You all are too kind! I'm loving your reviews. Please keep them coming!

As if it wasn't obvious to anyone reading this, I don't own Twilight. I do own a movie ticket for the midnight showing of New Moon at 12:01 a.m. on November 20th! Woot-Woot! Have you seen the previews? The wolves look amazing. If you haven't seen it, search for New Moon Wolf Pack and there are a few websites that have a "behind the scenes" kind of thing.

Chapter 11

By the time Seth returned with my mother, I was more presentable and ready for our date. I fixed my ponytail and make-up and threw on something that I felt accentuated my greatest assets without looking like I was trying too hard. I always had the need to look pretty for Seth even though he told me I could wear a potato sack and still look sexy in his eyes. I wasn't used to so many compliments from the opposite sex and Seth gave them often. I decided to do whatever I could to receive them. It helped a lot towards building up my self esteem.

Although it was mid-June, it was still chilly in Washington in the evenings. I ended up wearing a red ribbed sweater—Seth had once mentioned he liked me in red—and my favorite dark jeans with my black ballet flats. Once Seth saw me his smoldering eyes scanned me up and down. I received the reaction I was hoping for. He couldn't say or do anything with my mom standing there. I just laughed at him silently.

Seth knew about Jacob's visit and was excited that I was willing to change our dinner plans. I knew seeing Jacob was important to him.

"It's more like a tribal meeting," Seth said on our way to the theater. "Since Jake's in town we'll take advantage and get an informal meeting in."

"That sounds cool. Is it ok that I'm there? Am I allowed?"

"Yep, all imprints are. We won't hide anything from you. You'll get to hear more legends," he said excitedly. "Ones you won't read about in the history books."

"Legends," I asked as I made quotations in the air with my fingers. "So, are they really legends or more supernatural stuff that's actually real?" I said sarcastically.

Seth didn't answer. He just gave me a meaningful look, wiggling his eyebrows up and down.

"Oh, no," I groaned, "am I going to pass out again?"

Seth laughed loudly, "Man, I hope not!"

I frowned, "Uh-oh."

******

Holding hands with Seth in the dark movie theater only intensified the energy between us. I snuggled up as close as I could to him. If it wasn't for the arm rest between us, I probably would've curled up in his lap. I couldn't get close enough to him. It was a good thing we decided to see the latest comedy about a bachelor party gone wrong in Vegas. Our laughter seemed to neutralize the strong current between us. I kept sneaking peaks in Seth's direction between funny parts and I caught him doing the same.

By the time the ending credits rolled up the screen, my sides ached from laughter and the large diet soda caught up to me. I excused myself to the bathroom. Seth went back to the concession stand to get a popcorn refill.

While I was in the stall I heard a few women walk into the bathroom clicking their heels towards the sink to primp.

"Oh my God! Did you see that tall, dark, and handsome at the popcorn stand?" one lady swooned. My ears instantly perked wondering if they were talking about my tall, dark, and handsome.

Another nasally voice piped in, "You mean the Native American beef-cake…uh, yeah!" They were definitely talking about my beefcake. I smiled to myself. I decided to hang out in the stall to eavesdrop some more.

"Why don't you go talk to him?" The nasally-voiced woman said.

"You don't think he's here with a date?" asked a third voice.

"I didn't see anyone with him. It wouldn't hurt to just talk to him," Nasally egged on Swooner.

"Ok, let me primp a little," Swooner giggled, "do you have any lip gloss?"

After the girls left the restroom, I quickly washed my hands and peeked out into the hallway to spy on Seth. If this whole imprinting legend was true, he wouldn't have any interest in these women. I'm not a jealous person, but I was curious to see how Seth handled the situation. Sure enough, three gorgeous women surrounded Seth. Each one of them could have been a model or some sort of beauty pageant contestant. I stood by the bathroom entrance with my back against the wall.

The lovely blonde girl, who must have been Swooner, was trying to put on the charm, standing really close and sticking out her voluptuous chest. She was batting her eyelashes with a flirtatious smile on her face. The whole time Seth was innocently looking at his popcorn, showing it more attention. He was very polite and was casually talking to the girls. He must have said something funny because all three girls started to laugh. I saw Swooner say something to Seth and he started looking around the lobby as he answered her. His eyes caught mine and he gave me my smile.

"Oh, there she is…Tala!" he hollered and waived to me across the lobby. All three girls snapped their heads in my direction. I started walking toward them smiling back at Seth. Swooner checked me up and down and looked over to her friend and rolled her eyes. When I got closer Seth put his arm around my shoulder and kissed my cheek.

"I was just telling these lovely ladies how funny that movie was," he said as he hugged me.

"Yeah, it was hilarious," I smiled at Swooner.

"Well, I guess we'll have to see it then," Swooner said through her fake smile.

"We have to go. Sam will be expecting us soon," he said to me. "Nice talking with you," he glanced slightly at the other women as he pulled me towards the exit. I waived at the women and let Seth lead me to his truck. They all waived back. Swooner smacked her friend on the arm and muttered "I told you."

Seth held the door open for me as I got into the truck. Once he settled himself into the driver's seat he started playing with the heating controls.

"Are you cold?" he asked.

"Yeah, a little," I giggled.

"What?" he asked with a questionable smile.

"You had some admirers back there, I see," I teased.

"Oh yeah, who?" he asked sincerely.

I gave him a skeptical look. "The girls you were just talking to," I said. I could tell he honestly didn't know what I was talking about. "They were really pretty, especially the blonde," I was trying to get him to give any of them a compliment.

"Oh really? I hadn't noticed," he replied. My jaw dropped slightly.

"You didn't notice the three totally hot chicks trying desperately to get you to notice them?" I know this imprinting thing was suppose to make him blind to other women, but how could he not notice them? Plus, Seth is a man. All men at least looked.

"Are you jealous?" he asked with a teasing smirk.

"No! I mean…well, maybe a little," I shrugged and smiled. Seth laughed.

"What do you have to be jealous about? I see no one else but you," he placed his hand on my chin and rubbed my cheek with his thumb. I was totally entertained by this conversation and to be honest, I believed him, but it was still nice to hear. Blame my insecurities. I kept the conversation going.

"You honestly didn't notice the would-be supermodel practically placing her c-cups on your forearm?" I taunted.

Seth started laughing again, "I noticed she was there, obviously, because I was talking to her. But until you just mentioned it, I wouldn't have remembered her hair color. Besides, I was eating popcorn. There are very few people who can distract me from my food," he went back to holding my chin and stroking my face while he stared into my eyes.

I returned his gaze and asked, knowing his answer, "Would one of these people be me?"

"Oh yeah," he was pretending to be serious. He bent down and kissed me lightly on the lips. "I would give up food for you." He kissed me again.

"I wouldn't ask you to do that," I kissed him back, "that's just mean." I tried to match his serious tone.

"Good, cause I really like food," he said between smooches.

I was the first to break away. "Well then, we better go. Emily will have dinner ready."

Seth pulled away from me and gave me a small pout. "You're right. You're always right."

"Awe, it didn't take you very long to figure that out!" I teased.

Seth laughed again and we took off to the Tribal meeting.

************

We pulled up Sam and Emily's long, wooded driveway. The closer we came to the house I discovered the magnificent view that was hidden behind the trees. A simple house sat on a large lawn. The property was surrounded by trees and a large pond. Down by the pond there was a huge bonfire pit with hand carved benches surrounding it. Across the horizon the snow capped mountains were in full view.

"Wow," my mouth dropped in awe. "It's gorgeous. I love the view!"

"It's pretty nice, huh?"

"Nice? It's perfect! It beats sky scrapers and the Space Needle, hands down. I missed this so much when I was at school," I said gesturing to the view.

"Do you think you're going to go back to the city?" Seth asked seriously while he parked the truck. He was looking out the window trying to avoid looking at me. We have had so much fun together during my stay that we really didn't talk about what would happen after I was fully recovered and didn't need to stay with my mom anymore. I hadn't filled him in on my recent job application. Even if I didn't end up getting the job, I had the desire to stay here. I needed to be near Seth and I didn't think it would be fair to ask him to move with me to the city away from the pack. He loved being a wolf. I could tell by the excitement in his eyes when he talked about it and when he talked about his brothers.

"Hmmm…I'm not sure," I was trying to keep my voice somber. "I'll have to see if I get a response from the DNR office in Forks." I peeked at Seth out of the corner of my eye. I could see a smile creep across his face. I turned to look at him to watch his reaction.

"You applied there?" he asked.

"Uh-huh. I put my resume in the mail this morning. Even if it doesn't work out, I could probably find something to do around here or maybe Port Angeles."

"You're going to stick around?"

"Yeah, I think so. My mom is getting used to me being around," I paused, "and of course, I don't think I could move away from you."

Seth turned to look at me and gave me the smile that took up his whole face. He leaned in for a long romantic kiss. After a short minute, he broke away from my lips and looked up towards the house.

"We're being summoned," he said with a pout.

"How come we keep getting interrupted?" I groaned. "Ok, let's go. I am getting hungry. I didn't eat two bags of popcorn."

As soon as we walked into the door Sam greeted us. "You're just in time," he said as he shook Seth's hand. "Emily is getting dinner out of the oven as we speak. Tala, it's so nice to see you again," he kissed my cheek.

We moved through the room getting handshakes, hugs, and kisses. Of course there was a little teasing about having to be called in from our "hot-n-heavy action," as someone called it, from the truck.

"I wouldn't talk Jared!" I replied to one of the accusers. As usual Kim was in his lap. The room erupted in laughter.

"I see she already fits right in," I turned around to see a very large man standing near me. He was bigger than Seth and had a similar heart-warming smile. I couldn't help but smile back at him.

"Jake! How are you?" Seth's face beamed. He grabbed Jacob's hand and pulled him into a manly hug. "This is Tala." I offered my hand to shake but he grabbed it and kissed the top.

"Nice to finally see you in person," he said. "Seth's a lucky man."

"Well, thank you," I blushed. "It's nice to meet you as well. I've heard nothing but good things about you."

"Is Nessie here?" Seth asked scanning the room.

"Of course. I think she missed you guys more than I did. She's in the kitchen helping Emily. Come on, I'll introduce you." Jacob grabbed my hand and pulled me towards the kitchen. I looked back at Seth as he followed us. I could tell he was excited for me to meet Nessie.

As soon as we walked into the kitchen there was a squeal. A perky, tiny girl who looked to be in her early teens ran across the room towards Seth.

"Seth!" she squealed as she jumped into his arms and planted kisses on both of his cheeks. "I've missed you!"

"I've missed you too," Seth said as he squeezed her. "Let me look at ya."

Seth pulled away from Nessie holding one of her arms up as she twirled around. She was a petite little thing with pale skin that had a pink undertone in her dimpled cheeks. Her hair was a brassy blonde that laid in ringlets down her back. She was easily one of the most beautiful people I've ever seen.

"Are you done growing yet?" Seth asked.

"Grandfather thinks I have a couple more years, but it's just a guess," she replied and pulled Seth back in for a hug.

Jacob cleared his throat, "Uh, Ness," he said still holding my hand. He looked at me, "Sorry, she gets a little excited." Then he whispered, "Seth has always been her favorite." I just laughed in response.

"I'm so sorry. How rude of me," Nessie apologized. "I'm Renesmee Cullen. You must be Tala. It's so nice to meet you." She then pulled me into a hug. She seemed as warm as the wolves and I wondered if she was one too.

"Hi," I grunted. She had a strong grip for such a little person. "It's nice to finally meet you too."

While we helped Emily set out the dishes and food, Nessie asked me a ton of questions about myself, genuinely interested in every answer. At least she seemed interested. Although Nessie looked like a teenager, she had the presence and intelligence of someone twice her age, but the enthusiasm of a child half her age.

Nessie and I were so engaged in our conversation that I barely noticed Seth approach me. Beside him was a small woman with familiar dark eyes. I immediately recognized her as Seth and Leah's mother, Sue Clearwater. Seth put his arm around me proudly and introduced me to his mother.

"Welcome to this crazy family, Tala," she said. I knew she meant the pack family and not the Clearwaters in particular.

"Thank you," I replied and gave her a short hug.

Nessie piped in, "Hopefully the stories tonight don't scare her away," she giggled as she snuggled up to Sue.

"Oh, I've been warned," I glanced at Seth. Nessie placed her hand on Seth's cheek and Seth shook his head slightly. If I hadn't been looking in his direction I wouldn't have noticed it.

"It's not so bad," Sue sighed, "It took me awhile to get used to it, but Nessie here has helped me through it." She patted Nessie on the arm.

"Is that why Grandpa Charlie's not here?" Nessie asked Sue.

"Now you know he doesn't want to know more than he needs to," Sue replied.

I looked over at Seth who was watching my reaction. He just gave me a crooked smile and shrugged his shoulder. I was anxious for this council meeting. I had no idea what to expect.

Sue must have noticed my weariness because she took my hand and led me to a seat next to her for dinner. "Don't worry. You have Seth to protect you." She said with a wink.

Dinner was a lot more formal than the picnic on the beach. Of course, the women were served first, per Emily's rules. But this time the men were on their best behavior. I wasn't sure if it was because the elders were present or because we were eating inside the house. Maybe it was a combination of the two.

I took advantage of my time with Sue and asked a lot of questions about Seth as a child. Sue was very talkative and didn't have any problems telling me the embarrassing stories. Leah contributed to the stories making me hold my sides that ached from laughter. Seth just rolled his eyes and sighed. He knew I was building up some ammo for the times he picked on me.

After dinner everyone filed out to the bonfire by the pond. It was a damp and chilly night. The moon was full and illuminated the surrounding trees. I giggled to myself.

"What?" Seth asked.

I pointed at the moon. "Full moon." Seth just rolled his eyes and chuckled.

Can we guess what's up next?? How do you like my Renesmee? I based her personality a little on Alice. Since she's still very young I can see her picking up that enthusiasm.