A/N: I know it's been a while, I'm sorry. I've been working on some of my other stories and I've re-written this chapter so many times- I'm still not happy with it, but it ties up a couple of loose ends.
Anyway, I hope to get the next chapter up quicker than I did this one, but I'm currently working on finishing 'This Could be Anywhere' and the next chapter of 'Worth Every Scar' so all my attention will be focused on them (check them out while you're waiting!)
Reviews are always appreciated, and to answer LiVeStRoNgLy's question...
Jared did return later that night and Kim left her window unlocked just as he'd asked, melting into his heat as he crawled onto the bed behind her, engulfing her in his arms and his lips on her head lulling her back into a dreamless sleep.
It was the sudden loss of his heat that woke her and she glanced behind her to find him straddling her window sill with a finger pressed to his lips in a gesture for her to stay quiet.
"I'll be right back-" he whispered, guiding his feet carefully between the flowers that lined the earth under her window "your mom has a visitor, I'm gonna run and get the twins."
Kim frowned and threw back the sheet, fumbling around in a laundry pile and pulling on a pair of jeans to go with a shirt she had claimed from Jared before padding softly out into the main body of the house.
Her mom was at the door, talking in a hushed, but angry, voice to whoever stood on the other side.
She peeked her head through the crack in Alex's door, reassuring herself that he was still asleep and completely oblivious to whatever was going on and pulling the door firmly shut.
"Everything okay mom?" Kim asked, pulling her back from her face and Pam turned, a fake smile plastered across her face.
"Fine sweetie, why don't you go and get yourself some breakfast?" she said. "Could you make me a coffee please? I'll be right there."
"You not gonna offer me one too? Where's the hospitality?" A voice boomed and Kim's eyes widened in recognition.
she walked to the door, pulling it open wider to reveal a stocky, older man, his black hair peppered with flashes of white and his eyes were heavy behind his wire rimmed glasses.
"What are you doing here Jim?" she frowned, mirroring her mother's stiff posture as she stared at her father.
"I would prefer it if you called me Dad," he huffed "a little respect goes a long way. You'd do well to remember that."
"Oh really? I was under the impression that respect was earned?" Kim popped her hip. "And if you don't like Jim, I'm sure I can think of something else to call you, but I'm guessing you'd like those even less."
"Kim-" her mom gripped her elbow and squeezed. "Go inside baby, he's not staying."
"I leave when you tell me where they are, they called their mother and I know they're here." he sighed, shoving his hands in the pockets of his grey tweed blazer.
"I've told you," Pam spat. "I have no idea where you're boys are, maybe you should've kept a better eye on them instead of gallivanting around with your flavor of the week?"
"What about you?" he turned to Kim. "You gonna tell me you don't know anything too?"
"Oh no, I know exactly where they are." Kim nodded behind him at the group of oversized men walking towards them- the twins surrounded by Jared, and three others.
"Kim, you should've told me." her mom breathed and Kim grimaced.
"Sorry mom, they turned up on Thursday night. I meant to tell you yesterday, but with Jake getting hurt and everything, it just slipped my mind." she explained. "I'm really sorry."
Jim's eyes widened at the sight of Collin and Brady, and even Kim noticed the extra couple of inches in height and muscle they had accumulated since she'd last seen them - both were fast closing in on Seth's already formidable six foot one.
"I'm not even going to ask!" He reached into his pocket and tossed his car keys into the air, catching them again and jumping from the porch. "Car, now!"
Collin's body trembled slightly, and Seth placed an arm on his shoulder in an attempt to calm him down while Brady merely cocked an eyebrow at the command.
"You can't tell me what to do!" He scoffed, pushing his way through the barrier created by his pack brothers to stand in front of his father.
"You wanna bet?" Jim pressed. "You disappear from a fifteen thousand dollar a year school without so much as a word, you travel two hundred and fifty kilometers alone and to top it all off I've had to take time off work to come and get you. Do you have any idea how much of an inconvenience this is?
Now get in that car before I throw you in the trunk!"
He grabbed Brady's wrist and tugged him towards the vehicle, stopping suddenly when a large hand clamped down on his own.
"Let him go," Embry growled, staring down at the man, his jaw locked and his eyes dark. "Now."
"And you would be?" Jim prompted, yanking his hand from his grip and dropping Brady's arm in the process.
"Embry Call," he gritted and Kim was pretty sure she saw her fathers eyes widen ever so slightly at the name.
Her eyes flicked to Brady who stood, looking between the two with a knitted brow. Collin stepped from under Seth's grasp and appeared on the other side of Embry and Kim finally saw it.
The dimpled chin, the brow line, the high cheek bones and the angular jaw- they were the same.
"She told me she was getting a termination." Jim mumbled and Kim span on her heel at the sharp intake of air behind her.
Pam flew past, her robe flapping in the breeze; hair still mussed from sleep and the furry bunny slippers that Alex had gotten her for mother's day adorning her feet as she pushed herself between Jim and the boys.
"You have got to be kidding me!" she screeched and pointed at Kim. "He is three weeks older than her- three weeks! What the hell kind of man does that?"
Jim took a step back, his hands held up in surrender as her finger poked at his chest. "It was bad enough that you lead us on like you did, it's bad enough that Alex has no idea who you are, but this is just plain evil!"
"He was a mistake!" He bellowed and Kim's hands flew to her mouth as her mothers hand collided with his cheek.
"Get the hell off my property!" Pam screamed, pushing and slapping at him as he attempted to cower away from her. Sam came running from the tree line, taking his position at the front of the pack and watching with comic interest as Kim's mom beat Jim into the driver's seat of his car.
"Boy's, this is my final warning, get in the car now!" He called his cheeks pink from embarrassment as he fumbled with his seatbelt and started the car.
"We don't take orders from you anymore!" Collin growled, his body still visibly shaking.
"I don't want to call the police, but I will if I have to." He threatened and Pam chuckled.
"Go ahead," she challenged. "I've got seven witnesses that can prove you physically assaulted your son and threatened to throw him in the trunk of your car."
Jim huffed and shifted the car into reverse. "You're going to kill your mother, you know that right?" He said leaning out of the window. "This is on both your heads!"
Collin was shaking violently and Kim watched as the rest of the pack grouped around him. Jared broke off, taking Pam's arm and leading her back up to the porch with Kim, placing himself protectively in front of them.
It was a domino effect- Collin lost control, exploding into a mass of grey fur in the centre of the ring with Sam following him immediately, charging at the snarling youngster and forcing him into the trees with a now phased Embry hot on their tails.
"Oh my god!" Kim yelped with shock as her mother staggered back against her and knocked her into the doorframe as she struggled to hold her dead weight.
"Now I see where you get it from!" Jared grumbled lifting her mother into his arms as Alex bellowed from inside the house and turned to a lupine Brady. "Go check on the kid."
The grey wolf bounded up the porch steps and slipped effortlessly between them and into the house.
Kim's eyes widened as he disappeared around the corner and heard the exact moment he found Alex.
"Cool! We got a dog!" A little voice chirped happily and Jared growled.
"Human, Bray- human!" he chastised, carefully maneuvering Pam through the doorway and setting her on the couch.
"Mom?" Kim dropped to her knees and patted her mother's cheek while Jared went to the kitchen and filled a glass with water.
Pam grumbled and pushed herself up, taking the glass that Jared offered her and taking a small sip before handing it back to Kim who placed it on the coffee table.
"Hey, momma look!" Alex came running out of his room, flanked by Brady's wolf. He reached his small hand up and over the animal's shoulders, running his finger through the fur at the back of his neck. "Can we keep him?"
"Oh my god!" Pam jumped to her feet and gestured for Alex to come to her. "Leave the wolf alone baby and come to momma."
She pleaded quietly, Alex frowned turning to Brady who cocked his head at her.
"Jared, you take Kim out of here and go call the Police or animal control-" she whispered. "Someone with a gun!"
"It's really not necessary, just give me a minute please?" Jared implored. "Sit down and I'll explain. Brady? Go change."
"That's Brady?" she exclaimed dropping back onto the sofa as the wolf went back into Alex's room, emerging moments later human and with a fleecy Toy Story blanket tied around his waist. "I thought I was hallucinating!"
"Where'd the dog go?" Alex glanced behind Brady who shrugged.
"I'm sure he'll be back before you know it, kiddo." He said ruffling his hair.
"You remember those magic wolves I was telling you about the other night?" Kim asked and Alex nodded. "Well that was one of them; he had to go back into the forest to find the rest of his pack."
"That's so cool!" Alex ran back down the hallway and into Kim's room to look out the window at the trees.
"Magic wolves?" Jared cocked an eyebrow and pulled her to him as she sighed.
"You woke him up the other night when you slammed the door and then he heard you howling and it scared him so I…" she started, but Pam held her hands up to stop her.
"Would someone please tell me what's going on?" she asked.
"It's pretty simple really," Jared shrugged. "All the old tribal wolf legends are real- Taha Aki, spirit warriors, Vampires, everything."
"And you know this because…" she cut her eyes at him.
"He knows because he's one of them mom," Kim explained. "He's a wolf too."
"Are you shitting me?" she balked, quickly covering her hand at her slip in front of her son before turning to Brady. "You- sit down."
Brady ducked his head and walked around the sofa, making sure his modesty was covered as he set himself down on the edge of the cushion.
"What are you doing here?" Pam asked, perching herself on the coffee table in front of him.
"We phased on the school grounds back in Seattle," he said glancing up at her. "One of the other kids said something about mom and Cole snapped- kinda like out there. I managed to get him around the back of the building before he completely phased and I followed him. The guys came to get us- Sam thinks that it was to do with the vampire army that was being produced back in the city."
"There's a vampire army? What vampire army?" she turned back to Jared and Kim as her front door opened and the rest of the pack walked in.
"They're gone." Sam said sternly. "We took care of them."
"Oh that makes me feel so much better!" Pam sneered as Collin rounded the table and tossed a pair of shorts at a grateful Brady.
"You okay man?" Jared asked Embry who nodded and leaned against the wall.
Kim slipped from under Jared's arm and crossed the room, offering a tentative smile to her newly discovered sibling.
Embry snorted out a chuckle and grabbed her too him. "Kinda always wanted a little sister."
"Are you sure you're okay? I mean what he said was…" she started pulling back to look up at him and he shook his head.
"I'm nearly eighteen years old and that was the first time I met the guy," he shrugged. "I'd already figured he was an asshole, at least now I know who I am, and now I don't have to tip toe around Billy or Old Quil- I think I would have been slightly more pissed off if I found it was one of them and they'd been lying to me the whole time?"
"I think I need a drink." Pam stood and walked to the kitchen, with Kim trailing after her.
"Mom, its seven thirty in the morning- little early don't you think?" she said as her mother dropped into a dining chair with a sigh.
"I'm not entirely convinced it is, but if you say so I'll just have a coffee please- a strong one!" she demanded tiredly, resting her chin in her hand. "This was definitely not how I envisioned my Friday morning starting. I do have one question though?"
Kim placed a steaming mug in front of her mother and walked back to Jared, sliding in under his arm as she looked back at her.
"How the hell did you know Jim was here?" Pam's gaze traveled between the twins, Embry and Jared who shifted nervously as he felt Kim stiffen in his arms.
"Jared came and got us," Brady piped up. "He heard dad at the front door and left out the back."
"You left out the back?" Pam cocked an eyebrow at Jared and Brady's mouth dropped open as he realized his mistake. "You stayed over?"
"Mom, it wasn't like that, okay- nothing happened, its…it's complicated." Kim said quickly, her fingers digging into Jared's waist.
"Does it have to do with the imprinting?" Brady asked and a room full of eyes turned on him. "I mean I don't really understand it, but he can't be away from you for long, right?"
"Do you ever shut up?" Leah hissed and he visibly recoiled. "My god, it's like Collin got all the temper and you got all the mouth!"
"Well at least one of you is telling me the truth!" Pam exclaimed pushing herself out of the chair hard enough to make the table wobble.
"You were never supposed to know about any of this." Sam said quietly from his corner of the room.
"Apparently!" she spat. "However, maybe you should have thought about that before you exploded into a wolf in the middle of my front yard!"
"He was just trying to get Collin out of the way, keeping us safe!" Kim offered. "They're not bad people mom- remember when you asked Jared what his job was and I told you it was security? Well that was the truth, they're protectors; they're not going to hurt anybody."
"Well, unless you're a vampire!" Brady scoffed and a chorus of growls rang around the room. "I'll just go see what Alex is up too."
Pam blew out a long breath, bringing a hand up to rub her temples. "What about imprinting, what's that?"
"It's what happens when one of us finds our soul mate," Sam explained "We think it's a…"
Leah tapped his arm and leaned towards him. "Fuck Sam, you really think that on top of everything she's just heard, she wants to hear that her daughter's destiny is to get knocked up and carry on the wolf gene?"
Sam shrugged and Leah sighed, turning to Kim's mom. "They belong together, Mrs. Catori. The imprint is just nature's way of making sure they don't fuck up and miss each other."
"Finally she gets it." Embry mumbled earning him a smack from Sam.
"Mrs. Catori?" She looked towards Sam. "We understand better than anyone how much of a shock this is, but you need to understand that nobody can know about us- only pack, imprints and elders."
Pam nodded. "I get it don't worry, your secrets safe with me." she wrapped her arms around herself. "What about Alex? He's seen Brady can he…"
"I think we should just stick with Kim's 'Magic Wolf' explanation for now." he instructed. "He's only five, we can't expect to understand the need for secrecy- plus there's always a chance that he'll find out for himself one day, although I hope- for his sake he doesn't."
"You mean…?" her eyebrow's rose as Sam nodded and her eyes moved towards the room where her son could be heard talking to Brady excitedly. "Why?" she breathed and Collin looked up at her from his place on the couch.
"It's dad," he said softly. "He carries the gene, that's why Bray and I are like this- Embry too, apparently."
"So what? As soon as he reaches his teens he'll turn into one of you?" she slipped down next to Collin, her eyes scanning the rest of the room.
"Not necessarily," Jared said tightening his grip on Kim. "We are what we are, because a coven of vampires got too close to the reservation and it caused a genetic reaction in order to protect the tribe. There was a vampire epidemic of sorts close to where Collin and Brady live in the city, and that triggered their change- Alex will only change if there's a need for him."
The room fell into a contemplative silence as Pam let everything sink in. Sam's head twitched round, listening for something in the distance.
"Breakfast's ready." he said gruffly and the rest of the pack were immediately on there feet and headed to the door. "I'm sorry you had to find out like this Mrs. Catori."
Pam waved him off blindly before jumping to her feet. "Wait, Embry?"
Embry turned, watching her expectantly as she walked towards him, his eyes widening in surprise as her arms wrapped around his torso.
"You were better off without him, there's nothing good about that man except you kids." she whispered as the rest of the pack quietly slipped out of the door. "You're welcome here anytime and the same goes for you two as well."
She reached her arm out and grabbed Brady. "You have a place here whenever you need it, but make sure your mother knows where you are- tell her I wouldn't let you leave with him, I'll take the blame."
"Whatever." Collin mumbled as he walked out after his pack brothers.
Brady sighed. "It's not you, we're both grateful really, it's just that…" he shifted his weight and stuffed his hands into his pockets. "Mom's not been right for a while, she's lost weight, cries all the time and she's on all these meds- there's nothing physically wrong with her though, it's like she's just given up on life."
"I think Cole blames himself a little, he was always fighting and stuff, and when he found out about dads last affair he hit the roof- smashed the house up and told her. She knew, I could tell she did, but it was the last straw. She went downhill from there and now he thinks it's his fault for telling her. " he shrugged. "What dad said earlier, about us being the death of her? He's scared its true- he's terrified."
Pam squeezed his arm, "Have her call me, okay?" and Brady nodded, following Embry out.
"Mom?" Kim followed her mother back into the kitchen with Jared hot on her tail. "Are you okay?"
"What do you think?" Pam sighed, gripping the edge of the sink. "I'm not gonna pretend I like of this or that I even understand it but…" she turned, looking straight passed her daughter and focusing on Jared.
"What you told me that day in the diner, you meant it?" she asked, cocking an eyebrow.
"Every single word." he nodded. "She's my life now."
"Then that'll have to do for now." she shrugged.