I'm sorry it took me so long to update, I had a tone of stuff going on in my life in the past several months. Not only did I have to do a lot of stuff for school, but I had to deal with a lot of personal issues. My uncle got diagnosed with cancer, so my family has been going through a lot. I also lost a bit of my interest in the story, but I've gotten it back. I promise to update more often. Thank you to all of you who have reviewed and I would welcome any ideas and help you can contribute. DISCLAIMER: I only own Kayla, the OC, everything else belongs to the author and the filmmakers.

Chapter Seven: Learning of the Newborns

Life had begun to return to normal for Kayla. She had decided to quit her job at the restaurant in order to spend as much time as possible with Jake, who was kept busy with patrol by Sam. Kayla spent her days mostly at Emily's house, spending time mostly with Emily and Kim; the boys came by whenever they weren't on patrol or sleeping. Not too long before, the pack had gained three new members: Quil, Leah Clearwater, and Seth Clearwater. Kayla was thrilled that Quil was finally part of the pack because she hated keeping a secret from him, especially a secret this big. She had been friendly with Leah and Seth growing up, and was very happy that they joined the pack. It was impossible to not love the happy Seth, who's constantly upbeat personality was infectious. Leah, Seth's older sister, was a different story entirely.

Leah had once been just as happy and friendly as her brother, but her heart had been broken by Sam. She had dated Sam for a few years before he imprinted on her cousin, Emily, and broke up with her. Leah had seen this as a betrayal from both Sam and Emily; she couldn't understand why the boy she had fallen in love with would leave her for her favorite cousin and why that favorite cousin would go along with it. This, combined with her transformation, had made Leah a very bitter person. Leah was the only female member of the pack, which was very difficult for her. She also couldn't cope with having to share her depressed feelings and thoughts over Sam and Emily with the whole group as it made everything even more strained.

Kayla went out of her way to befriend Leah in order to help her feel a little better about her situation. Leah had resisted at first because she thought that Sam, Jake, or Emily had put her up to it, but soon realized that Kayla was genuine. The two became good friends, even though Leah wouldn't go anywhere near Emily voluntarily and only tolerated Kim. The only person Leah seemed to hate more than Sam and Emily was Bella. This was the one thing that Leah and the rest of the pack agreed on: if Bella hadn't become involved with the Cullens and become such good friends with Jake, the pack wouldn't be in this mess.

Kayla was still friends with Bella, but she hadn't seen very much of her since the Cullens came back. Bella seemed to have all but forgotten her friends on the Rez and hadn't been out to see any of them since their return from Italy. It was strange to think that just months before, she and Jake had been hoping that Bella would leave them alone; now they found it strange and sad that she wasn't spending any time with them. Kayla knew that Jake wasn't just missing a friend; he was upset that Bella was making a choice he didn't agree with.

Sure, Kayla could have gone to Forks to see Bella instead of waiting for her to come to the Rez, but she didn't feel comfortable with that. It would have been fine if she went to Bella's house and none of the Cullens were there, but Bella seemed to be incapable of spending a significant period of time away from any of them. Kayla discovered this one day after calling Bella to try to hang out with her.

"Hey Kayla, how are you?" Bella asked, "I haven't seen you in three months!"

"I'm doing pretty good," Kayla replied, "Life out here's been pretty hectic lately. We've gotten a few new members of the pack, so everyone's been helping them get adjusted and everything. How's everything going with you?"

"Everything's great," Bella said with a happy sigh, "It feels so good to have Edward and his family back. We've been making up for lost time."

"Well, that's good," Kayla said, feeling slightly uncomfortable at the mention of the Cullens, "Do you wanna hang out sometime? Like you said, we haven't hung out in three months and we need to catch up. Kim, Emily, and I are having a much needed girls' day today and we were wondering if you wanted to join us."

"That would be awesome!" Bella exclaimed, "Is it alright if I bring Alice and Rosalie?"

Kayla remembered who Alice was from their little Italian adventure a few months previously, but she had never met Rosalie before. She assumed that Rosalie was the other Cullen sister that Bella had mentioned.

"Um, normally I would say yes, but I don't think that's a really good idea," Kayla said hesitantly, "You see, Kim, Emily, and I are imprints of three of the guys in the Pack and I don't think Jacob, Jared, and Sam would react well. You saw how Jacob was when Alice came back and I left with you guys to go to Italy. He's finally gotten over it and I don't want to get that whole thing started again."

"But what if we came out to the Rez?" Bella asked, "If we come out there, the Pack would be close just in case anything happened."

"The Cullens don't come here," Kayla replied, "None of them come here."

"Why not?" Bella asked incredulously, "That doesn't make any sense. Is it just because they don't get along with the Pack?"

"Something like that," Kayla said, thinking of the Treaty, "It's not really my place to tell you. Even if I wanted to, I don't think I'm allowed to."

"Oh," Bella said softly, "Well, thanks for the offer, but I don't think I'll be able to come out. Maybe some other time."

Before Kayla could reply, Bella hung up. Kayla stared at the phone, stunned at how the conversation went. She hadn't realized that Bella would become so upset about the Cullens not being allowed to come out to the Rez; more importantly, she thought that Bella had known that they weren't allowed. As she sat there on her bed contemplating the phone call, Jake walked in, fresh from patrol.

"Hey, babe," he said as he sat down next to her and kissed her, "Who was on the phone?"

"Bella," Kayla stated simply.

"Really? What's she up to?" Jake asked with a smile.

"I asked her if she wanted to come out to the Rez to hang out with me, Emily, and Kim," she replied, "But she said no."

"What? Why'd she say no?" he asked, shocked.

"She asked if two of the Cullens could come with her," Kayla told him, "You know, her boyfriend's two sisters? I told her that the Cullens couldn't come here and she got upset and hung up on me."

"She didn't know that they couldn't come out here?" he questioned.

"No, she asked why they couldn't," she said, "She doesn't know about the Treaty."

"I'm surprised that her precious boyfriend hasn't told her about it," Jake said, "I thought he was all about honesty."

"No, he's all about protecting her," Kayla told him, "He probably thinks that the less she knows, the better off she'll be. Enough about them; how was patrol?"

"There's something going on," Jake said after a brief hesitation, "You know all of those disappearances going on in Seattle?"

"Yeah, what about them?" she asked.

"Sam thinks they have something to do with the vampires," he said, "There have been too many disappearances over a short time; the only probable answer is that vampires are the cause of it."

"Are you sure?" Kayla asked, alarmed, "What are you guys gonna do about it?"

"We're sure," Jake replied seriously, "We can't do anything unless they come closer to La Push and Forks. All we can do is keep an eye on the situation."

Kayla sighed before hugging her boyfriend and saying softly, "Just promise me you'll be careful, alright?"

Jake hugged her back and kissed the side of her head, "I promise. But I'll do anything I can to protect you, no matter what."

It soon became apparent that vampires were involved when the Cullens contacted the Pack. Dr. Carlisle Cullen, the "father" of the group, called Sam and confirmed that vampires had been either killing the missing people or turning them into vampires in Seattle. He told Sam that a boy from Forks who was one of those missing people had been turned into a vampire and he had recently invaded Bella's room. Edward had taken Bella to Jacksonville, Florida, to not only visit her mother and stepfather, but to keep her safe until they figured out what was going on. Dr. Cullen also informed Sam that Alice had had a vision of Victoria, the nasty red headed vampire who held a grudge against Bella and the Cullens, returning to Forks to hunt Bella. Sam agreed to have the Pack watch for her on their side of the treaty line.

Jake came home late one night after patrol, looking exhausted. Kayla, who had been waiting up for him, was concerned.

"Jake, what happened?" she asked softly, "Are you alright?"

"Yeah, I'm fine," he reassured her, "I'm just tired. We saw that red headed bloodsucker tonight."

"Really?" Kayla exclaimed, "Were you able to catch her?"

"No," Jake replied bitterly, shaking his head, "We would have had her if it hadn't been for the Cullens."

"What'd they do?" Kayla asked, dreading his answer.

"They were chasing her on their side of the line and we were chasing her on our side," he told her, "She jumped on our side and Paul would have had her, but one of the Cullens almost crossed the line and distracted him."

"Which one almost crossed the line?" she asked, "Was it an accident?"

"I don't know his name," he responded, "It was the big, burly one with dark hair. I don't know if it was an accident or not, he seemed really into the chase. It doesn't matter, they should have just left that bloodsucker to us."

"Jake, relax," she said softly as they both sat down on his bed, "I'm sure that none of them would have intentionally crossed the line. Like you said, he could have been really into the chase and didn't realize how close he was to the line. Just keep in mind that they want the same thing as you do; they want her dead. And I mean really dead, not just a creepy un-dead bloodsucker."

"I know," Jake sighed as he laid down, "I just wish that the Cullens would realize that they are the problem. If they weren't around, then Victoria wouldn't be trying to kill Bella. They should have never come here."

Kayla lay down next to him and laid her head on his chest, "I know you're frustrated and you have every right to be. But remember: if they weren't here, they'd be somewhere else causing problems. At least you guys are here to keep them in check."

"Yeah," Jake replied, "I wish they didn't exist to begin with. If there were no vampires, there wouldn't be as many problems."

"I know," Kayla agreed, "But there's nothing we can do about it. All we can do is deal with what's happening right now. We have each other, that's all we need right now."

Jake shifted so she was lying on her back and he was leaning over her. He smiled down at her and said, "Not just for right now; you're all I need for forever."

With that being said, he leaned down and kissed her. What started as a soft, gentle kiss soon turned passionate and full of need.

"Jake," Kayla said breathlessly as he started to kiss his neck, "We should stop. Your dad's just a few rooms away, remember?"

Jake groaned before rolling off of her, "Just our luck, right? This night keeps getting better and better."

"It's just about to get even better," Kayla said with a slight smile, "School starts tomorrow."

Kayla laughed as Jake groaned into his pillow, already dreading the start of their junior year of high school.