Chapter 10

"So who else is in this exclusive club of yours exactly?" I ask as we have lunch. We had 'slept' through breakfast. Now Kelly's been telling me about being a wolf. "Sam has got to be one, obviously, since he was the one who told you what you were."

"Yeah, although he's sort of retired. He's been trying not to phase so that he and Emily can age together. Same as Jared and Paul. And Leah has retired completely, though I doubt you would have met her as she lives in L.A."

"But there is way more right? In the current pack?" There were at least 11 wolves in my dream.

"Yeah, there are 11 right now in the La Push pack. And there's Jacob, though he's kinda his own pack."

"Hmm, okay let me guess," I think for a few minutes. Some of them are just plain obvious. "Tripp, Brady and Colin have to be, after the way they took off after the movie. Am I right?"

He nods.

"Okay, so Tripp, Brady, Colin. Who else? Um. Your other brother has to be right? Navah?" He nods again. "Man that must have been hard on your mum."

"She , um, doesn't actually know. It's a need to know sort of thing."

"But you told me. I mean, granted I sorta knew already but still."

"There aren't any secrets between a wolf and his imprint."

"Oh. Um, okay. Well anyway, that's four. Ummm… They all are aren't they?"

"Who's all?"

"You know. All the huge muscled up natives who hang together and are always turning up at Sam and Emily's at random times of the day. Like Quil. And Embry."

"Yep. And Seth, Heath, Jayson, Jackson and Flea."

"Wow. In the legend I found it said there were usually no more than three in a pack, since Taha Aki's time anyway."

"Yeah, well that's generally been true, but a few years back there were a lot of vamps in the area. The wolf population exploded." He grimaces.

"Bad time was it?"

"You could say that. There was almost a war."

"Wow."

"Yeah. But since then it's been pretty quiet on the vamp front. We usually only ever see one or two at a time now. And there haven't been any new wolves since."

"Okay. SO what about the whole imprinting thing? How does that work? And why?"

"The elders think it's a way of finding our perfect biological match, to create better, superior wolves. Others think it's a way of finding our soul mate, or other half."

"Are you guys too dense to find her on your own?" I joke.

He smiles, "Probably. But, whatever. Once you find her she becomes your whole world, your reason for living." He stares at me.

"Sounds like you guys get the raw end of the deal. The girl gets a gorgeous, absolutely devoted guy and you guys get whoever fate decides to pair you with. That's gotta suck, not having any choice."

"You don't hear any of them complaining. It can cause a few problems in the beginning but they all seem to work it out. I mean look at Sam and Emily. He was with Leah, then boom, its all Emily. Leah and Emily are cousins, they were really close. And then there's the accident with Emily. Sam still hates himself for doing that to her."

"Doing what?"

"Her scars. She got too close one day, he was angry and he lost it. When he phased, he almost took half her face off and barely missed her eye. She forgave him but he'll always feel guilty. When the change first happens it's easy to lose control. It takes a while to be able to manage the shift, to keep control of your anger." He is studying me closely as he says this, watching for a reaction.

"Poor Sam. And Emily." That must have been a hard thing for them to get past, I think. But I have never seen two people more in love. Amazing.

"So is this imprinting quite common then? Have all of the wolves done it?" I can't help but be curious.

He thinks about it for a minute.

"No, not all. Only ten out of the 17 wolves. Although the elders told us it was pretty rare, so there you go."

"So who has then?"

"Well, there's me, obviously." He counts off on his fingers. "Sam, Jared, Paul, Quil, Jacob, Brady, Heath, Jayson and Tripp."

"Hmm, well Sam and Emily are obvious. And Jared with Kim, Paul and Rachel, Jacob and his wife. I don't know her name."

"It's Renesmee, or Nessie for short."

"Renesmee? Weird name. Anyway. Heath and Emerald, Jayson and Drew. So who did Quil, Brady and Tripp imprint on? I don't think I've met theirs before."

He laughs, "You have actually. Remember what I said about becoming whatever your imprint needs you to be."

I nod, not quite sure where he's going with this.

"Well think about it. Who do you normally see Tripp with? Where is he when he's not at work?"

"Um, he's always over at the big house. But he lives in the other cabin. And it can't be Emily because she's Sam's right?"

"It's not Emily. But you're close."

"Well it can't be Ember. They're close but she's just a child. Is it a girl?"

He nods but doesn't say anything, just watches me processing.

"Is it Ember? That would be sick. Is he a pedophile?" SO not all right.

"Whatever your imprint needs. He is not a pedophile. He doesn't think of her like that. He might when she's an adult, but right now she's like his little sister or his daughter. He just wants to keep her safe, make her happy."

"That's really weird. How do you know how he feels?"

"When we are in wolf form we can read each other's minds I guess. It's how we communicate."

"Okay. So weird. So who are Quil and Bradys then?"

Quil imprinted on Claire Young. She's Emilys cousin. And Brady's imprint only just happened a few weeks ago. You've met her too. You even held her at the party."

I think back. "Not Rachel's little Maria! She's just a baby!"

"It happens the first time you see her. It doesn't matter how old she is."

"Oh, oh! It's lucky I hid in Embry's wardrobe that first day then isn't it. That could have been awkward," I laugh thinking about it.

Kelly doesn't. "It was bad enough catching you in the closet with him."

"Sorry about that, but I didn't know. Did Embry?"

"No, I was quick to inform him though."

"Ah, well, anyway I don't know about you but I could really use a shower. I, um, don't suppose you could help me wash my hair? It's just this big scary wolf made me break my arm," I tease him.

"I'm so, so sorry for that Peyton. I'll do anything to make it up to you," he looks so guilty and sad.

"I'm just teasing you Kelly. But I do need help. Jacob put on a waterproof cast but it's still pretty awkward."

"Okay. Come on then." He's smiling now. "I'd love to help."

"I'm sure you would." And I can't help but smile as we head to the bathroom.