. Then a loud beep sounded, his eyes flashed open, but by the time he figured it out, I was already staring at the display.

"108.2?!" That's impossible, he should be dead, cooked, fried, whatever… But not asleep, appearing as healthy as one can be. Completely ungraceful I plopped onto the bed next to him, resting my head on my knees.

"Tara, what did you do?" Phil was sitting up straight, eyeing me warily.

"I took your temperature, what did you think I did?!" My heart was racing, breathing became difficult, something was so terribly wrong here.

"That's nothing, I told you, we Quileute's run a little hotter," he chuckled, but stopped the moment he took in my expression.

"It's not funny Phil, there's no such thing as running a little hotter at 108! 108 Phil, that's not normal, a temperature that high indicates a person is dying!" This wasn't the first time a thought like that entered my brain, but now it was more than a strange feeling, it had grown into a full blown panic.

"Baby relax! You need to calm down for me, I'm not dying, I promise! Here look at me, do I look like I'm dying?" His arms wrapped around me, he was gently rubbing my back, trying to soothe me as much as he could.

"Swear to me you're not Phil, tell me you're ok! I can't lose you, do you understand me, I can't!" The thought of him leaving this world, was beyond painful, it felt as if someone was squeezing my heart, crumbling it until there was nothing left.

"You're not losing me Tara, I'm not going anywhere, I won't leave you… ever." The last word, he spoke very softly, I almost thought I'd imagined it, but I was positive he'd actually said it.

He held me until I fell asleep again, but without offering me any kind of explanation, there was something very weird going on here, though for the life of me, I hadn't a clue what it could be.

A light touch over my cheek woke me, my eyes fluttered open, focusing on the face in front of me, it was my little Ava's. She stood next to the bed, leaning down enough, so her face was only an inch or two away from mine, which she was playing on with her fingers. A smile crept over my face, I had told both of them countless times that I didn't like to wake up to screaming early in the morning, this was the alternative, which I preferred.

"Mommy? Are you awake?" She whispered softly.

"Yes sweetie, I'm awake," pushing myself up, I sat up straight, then I noticed Phil was no longer in bed.

"Mommy, Phil is making breakfast!" She said excitedly. Quickly I got up, heading towards the kitchen, while Ava trailed behind after me.

"Don't you know how to do anything?!" Chloe huffed at Phil as she shuffled around the contents of a sandwich.

Phil was indeed making breakfast, but with every move he made, Chloe was only one step behind, apparently she didn't approve of his arranging style. They worked silently, side by side, but certainly not in peace, they were shooting angry glares at each other, obviously irritated with the other. As I stood in the door opening, confused, I watched them bicker, until they noticed me.

"Good morning," both of them said at the same time, though not in unison, making it sound slightly weird.

"Good morning, uhm, you two shouldn't have made breakfast, I could've done it," I said hesitantly.

"Nah, it's no problem, right Chloe?" Phil nudged her side playfully, but her face only darkened.

"No, no problem at all!" She said way too sarcastic for a five year old.

While we ate, things didn't improve much, Chloe was obviously upset that she had found Phil here this morning, but as long as he was, discussing it would be useless. Thank god we were going to the playground in LaPush today, that way she could let off some steam. While I talked to Claire at the same time, since what happened this morning, horrible ideas kept invading my mind, I needed answers, and I needed them now.

~*~

"Ava, please be careful!" That girl was going to give me a heart attack one of these days!

"Yes mom!" She replied obediently, but a moment later she wasn't paying attention anymore, it was a good thing she was so agile, she hardly ever actually fell.

"How did dinner go with Anna?" Claire inquired, I hadn't talked to her last night, and she knew we had been going over there.

"Really good, well, after Anna made sure I wasn't hiding an angry husband in the closet, that is. Can you believe she asked me what their father would do if Phil wanted to adopt the girls!" I chuckled, remembering her persistence.

"Yeah, she can be like that with some of them, so what did you tell her?" Suddenly very curious.

"I told her if someone, wanted to adopt them, I wouldn't expect him to care." Which I didn't, but picturing Phil adopting them seemed very unreal to me.

"He spent the night," I suddenly blurted out, not completely understanding why I had.

"He did? At your place, while the girls were home?" I could tell she was surprised.

"Yeah, do you think it was a mistake? I really don't know him that well, I just wanted him to so bad, but now I'm not sure." Looking at Claire for an answer, she shook her head.

"You're the only one who can decide that Tara, but I can tell you he's a good guy." My concerns about him were slowly bubbling to the surface.

"If he's such a good guy, how come he says things like it's common for women to pass out on him, due to his high body temperature?!" To my surprise Claire started laughing.

"The body heat, yeah, that's tricky. One of the downsides of sharing your bed with a wolf!" She continued laughing, not realizing I was looking at her completely stupefied.

"What?! What do you mean, wolf?!" As abruptly as she started, she stopped laughing, clasping her hand over her mouth, as her eyes grew wide in shock.

~*~

POV: Phil

~*~

Did she just say wolf?! Both mine and Quil's head turned, looking at our two women, on the bench at the side of the playground. As I met Claire's eyes, she gave me an apologetic look, for accidentally calling me a wolf in front of my unknowing imprint. Now things were really fucked up, especially after this morning, which had been horrible enough on its own.

Apparently Tara didn't buy it when I told her I ran a little hotter than most, she had actually researched it, to find nothing that would explain it, except me being sick. Measuring me at 108.2, she had freaked out completely, afraid I was dying, it had been close to impossible to calm her down. I knew then she wouldn't let it go, but how could I have known it would get worse? Claire wasn't used to hiding the wolf thing like we were, and when Tara had talked so knowingly about the side effects of my body heat, it had just slipped out.

Suddenly everything was happening very fast, Tara and Claire screamed loudly, their eyes fixed on the top of the climbing frame. Following their stare, I saw Ava losing her balance and toppling over, within an instant I was beneath her, catching her before she could fall to the ground. Her heart beating like drum, Ava threw herself at me, sobbing onto my shoulder, the poor girl had just had the scare of her life. When I looked up at Chloe, who was till up there, her eyes wide with amazement met mine, and a big smile appeared on her face.

"Wow! Mom, did you see that, Phil was just like superman on tv, where he gets all blurry!" She screamed loudly at Tara, who was now approaching me fast, almost running.

"How did you? What just? Ava baby, are you ok?" When she couldn't find the words, she turned her attention to her daughter, who met her with teary eyes and nodded.

"He's superman or something, that's how he did it! Right Phil?" Chloe had climbed down some, to be at eye height, where she proudly beamed at me.

"Chloe, Phil is not superman!" Tara said a little angrily.

"How do you think he did it then?!" Chloe asked her mother cockily, challenging her to come up with a better answer.

"Well, he… I don't know, but he's not superman! Right?" Full of doubt she looked up at me. This was it, it couldn't wait any longer, I would have to tell her today.

"I'm not, not even close. I think it's best we move this to my place and call Mark in, just in case." I said to Quil, who nodded in agreement.

Unable to explain why, I realized I felt sad about having to tell her, fear and anxiousness were there as well, but the sadness was stronger than the rest. Until now they hadn't been a part of my life as a werewolf, blissfully unaware of my duty to the tribe, and with them, it was as if I had been able to escape from it momentarily as well. Mark arrived at my place, not long after we'd called them, bringing Jordan along with him. Explaining to Mark all three had witnessed me run at full speed, he thought it best to tell all of them at once, kids generally dealt better with the supernatural than adults did.

They let me do the talking, but were ready to add or interfere, should the need arise. Tara listened, without uttering a word, the raising of eyebrows and widening of eyes, were the only indicators that she was listening. I asked Mark to phase in the back yard instead of me, to show them what we were, not wanting to freak her out even more, by exploding into a giant wolf in front of her. Though the girls were clearly fascinated, Tara's face grew pale, her eyes filled with dread, which filled me with fear of losing her. When Mark came back inside he noticed the look of horror on Tara.

"Tara, are you ok? Will you say something please?" Urging her to respond in some form at least, I grabbed her hands, holding them tight.

"This is why you're so warm, this is why you are so incredibly fast, you're a… a werewolf, because you need to protect the people of LaPush from vampires? How could you do that Phil?! Why would you get involved with me, letting me grow attached to you, endangering my children like that?!" Her voice soft but firm as she accused me.

"No it's not like that, I'm not dangerous, I would never hurt you or the girls!" Did she think I would, or could even?

"And what about those vampires, couldn't one of those hurt them or me?!" Tara demanded, conveniently bringing up another subject I wanted to discuss.

"They could, but that hasn't got much to do with me. In fact, right now my occasional presence, is the only protection I've been able to offer you. If you and the girls moved in with me, you'd all be much safer, there's plenty of room here anyway." Mark raised his eyebrows at me, questioning my actions.

"Maybe you should tell her about imprinting too, she'll probably understand your reasons better then." Mark said calmly, squeezing my shoulder reassuringly.

She heard me out while I told her about the way wolves could imprint, as a way of finding their soul mates, that it from the moment a wolf looked into the eyes of that specific person, a connection was established. I made sure to tell her it wasn't like love at first sight, so she wouldn't doubt the sincerity of my feelings towards her, when I told her I had imprinted on her the day I met her at the dance studio.

"That's why my need to be near you and protect you is so strong, you're my soulmate," I concluded.

"You imprinted on me, you're not a danger to me or the girls in any way, and now you want me and the girls to move in with you, so you can protect us better?" She questioned, making sure she'd gotten it all.

"I did, and yes I want you and the girls here, I've been a wolf for quite some time now, I'm completely in control of my phasing activities. And beside the fact that I am an experienced wolf, and therefore perfectly capable of protecting you and the kids, there are other pack members here as well, only adding to your safety." I sounded very convincing, if I did think so myself.

"How long have you been a werewolf exactly?" Tara pressed on, her mind at work trying to make sense of things.

"Almost thirty years, which makes me 41…" Tara's jaw dropped, hearing someone doesn't age, is different than actually seeing a guy looking like he's in he's twenties, tell you he's actually in his forties.

"Anything else I should know about, now that we're at it, we might as well finish it." She sighed and let herself fall onto a chair.

"Wolves, vampires, imprinting, I think we covered it all," I said casually, believing I had won the battle.

"Good, then it's my turn now. You drop a bomb on me this big, expect me to instantly be ok with it, and then ask me to move in because that was it's easier to protect us? I don't think so Phil. I need time to think, we've been fine in Port Angeles, so that's where we'll stay, convenience has never been on my list of motivations to move in together. Will you take us home now?" With that, she took her girls by the hand, and walked outside.

"Real smooth Phil!" Mark chuckled.