(AN) Jesus, you guys get an exceptionally long chapter. It's actually a double chapter, since most of my chapters are about two thousands words long (fourish pages in MS word). This one is above four thousand words, and about eight pages in word. It's a little frightening, I didn't even realize it was going to be so long. This is the best take yet into Blaze's mind. He's complicated, and I love him. Don't get too upset about him and Delilah in this chapter, siblings fight over stupid stuff, and Blaze would never hurt his sister. They'll make up.

Chapter 11: Genetics

(BLAZE)

School was pretty much boring right now. It was springtime, and most students were anxiously anticipating the coming summer. I wouldn't lie and say I wasn't too, because I was. Even throwing the football as Aaron's stupid head wasn't helping much, especially the jokes he was making about Echo needing a new boyfriend. I half wanted to break his nose. It wasn't his fault, I told myself taking deep breaths, Aaron was just born to be annoying.

Maybe I was irritable because it felt like my skin was itching off, like somehow I was growing out of it. I kept expecting my muscles and organs to come bursting through the skin. Or maybe…maybe something else. I felt a little thrill go through me at that thought. I could imagine being a wolf, just like my father, strong and huge, running through the woods…

Beside Leah. That's the part that always made me grin. I wanted to race after Leah as fast as she could go, fur and claws, with my dad, with Daniel and Tyler, Quil, Seth, Paul, Collin, and Brady…but most of all, with Leah.

"What the hell are you smiling about?" Delilah asked sourly as we made our way to Eva's shiny blue car.

"Language." I said mildly, too excited about the prospect of being something else, something wicked cool, to really be bothered by Delilah's drama. She rolled her eyes, sliding into the front seat quickly, before I could grab it. I narrowed my eyes in annoyance. Eva was just now coming out of the schoolhouse, flanked by Daniel, who was bent over near double to talk quietly to her. I wondered idly what he was saying.

"Hey you!" A sweet voice cut through the parking lot, one that was as sultry as summer sun. I turned to it automatically, without even thinking as another grin came over my face. Leah was walking toward us, scattering the remaining students like leaves as she walked. Other girls looked at her enviously, the same way I could see them looking at Eva and Echo sometimes.

"Leah!" I yelled back, "What are you doing here?"

"Wanna go for a run?" She asked, her smile bright, gesturing to the woods. "I've got a lot of pent up energy. And I missed you, twerp." She said affectionately.

"Why would I want to run with you when you wound me so?" I asked, but I was already throwing my backpack and my (useless, when I felt so hot and uncomfortable) in the trunk of the car. I also stripped off my t-shirt, throwing that in as well. Delilah made a small noise in the back of her throat.

"You're so vain." She remarked. "Was it really necessary to take off your shirt in the parking lot?"

"Make sure you take it inside with you when you get home. Tell mom and dad where I'm at." I ordered, ignoring her comment. The girls at school didn't notice me, at least, I thought they didn't. I'd really never paid attention. She waved her hand dismissively.

"What's up with her?" Leah asked as we moved easily through the rest of the students.

"Meh, she's mad at the world." I shrugged easily. "It's hard on her too, this whole situation." I explained as we entered the woods. I took another deep breath. "She knew. Echo's birthday party, that's where it happened. Delilah knew what happened…she tried to tell me. I blew it off." I confessed, hanging my head as we started at an easy run, one that wasn't trying for either of us. The real reason for this run wasn't exercise, it was for us to talk.

"Ouch." Leah commented. "Poor kid. Must be rough."

"Thought you'd sympathize with Echo more." I mumbled. She frowned.

"I do empathize with Coco." She said softly. "It's not fun when you're young and in love, and everything shatters. Even rougher when it's someone so close to you. But it'll work out."

"You have more confidence than everyone else seems to have." I observed. She smiled now.

"Well, you see, imprinting is pretty simple. I'm happy as long as you're happy. Isaac won't be content until Delilah is, and Delilah seems to refuse to be happy until Echo is. So therefore, everyone has to work to make Echo happy." She declared.

"What if Echo refuses to be happy, too?" I asked.

"It's Echo. She can't stay unhappy for long. I've got faith in the girl." She said surely.

"I'm glad you do." I answered with a short sigh, brushing back my hair. "I can't handle Liley like this. I'll strangle her."

"She does have a point. Was it really necessary to take off your shirt in the parking lot?" Leah teased. I rolled my eyes.

"Like anyone was checking me out anyway." I responded. Leah stopped, her forehead scrunching up. I swirled around quickly, standing in front of her. We'd just made it to the beach.

"I can't decide if you're being serious or screwing with me." She quipped. I laughed.

"I'm being serious! I've never noticed any girls checking me out. I don't think you can miss those things."

Leah blinked a few times, then burst into a loud round of raucous laughter. Her laugh made me grin and I pulled her closer to me, wrapping my arms around her shoulders.

"What?" I asked. "What's so funny?"

"You're entirely oblivious. It's cute. Girls do check you out, Blaze. A lot, in fact. You're hot stuff." She remarked. It was turn to blink a few times, confused.

"But, nobody has ever said anything to me." I declared. Leah laughed again.

"That's because I'm always hanging around you." She said fondly, leaning up to place a light kiss on my lips. "They know you're taken."

My blood boiled when she kissed me, and though she turned to start running again, I held her in place, kissing her passionately. My heart was pounding through my chest, Leah's fingers buried in my hair and drove me wild. We probably could have stayed like that forever, that's how easy and natural we were, just a part of nature.

The roll of distant thunder caused us to break apart, breathing heavy, skin flushed, hearts throbbing endlessly.

"I love you." She said softly. I grinned, she very softly lifted a hand to my face, holding it there. "Are you happy? With me?"

"Yes." I said simply, and it was true. I was never happier than I was when I was with Leah. She even made me forget that odd, itchy feeling. It completely slipped my mind to ask her about it.

We spent a few hours combing through the woods, over the beach, laughing, joking, kissing, holding hands. When I finally made it back home, I was grinning from ear to ear, and I was late for dinner.

Everyone was already sitting down when I swooped in and I registered the distressed look on every face. Echo was sitting at her usual place, between dad and Delilah. She barely looked up when I came in, her eyes meeting mine for a second, then dropping back down to her plate like she'd been stung. The residual happiness I felt floated away quickly, because there was no ignoring the fact that Echo was in pain right now.

Delilah was sulking as well, her hair was thrown over her one shoulder, a curtain to separate her and Echo, although I did see her peek through it to examine Echo's face. Her shoulders were hunched defensively, as if she was anticipating rebuke at any moment. Mom and dad, sitting beside each other, kept exchanging glances. Not the lovesick, teenage ones we always teased them about growing up, but the small, almost insignificant ones that meant they were actually having a conversation with nothing but their eyes. I grabbed a plate and heaped it full of food, I was starving, before sitting down at the table.

"You're late." Mom finally said, looking up at me and smiling. I smiled back at her, ever the carefree one. This seemed to alleviate some of her worry, although I noticed that she and dad were holding hands under the table in between mom eating.

"Yeah, Lela and I went running. Sorry." I said, digging into my food with gusto. Dad smirked, mom's forehead crinkled a little. I didn't say anything else, I wasn't ready to deal with mom when she found out about Leah and I, although, I reasoned with myself, she had to be expecting it.

"I got Echo's work for her too. Didn't want to sis, sorry." I said as Echo's eyes looked up and narrowed, the shadow of life passing through them. "Mr. Beamer tracked me down in the hallway. It's in my book bag."

"Oh. Oops." Delilah said, her face turning bright red. She got up from the chair hurriedly and ran out into the hallway. Come to think of it, I hadn't seen my backpack placed on the hallway table with Delilah and Echo's. I groaned.

"Guess who has to go to Zack and Stella's tonight." My mom muttered.

"You can borrow my car, Blaze. It's not far." Echo offered.

"That's not the point." I mumbled, irritated. That itchy feeling was back. I tried to ignore it. I didn't want to ask dad in front of Echo and mom.

"It's no big deal, Blaze, she just forgot. And you know, Eva probably didn't even notice." Dad said with a shrug. "If you want, I'll run over and get it."

"No, I can do it." I said, finishing my meal without much enjoyment. At least I'd get to speed in Echo's car. Thanks to Echo and Dad, despite the old exterior, it ran like hot butter. I finished my meal without any enjoyment, although I did take seconds on everything, and followed Echo up the stairs. She didn't go into her room, the door was open and I couldn't see Delilah, but she headed straight to my room, collapsing on the bed I wanted to collapse on. Was each of my siblings determined to annoy the crap out of me today? The pain in Echo's eyes from earlier stopped me from saying anything, though. Instead, I made do with the beanbag chair on the floor.

"Lilah's just a kid." Echo said quietly.

"You could have fooled me, the rampant immaturity, the insecurity, the irresponsibility. I thought she was a full fledged adult." I remarked sarcastically. "She's been annoying me all freaking day."

"It's tough right now. For her too." She said softly. "Don't be too hard on her." There it was, the flash of pain in her bright eyes again. I was going to strangle Isaac with my bare hands.

"Have you met Delilah recently? She's getting a little obnoxious." I replied.

"She's twelve." Echo said with a shrug. "I'm sure we weren't much better."

We lapsed into thoughtful silence for a couple moments. Finally, I spoke up. "You deserved better than Isaac, y'know." I blurted out. She closed her eyes. "I mean, seriously, don't know what you saw in him. He's a cool guy and everything, but…you can have anyone you want. Seriously, go to Hollywood and marry a producer, and then you can put out an album and be a star."

"I don't want to be a star." She whispered.

"Fine, then don't be. Find a doctor or a lawyer." I answered flippantly. She sighed quietly.

"And what am I supposed to do, when I'm young forever, and he gets old and dies?" She asked solemnly. I started, having never even considered that line of reason. I'd never had a reason to think about trying to be with a normal person, but I could see the problems. Oh yeah, that's my mom. Yeah, I know she looks like she's twenty, but she's mentally about five thousand years old. Dad will be home soon, he's out running around as a giant wolf.

"Well, you could have Carlisle change him into a vampire." I stuttered, unprepared. Echo looked at me, wide eyed, before she burst into near hysterical laughter. I tried to look offended, but it was too good to hear her laugh.

"A vampire!" She repeated. "Cause dad would love that." She shook her head and slipped off my bed and out the door. I noticed she'd left her keys on my comforter. I sighed, standing and stretching, grabbing the keys and making my way down the steps.

Something I'd never thought of before, if we had to, how could my sisters and I fit into the human world? All signs pointed to us being forever young, like our parents. If you couldn't find someone else in this magical world, how could you find someone in the normal one? Echo felt her choices were limited, which I suppose they pretty much were. Eva, Delilah, and I all had someone magical, someone our life spans would match. Echo didn't. That thought was enough to make me nauseous.

Of course, there was that chance that someone would imprint on Echo still. Aaron still hadn't phased, and he surely would. Aaron could imprint on Echo…ugh, that thought made me flinch. There would be more, though. And there were other witches around, weren't there? Even though we'd never met them, Echo could certainly shack up with one of them. Dad probably still would disapprove, but I think that he would disapprove no matter what. It was Echo after all. No, I decided, she shouldn't worry about this, and neither should I. The world was huge, broad, constantly expanding. Mom had always said there were things that even she didn't know about when it came to the magic swirling around us. We weren't alone. Echo would find someone.

Delilah was coming out of the woods as I was coming out of the house. She was holding her camera in her hands, flicking through pictures on it. I bent down and picked up a stick in my hand, tossing it deftly so it caught in her hair and whacked her with a soft thud. She looked up, glaring.

"Immature, Blaze." She said, hotly, pulling the thing from her hair. "I'm sorry I forgot your stupid backpack, but if you would have put it in the backseat and not the trunk like everyone else, we wouldn't have forgotten it." She declared, tossing her hair back.

"If you could think about anyone but yourself, you'd have remembered." I retorted. I could feel the irritation returning, blood swimming hotly underneath the skin. Maybe I just really wanted to fight with someone. Mom and dad were no good for it, they were too happy to yell and fight most of the time, I couldn't even remember the last time either of them had raised their voice. Echo and I needled each other mercilessly most of the time, but we were so close it hardly mattered, and we rarely got into big fights over anything. Leah would never fight with me, Seth was too carefree, Paul wouldn't fight because Eva hated fighting, Quil was too preoccupied with Claire, Collin with Dawn, and I had no idea where Brady was at. Aaron would have been good too, I could have thrown punches at Aaron, but he was grounded. As soon as I thought of Aaron, I thought of Isaac. Maybe that's what I really wanted to do, to get into a big ground shaking fight with Isaac, to bloody his nose, to make him see what he was doing to our family.

Isaac wasn't there. I was of half a mind to track him down, but Delilah was there. Unreasonably so, I was lashing out at Delilah because of Isaac. A part of me realized it, a part of me remembered Echo telling me to be easy on her, and the other part, the bigger part, just didn't care. Delilah wasn't afraid of my size, I was her big brother, and I would never physically hurt her. But she had a true redhead's temper, and I saw it flaring up.

"I do think about people besides myself. At least I'm not coddled up with Leah all day, ignoring the world." Delilah hissed, her lips pressing into a straight line.

"Leah's my escape from you and your melodrama." I retaliated. "You mess up the whole family, and act like it's a Delilah pity show."

"Isaac didn't want to imprint on me, and I didn't want him too." There was a high note in her voice, something that didn't quite sit right with me, but her eyes were flashing angrily. "Leah probably didn't want you either."

I felt something inside me snap. A red haze was covering my vision, and I wanted to say something, but no words would come out. I was shaking like a volcano before an eruption, and I couldn't stop, I couldn't reign myself in. My skin was on fire, like dozens of ants crawling over me and biting. And then, for lack of a better word, I exploded.

Delilah dropped her camera. It landed with a thud on the soft grass and I stepped toward her, enraged, and yet another part of me, the suddenly confused and panicked part, stopped. I wasn't myself anymore, I knew that, the look on Delilah's face told me that. I stepped forward again and Delilah stepped back, tossing her hands out in front of her. A soft yellow light wrapped itself around her, that thing we'd discovered when were all kids, and Delilah had thrown up her hands to shield her face from a baseball.

"Blaze." She said softly. "Blaze, it's me, your sister."

I wasn't looking at Delilah anymore. Something had moved in the bushes, darting quickly in front of her. I growled low in my throat. Isaac stood there, his hands raised in peace.

"What are you doing?" Delilah asked shrilly, her shield dropping. "Get the hell out of here!"

"No. Not until Blaze calms down." He responded. I growled again. I wondered if he would go wolf to fight me. I wondered if I was stronger.

"He's not going to calm down until you go away!" Delilah pointed out. Run, I thought. I bet I could catch you.

"You're not safe." Isaac said softly, a feeling under there that was sort of desperate. It made me pause for a moment.

"I don't need you, I can handle myself, get out of here!" Delilah ordered loudly. Finally, I heard something crash in the house. Had my mom just dropped something? I turned my head an inch as I heard her call dad's name.

Suddenly, my dad was behind me, his form exploding too. I was aware now, that I was concentrating, on other people. I couldn't tell who they were. My dad was approaching me. My mind kept flashing to the bloody vengeance I wanted to wreck on Isaac.

Blaze, stop. Calm down. My dad ordered. It sounded like it was layered, deeper. I instantly relaxed, stopping. I could pay attention now, that one voice, that was Seth's. It popped out right after I recognized him, disappearing. It was familiar in a strange way. Then there was the other one, Paul I thought. The weirdest thing was the way my dad was thinking. A little bit of worry, although not a lot, a touch of disdain for Isaac being here, which I completely understood, a bit of exasperation for me, but most of all, there was pride there.

I could feel how proud my dad was at that moment. He was still bigger than me, but I knew (at the very least) I had to be huge. I felt huge. And yet my dad was proud, excited.

Hey Paul, Blaze and I will take your patrol. My dad said with a kind of ringing happiness. Paul didn't argue, his mind flashed to Evie, sitting on a couch with her homework. There was such an emotional pull there, a tenderness, a certain kind of love that felt like gold, that it was enough to shock and surprise me.

Get used to it kid. Paul joked. Wait till you hear your dad think about Red.

Please don't. I asked, wincing internally. My dad laughed a little.

It's unavoidable. You'll understand soon. And his mind did wander to mom. The amount of love I felt there was nauseating.

Come on. He said, pushing against me. We skirted past Delilah and Isaac, dad managed to throw Isaac a glare. There was resentment there, of course there would be. I felt it too. Delilah stood beside him, her hand hovering out, not to protect herself, but to protect Isaac.

Weird child. I tried not to dwell on it. I turned over my shoulder to look at the house as we left. I could see it in stunning clarity like I never had before, every crack and scrape clear as if it were under a microscope. My mom was standing on the porch, a small smile playing on her lips. I saw the twitch of a curtain in the upstairs, and Echo's retreating figure.

Sorry I almost took out Liley. I said sheepishly.

She could have held you off. He was confident in that, for some reason I couldn't quite understand. Although you shouldn't take out your anger on her, it's not her fault at all. It's not anyone's fault, except maybe mine. I should have seen this coming. I recoiled a little at the massive amount of guilt he felt, but he livened up as soon as we were deep in the woods.

I'll race you. He challenged. I smirked and started off, ungainly at first, the whole four limbs thing took some getting used to, but then an instinct kicked in, one I didn't even knew I had, and I flew.

God, did I fly. I'd gone very fast before, I knew that feeling. I remembered hanging onto Leah's back when I was a little kid as we flew through the woods, Edward or Emmett streaking through the woods with me on their back, and my dad had run with me before too, of course. I remembered the dirt bikes Echo and I fixed up when we were Delilah's age, how we'd spur them on to go faster and faster, racing down by the cliffs, until we were scraped up and muddy, coming home and making mom irritated, not that we were ever in any danger. They didn't think we knew, but whenever we were riding those bikes, Echo and I could feel the wolves keeping pace with us in the forest.

And of course, there was the speed that Echo liked when she drove her car, or even that motorcycle she hadn't touched since she found out about Isaac. I couldn't wait to get a turn on that myself, although hopefully Charlie wouldn't catch me. But this…this was amazing. I was going faster than I could in any car, pushing myself harder and faster.

Wait up. My dad called, his voice laughing in amusement. I was faster than him.

Keep up old man! I yelled back, and I explored La Push liked I'd never seen it before, and further, up the mountains, the wind blowing through my red fur. It was weird, that it was red. It reminded me more of what Delilah would look like if she was a wolf, rather than me, it was only a shade or two darker than her hair. And I'm sure my eyes made me look like a very creepy wolf indeed.

Freak show. My dad agreed. Don't let humans see you. They'll think you're a bigfoot.

I couldn't help but laugh.

Eventually, we wound our way back up to our home. Quil had popped in for patrol, and dad and I were coming up to our home. That's when I smelled her, a scent I'd always know. Sort of like the ocean and clean rain, mixed together with something faintly like wildflowers. It was a warm, comforting scent.

Leah. I thought, moving just a little bit faster, like something was pulling at me. My dad lagged behind as we emerged from the woods. My family was on the porch, I could see Echo on the railing, balancing precariously as she talked to mom on the whicker chair. I couldn't see Delilah, but I could hear her. She was inside, getting a glass of water. But that's not what held my attention. Leah was there, sitting on the front steps, her eyes lowered to the ground, her chin length hair ruffling in the breeze. Everyone turned to look at me at the same time, but I didn't notice anything except the chocolate brown eyes that flicked up to me with a warm smile as she uncoiled herself.

My world did readjust, but only slightly, it wasn't as dramatic for me as it was for everyone else. The truth was, I'd always known I'd love Leah Clearwater forever, so the extra steel bindings that reached out from me to her were no shock. They went both ways, and they always would. The only thing was that, if possible, I loved Leah more.

Well. My dad commented as Leah and I stared at each other. At least that went according to plan.

I barely listened to him. Leah stepped gracefully off the steps. I'd always known she was beautiful, but now I could see every detail of her brown eyes, the warmth simmering below them, the way her smile was just a little crooked, endearing, the many different tones in her hair, her intoxicating smell and soft, dusky skin.

She wrapped her arms around my neck, burying her face into my fur, and I was in heaven.