I know, I know. It has been way too long and for that I am very sorry, exams have taken over my life. But here I am with an update. So please enjoy. Thank you for all of your reviews, they are what keep me going.

Just a quick reminder : Silver is Ava's daughter. Madison is Jared and Kim's daughter. Seb, Samson and Sarah are Sam and Emily's children.

Dee's scent seemed to cover every surface of the forest. My nose burned and I couldn't tell which tracks were fresh and which were old. Some wolf I was going to be. I wondered if someone had told my Mum. Vividly in my mind I could picture the way her face would crumble like it had done so many times in the past and how she would squeeze her eyes shut desperately in an attempt to stop tears from leaking out. It never worked.

I couldn't hear Paul in my head any longer. Or anyone else for that matter. But someone must have been in their wolf form somewhere. What if there was a leech…I mean a vampire in the area? I had no idea how to cope with that. They would most likely crush my windpipe before I even had time to react. I wasn't cut out for the whole wolf thing, it was the one thing I had hoped I would never have to endure. But naturally fate went and through me another curve ball. Just another one in my messed up life.

Over and over I kept seeing Samson's face as he imprinted on me. His jaw slackened slightly in wonder and his dark green eyes glistened as if I was the person he had been waiting for his whole life. It unsettled me. How the hell was I supposed to ever resist him, to ignored him when he looked at me like that? It was Seb I wanted. Seb that needed me. Or so I had always thought. But Seb would never look at me like that, would he?

My mind flashed back to the last dregs of the fight that I had witnessed. Samson's muscled body lying on the forest floor covered with blood as Seb walked away, the winner. But instead of pursuing him Samson had sat unmoving as his green eyes flickered over my white fur for any sign of damage and unexpectedly my heart had squeezed in my chest. Stupid magical chord. Uncle Sam had always said that an imprint just pointed you in the right direction of the person who you would have eventually fallen in love with anyway. I decided that was a trolley load of crap. I would never fall in love with Samson. He was like the over protective brother you just couldn't get rid of when your date turned up on the doorstep but he wasn't someone who you held hands with or kissed on the beach. Unless you were Madison of course.

Oh crap. Madison.

She was going to hate me. She would never understand. Her whole life she had been in my shadow, waiting desperately for the day Samson turned into a wolf and she was finally his. She had been so certain. So sure. That she would be his imprint. Why did fate keep hurting all the people I loved? I thought about only a few days previously when Madison had lay on my bed her coppery hair splayed wildly around her as she had imagined all the things she would do if Samson imprinted on anyone other than her. And now I was to be her main target. I swear life hated me.

Laying down on the mud I made a whimpering sound as my fur got all wet. Just great. I wondered if that meant when I eventually changed back- if I ever changed back- that I would have clumps of mud in my real hair. That was going to be even worse to get out than paint. Briefly my mind skirted over what the pack had told me about switching forms, I tried to remember any snippet of information that I could. I had to think about something or someone that made me happy, that would be what changed me back. Something happy. Easier said than done in my predicament.

"Silver?"

All the hairs on my back stood up as the burning sensation I had smelled earlier crawled up nose, fiercer and more awful than before. Instinctively I arched my back and bared my teeth as if preparing to fight. To freeking fight? I didn't know the first thing about fighting. I tried to remember what the instructor had said the few times Madison had dragged me to self defence class…

Stand on your toes. I looked down at my four paws with distate. Did they count?

And then try and get around the back of your attacker. I glanced from right to left. How was I supposed to know what direction they were coming in? Wincing slightly I raised my nose up into the air and inhaled in both directions. I stumbled backwards a few steps. Left definitely left.

Next step was to grab the attackers hands from behind or if possible spray them with pepper spray. Because I just happened to have pepper spray with me. I groaned aloud which came out sounding more like a howl. I made the sound again. Maybe the others would come rescue me. The asses, leaving me all alone, defenceless. Inwardly I hoped I was stronger than Paul, although it was seriously unlikely.

"Silver?" the voice called again. But I recognised it. The soft voice with the melodic lint that I had heard so often when growing up.

Aunt Dee?

My nose burned stronger than before as she jumped lightly down from a tree in front of me and brushed her clothes off as if annoyed that they had gotten dirt on them. Where the hell had she come from. I backed up as my wolf growled at her. Almost without thinking my brain was calculating how to get behind her and lock my incisors around her throat.

No. No! I tried to push the wolf's instincts back. It was my Aunt Dee, however bad she smelled it was still Dee. Although admit ably I could understand why the pack were always on edge when she was around if their brain were consistently yelling at them to attack her. Maybe there was an off switch? I sure as hell hoped so.

"Silver?" Dee stood her ground as if to show she wasn't afraid of me, "are you okay sweetheart?"

The simple question brought tears to my eyes, I wondered if it was even possible to cry in wolf form. Of course I wasn't okay. Dee, sensing this took a step towards me but I took another step back. I didn't want to hurt her. I knew she was a vampire but she still seemed so flighty and girly in her over expensive clothes and designer hair cut. It was stupid of me to assume that I would hurt her, I mean she could probably kill me before I even had the chance to blink but still I was suddenly afraid for her safety with me around.

"Stupid question," Dee muttered mostly to herself as she smoothed down her hair, "I heard about Samson? You dealing with that okay?"

Frustrated I shook my head from side to side wishing more than anything that I could speak to her, that I could throw myself into her arms and sob. Would I ever be able to that again? Or would the smell repulse me too much? I couldn't imagine staying away from my Aunt Dee- not being able to fight over Leonardo DiCaprio with her or watch horror movies that my Mum couldn't stand. She was one of my best friends as well as the best Aunt in the world.

"Your Mum is worried," Dee whispered almost as if she could read my mind. I flinched. Of course she was worried. I bet she had retreated into herself too, I pitied the person that would have had to stay behind and watch her. She was probably a wreck. Dee was the only one accustomed to handle my mother's breakdowns. Even I couldn't handle it most days.

"We should probably hurry up and get back to her actually. So hurry up and phase." I growled lowly at her. If only it were that easy.

My mind immediately flitted to Seb and our afternoons in the garage but that immediately caused an ache in my heart. Would I even be able to do that with him anymore? I remembered all the times that we had hidden out in his truck together, the first time we had ever gotten drunk together. All those memories that had once brought me happiness seemed to engulf me with guilt and longing. My relationship with Seb was probably never going to be the same again. I whimpered quietly to myself.

"I said something happy," Dee glared down at her perfectly manicured nails in annoyance, "not depressing." I took a menacing step towards her but she didn't even flinch, she merely rolled her eyes. I gritted my teeth together with frustration.

"What about your Mum? Think about her."

Instantly my mind was filled with images of my mother curled in front of the television her eyes constantly rimmed red. Images of her still lying curled in bed during the afternoon or sitting in the garden only half listening to what I was saying. She was a ghost most of the time. The only time she seemed to come alive was when Dee visited or she was in the bookshop.

Books! Of course.

An image slipped into my mind. It was simple really. I was around five or six at the time. I knew my Mum was sad, was different from everyone else's Mum. But that afternoon I had come home from school crying and my Mum had sat me on her knee- I couldn't ever remember her doing that before or after that first time- and she read to me. I could remember her voice slipping easily into the role of the characters in the book and the way she had smiled when I had clapped my hands with excitement. I didn't realise my body was shifting form until it was too late.

My bones seemed to groan with pain as they contracted then relaxed. I could feel my body hunching over as a sharp pain ran up the length of my spine. The surrounding forest seemed to dull a little but it was still sharper as it had been when I was normal. When I was human. My body sagged to the ground as I completed the change and a red flush crept up the side of my neck as I realised I was completely naked. I wondered if it would hurt that much all of the time. I hoped not.

"Here, put these on," Dee chucked clothes at me before she turned around to give me some privacy humming slightly under her breath. Scowling I slipped on the expensive summer dress and ignored the ballet flats she had brought instead enjoying the sensation of the mud as my feet sunk into it and the sharp sting of the twigs underfoot.

"Dee," I whispered when I was changed. Without giving me a moment to breath she ran towards me and captured me in a tight hug. I stiffened instantly as her smell overwhelmed me. My body started to react by having slight spasms, The shaking unnerved me.

"Oh," Dee took an apologetic step backwards her gold eyes shining, "I probably stink to you. Right?"

"More than you can even begin to imagine," I murmured. Tilting my head up I caught spits of rain on my tongue enjoying the sensation of being human. I had never thought of it as something to be valued before but it truly was. I wished desperately to never have to change into an oversized wolf again, but deep down I knew that was never going to be possible.

"Oh I'm sure I can," she winked, "dog."

"Aunt Dee," I whispered brokenly, "everything is so messed up. I- I-"

"Darling. I didn't mean to upset you," she started to walk towards me and then stopped herself. I couldn't even hug my own Aunt anymore. My best friend probably hated me and my Mum would probably never be able to look me in the eyes without me reminding her of what she has already lost. My heart squeezed painfully tight in my chest.

"Come on," Aunt Dee cautiously pulled on my hand, "lets get you home for a warm soak in the bath."

Nothing was ever going to be the same again I realised as I followed Dee through the undergrowth, the rabbits scurried away from me just as they would when I was in my wolf form. I didn't blame them for being scared of me. Hell, I was scared of me.

Thoughts?