Alright, chapter 9! We're finally getting into the story now. Wow, eight reviews! I feel so special! Keep that up, and I'll keep updating! If you make a reasonable request for this story in a review, I'm more than happy to consider it.

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Allison's POV

I awoke the next morning to someone knocking on my door. Actually, they were pounding on it too hard for it to be called 'knocking'. Knocking would have been polite.

As I pulled myself off the ground, muttering about the impoliteness of some people, Aki and Rika appeared beside me.

"Seth is here with Alice. They aren't happy," Aki informed me.

What gave you that idea? I asked him sarcastically.

"You're grumpy in the morning," Rika laughed.

I was in my blue-and-green plaid pajama pants with a black tank top. I considered getting dressed into acceptable clothes, but the incessant knocking reminded me that I was dealing with an irate wolf and an impatient vampire.

"Coming!" I shouted at the door while I tried to run my fingers through my hair in a futile effort to tame the mass of waves and curls.

The knocking got louder.

"Don't break my door down! I'm coming!" I shouted while I ran for the door. The master bedroom was the furthest room from the front door, so I had to run.

I pulled open the door, and my suspicions were confirmed. Seth stood in front of me, looking very pissed off, and Alice stood one step behind him, also looking pissed off.

"You know, I was looking forward to sleeping in today," I informed them in the politest voice I could manage at the time.

"Well, I got the paint early, so I figured we could get the walls done before everything else arrived this evening," Alice said shortly.

"Couldn't you have called to let me know you were coming?" I asked exasperatedly as I stepped aside to let them in.

"No," Alice replied succinctly.

"But I still need to eat. And shower. And get dressed. And tidy up. And –"

"You can do that while we get started," Seth said. He still sounded very upset.

"Sounds good to me," Alice said happily.

"Let's start with the master bedroom," Seth said. He must have rehearsed that line a thousand times before he came here.

I didn't bother to put up a fight. "As you please."

"Why does the rest of your house not have furniture?" Alice asked/shouted from the spare bedroom.

"Because we bought it yesterday, and it hasn't arrived yet," I sighed.

"So that means you've been sleeping on the floor?" Seth hissed through his teeth.

"He forgot a few lines in between," Rika giggled. Juliet giggled along with her. Aki rolled his eyes.

"Yes," I replied firmly. "I have been sleeping on the floor. I didn't mind, but I'll be grateful to have a real bed tonight."

The fire in Seth's eyes said he wasn't finished, but he didn't say anything else. He walked outside to fetch the paint. I went into the kitchen and grabbed a bowl of cereal. By the time I finished, Seth was finishing up the spare bedroom, and Alice had already finished the master bedroom, the master bathroom, and the hallway.

"They must want it dry by the time the trucks arrive," Aki commented.

I thought Alice wasn't allowed on the wolves' territory, I mentioned to Aki.

"Yes, Jake said Alice was allowed here only to help you," Aki said. "After that, she has to stay off our land again."

Does it bother you that she's here? I asked worriedly.

"No, the Cullens have never bothered me before. I thought my descendents were fools to not recognize the allies the Cullens could be. After all, both sides want the same thing; a life without bloodshed," Aki said simply.

I got up and took a shower in the main bathroom since my bathroom had wet paint. I made sure to take a long time so Alice could finish everything up without worrying about me seeing them inhuman. Plus, Old Quil had installed a huge water heater so I could take as long as I liked. His wife probably took really long showers, too.

When I got out, I threw my hair up into a ponytail and put on a simple tank top and ripped jeans. The jeans were ripped because they were old, not because of style. I was officially moving into my new home today; I was going to be working, so nice clothes would get ruined.

Alice grimaced at my choice of clothes. She was wearing a designer blouse and skinny jeans with nice kitten-heel shoes. But she was a vampire. She wasn't going to be getting dirty, and she would win in a fight against a filthy wolf intent on getting her filthy, too. I wasn't.

As I had guessed, everything was finished. Alice made up an excuse to go to her car. Something about calling Jasper.

When Seth approached me, still looking upset, I knew why. She was giving us the illusion of privacy.

Seth looked more sad than angry now. He looked liked a puppy that had been kicked. It made me want to cry.

"Why are you so upset about me sleeping on the floor?" I asked simply. "It didn't bother me. I didn't mind doing it."

"I don't know," he said desperately. "Just the idea of you sleeping on the floor, uncomfortable, no proper bed or blankets or pillows, just… Why didn't you tell me?"

Before I could answer, he kept talking, getting louder. "Allison, you mean so much to me. You chose to come here, to live in the same town as me because of me. We could have gotten you an air mattress, a cot, something. I feel like… like something is wrong because of that. Like I should have taken better care of you. I love you, and you were sleeping on the floor."

"Seth…" I whispered. "I love you, too, and if I had known how much this would upset you, I would have asked for something. I would have told you at the very least. I'm sorry."

"Did you just say you loved me too?" Seth asked, a bewildered look on his face.

"Of course. Why wouldn't I?" I asked. Wasn't it obvious how much he meant to me?

He didn't say anything. He just closed the distance between us and kissed me. I felt his hands brush against my hair while his lips brushed against mine. It was a soft, sweet kiss, with so much passion behind it. All of the emotions in that kiss left me breathless.

When he slowly backed away from me, he tucked a stray lock of blonde hair behind my ear. His dark eyes looked at me with so much love and devotion, and I knew mine were filled with the same emotions.

"Are you two finished with your lovers' spat?" Alice interrupted the moment, clearly annoyed.

Neither Seth nor I looked away from each other, but I answered with, "Yes, Alice. We're finished."

"Good, because the carpenter's here, and he needs to get to work," she said, still annoyed.

"I love you," I whispered to Seth.

"I love you, too," he whispered back.

With that declaration out of the way, we got back to work.


The carpenter Alice had hired turned out to be Jasper, so the woodworking got done in record time. I now had elegant oak cabinets in my kitchen, along with dark gray marble countertops. The molding around the entire house was replaced, and looked wonderful. Everything looked wonderful. Alice herself replaced all of the faucets and things, so I had lovely chrome finishings in the bathrooms and kitchen now.

Jake, Russ, Quil, and Claire arrived about an hour after Jasper had finished and left. The truck arrived five minutes after them.

Alice turned into a general commanding soldiers, dictating what went where, how it went there, and how it was positioned there. I wasn't allowed to move anything weighing more than ten pounds.

This rule came about when I tried to help Russ and Quil shift the queen-sized bed in the spare room. Seth snarled at me, threw me over his shoulder, dumped me next to Alice outside, and demanded that this new rule be accepted. Originally, Seth didn't want me moving anything over two pounds, but Alice saw that as a little extreme, so she raised it to a whopping ten pounds. All of the spirits laughed for fifteen minutes straight after that little incident.

When everyone was finished and everything was inside, Alice did one last inspection.

"Alright, this place is officially inhabitable!" Alice declared.

"Finally!" Jake complained. Alice shot him a glare that said if he didn't shut up, bad things would happen to his health.

"Don't we have to wait for the paint to finish drying?" I decided it would be a good idea to remind them that I was a human with lungs. They might be able to stay inside with their super-human abilities, but I couldn't.

"Oh, yeah." Jake seemed to be thinking hard, but you never know with him. "Hey! Why don't we go get dinner at Emily's?"

"Yeah!" Russ immediately agreed. "She can meet the rest of the pa – I mean, group!"

Everyone looked at Russ. He grinned sheepishly. I decided to let it go.

"All right, let me go get changed into something a little less dirty," I said.

"I'm going home for dinner," Alice told me. "I'll see you later."

"Bye, Alice." I hugged her tightly, and went inside.

"Allison, you can't go," Aki said suddenly. He looked nervous. He never looks nervous.

"Why not?" I was so confused. Wouldn't going over to the former Alpha's house to meet the rest of the wolves and the imprints be a good thing? I was excited about meeting them.

"There are other… people… who want to meet you right now," Rika said. She sounded even more nervous than Aki.

"Can't it wait a few hours?" I asked.

"No," Aki said sadly. "You do not want to keep these ladies waiting. They want to meet you now."

"Alright," I sighed. "Just let me go tell the guys."

As I started to walk back outside, I felt a jerk in my chest. Suddenly I couldn't breathe, and the room began to spin. I felt another jerk. I tried to call out to the guys, to Aki, to anyone, but I couldn't make a sound.

My eyes closed, and my body fell to the ground. I was floating above myself in spirit form. I could hear the boys go quiet as they listened to me fall. I could hear their panic when I didn't get up. Then I was whisked away into the spirit world.

Aki and Rika were right beside me, but I was terrified. I had no control over my spirit, and I had no idea where we were going. Being pulled out of my body was the worst feeling ever.

By the colors swirling around me, and the strange, non-human spirits welcoming me, I was far away from the physical world.

"Welcome, young soul singer," a booming female voice called.

The spirits around me instantly quieted. Three female figures suddenly stood before me. One was made completely of water. The middle figure was made completely of wind and smoke. The last was made of stone and plants.

"You have travelled far and left much in order to aid this tribe," the water spirit said.

"I didn't leave that much," I said self-consciously. They ignored that statement and continued.

"We are the High Spirits. I am the spirit of the Ocean," the water spirit said.

"I am the spirit of the Wind," the middle spirit declared.

"And I am the spirit of the Earth," the stone spirit said. "We welcome you to the territory of the spirit wolves, and we thank you for coming here to aid the tribe."

"Thank you," I whispered, "for giving me a purpose. For giving me a life and a family I can be proud of."

"Taha Aki."

Aki looked up at the great spirits that controlled this world.

"Give her your best, Taha Aki. Your soul mate will aid you, as will the rest of the spirits, both dead and natural. Together, you will protect this tribe from the outside threats."

"Also, her family still wishes to find her and control her. You must not allow them to take her away."

"I will protect her from all harm that may befall her," Aki said, determined.

"Four guards from the Volturi will be arriving here tomorrow. They come to provoke the wolves into an attack, in order to justify a war."

"What?" I gasped. Aki and Rika had told me about the Volturi, and the war that almost happened between them and the Cullens because of Nessie.

"Good luck, young one. Do not hesitate to ask for our help."

"I won't. Thank you!" I barely managed to say before I was flying through the spirit world again, and returned back to my body.


Seth's POV

"How can there be nothing wrong with her?" I asked Carlisle again. We were gathered around Allison's still body on the couch, waiting for her to wake up. She had fainted inside her house over an hour ago, and we had brought her straight to Carlisle.

"I never said there was nothing wrong," Carlisle corrected calmly. "I said there was nothing wrong that I could find."

"She'll wake up soon, Seth," Russ tried to assure me.

"She fainted, and we have no idea why. How can you know she's going to wake up?" I asked dejectedly. Allison's face was peaceful in her strange, sudden sleep.

Instead of answering me, Russ turned to Carlisle. "Have you ever seen anything like this before?"

"No, never," Carlisle answered. "There has always been a reason why someone dropped into a dead faint like this. I've taken blood samples, examined everything I could, and I can't find anything wrong with her. She's in perfect health."

"Just unconscious," Emmett added unnecessarily.

"What's unconscious?" a voice like angels singing asked. I turned, and Allison was pushing herself up into a sitting position, a confused look on her face.

I pulled her into a tight hug. She was finally awake. She was awake, and she was alright, and… and she was tapping her fingers against my shoulder.

"Um, Seth, your girlfriend is trying to tap out," Emmett pointed out. I pulled back and she inhaled deeply.

"Thanks," she gasped. She looked up at me and I got lost in her perfect emerald green eyes. She gave me a small smile.

"How long was I out?" she asked, her face smooth and unperturbed.

"A little over an hour," Carlisle answered. "Is this a normal occurrence for you?"

"Fainting?" Allison looked surprised, then thoughtful. "Recently, yes."

There was something she wasn't telling us. There was something in her eyes that said she was hiding something from all of us. Including me. She looked up into my eyes, and it was like she was begging me to understand.

"It's no big deal. But I would like to go home now. I have a new bed to break in," Allison said simply, standing up. I held her hips while she stood, and when she didn't wobble, I let go. I was ready for any sign of trouble now.

"Good luck with that. Let me know how it goes," Emmett said suggestively, wagging his eyebrows. Allison glared at him.

"Yeah, I'm going home. Since I don't have a car, who's taking me?" she asked. There was still that subtle look in her eyes that said something was up. She wasn't telling us something. Why did my imprint have to be so confusing?

"Me and Jake are," I answered, still searching her beautiful face for what I was missing. "He wants to show off the Rabbit he built himself."

Her eyebrows rose. "Really? That's impressive."

"I know," Jake answered conceitedly. "I'm just that awesome."

"Of course you are," Allison said in a voice that said she didn't believe him for a second. She turned to Carlisle and her face warmed.

"Thank you for taking care of me. I really appreciate it," she told him warmly.

"I don't mind at all. Let me know if anything else happens that is unusual," Carlisle replied.

That strange look crossed Allison's face again. "Don't worry, I will."

We then dragged Jake away from Nessie, and left before Alice could pull Allison into another shopping trip or dress-up time.

Allison was quiet the whole way back to her place. Tomorrow night was a bonfire, where the elders would tell the stories of our tribe, and she would find out the truth about the Quileutes. Hopefully, she would tell me what's going on in return.


Please, tell me what you think in a review! I'll be forever grateful! Plus, I'm thinking about starting a new story. The ideas are posted on my profile, so please vote in the poll! I'll have the next chapter up in a week, but if I get more reviews, maybe earlier...