Alright, that was one hell of a week. Lots of drama. Now, I have something to say that is really important, so please don't skip this.

I received two anonymous reviews recently that were incredibly cruel and hurtful. There are ways to tell me something is wrong without calling my story stupid and calling me a bitch. If you're going to leave a review like that, sign in so I can PM you and talk to you about it. Don't hide and call my story shit. There is a line between constructive criticism and flat-out cruelty. If I receive another review like that, I will disable anonymous reviews. Every other anonymous review I've received has been helpful and constructive, so I really don't want to do that. I've already deleted the reviews that were non-constructive. Please don't make me make other readers suffer because you're feeling like a vindictive bitch.

Thank you, and on with chapter 12!

Allison's POV

"Leah?" we all gasped. Leah's soul mate is Death?

"I'll be perfectly honest: I did not see that one coming," Rika commented.

"I don't think anyone did," Juliet mentioned.

I was in shock. Leah… and Death?

"Yes," Death said sadly. "My darling Dalila, Lin, Elaine, Leanne, Elizabeth, and many, many other names, now Leah. She's been walking this world alone since the day I died of natural causes in Egypt, and the spirits called in the debt. I watched as she fell in love with other men, watched her heart break, watched her live her lives while I was trapped here, aiding the spirits in their journey to the other side."

"Wait," I said suddenly, realizing a very important detail. "You said you made this deal five thousand years ago."

"Yes," Death confirmed.

"You also said this deal lasted five thousand years."

"Yes," Death said happily. "I have six months, then I will be reincarnated back into this world, and Leah and I will be together again."

"Oh, it's so romantic!" Juliet exclaimed. She was a sucker for love stories.

"Wait, what about imprinting?" I asked.

"Oh, yes, Leah will imprint on me, as soon as she sees me in the living world. The spirits assured me of that," Death said.

"Good," I thought back to the strained look on Leah's face, the tightness in her voice. She needed a good, dedicated man like Death. …That's not a sentence you see every day.

"Seth is returning," Aki informed me. "Jake is with him. They are ready to listen to what you have to say about yourself."

"Good," I repeated. Seth and Jake were coming here with open minds.

"They also want answers about your previous life in Sacramento," Aki added, ruining the happy moment. Of course they wanted to know.

There was a knock at the door, signaling the wolves' arrival. I didn't bother to hide my unhappiness when I opened the door. I was still upset at Seth's reaction. What happened to 'I'll love you no matter what'?

"What do you want?" I meant for my voice to sound cruel, but it just sounded sad and tired.

"Hey, Allison. Mind if we come in?" Jake said in the same tired tone.

"Yes, but you can come in anyways," I said. I led the way to my tiny living room, with its lovely new furnishings. I doubt they noticed the stylish look Alice had achieved.

I collapsed onto my favorite chair, a vintage-style with dark mahogany wood and deep purple cushions. It looked extremely uncomfortable, but it was surprisingly cozy.

Seth and Jake sat across from me on the couch, never taking their eyes off me, staring me down. It was kind of unnerving, but I knew they wouldn't hurt me. With my spirits, they couldn't if they tried.

"Alright, let's just get straight to the point," Jake sighed. "How do we know you're telling us the truth when you say you talk to dead people?"

It was my turn to sigh. Did Seth pay attention to anything I said besides the dead part? "I don't talk to dead people, Jake. I'm a shaman. I connect this world to the spirit world, where both the spirits of the living and the spirits of nature reside. In short, I talk to nature spirits and dead spirits."

Jake and Seth blinked at the same time. I would have laughed if the conversation wasn't so serious.

"You've got to admit, Allison, this is kind of hard to believe," Jake finally said.

"Of course it's hard to believe," I agreed. "But you both turn into wolves the size of horses. You fell in love with a half-human, half-vampire girl. There are vampires in Italy that consider themselves royalty. Those things aren't easy to believe either, but that doesn't make them less true."

"Could you give us some kind of proof?" Jake asked. "Like, we can turn into the wolves to prove we're shape-shifters. Vampires can run super-fast and can throw cars over their heads. Can you… I don't know – prove somehow that you are a… a shaman thing?"

"I can prove I'm a shaman," I said simply. "Would you like subtle proof, or oh-my-god-she's-an-effing-shaman kind of proof?"

Seth and Jake exchanged a look. Seth answered, "Let's try subtle first, and if it's not enough to convince us, we'll go with the shocking proof."

"Sounds good," I said with a smile. "How about we start off with 'Things I Shouldn't Know But Somehow I Do'?"

"Sure," they both answered, an uneasy look on their faces.

"I knew about all of the tribe's legends before I even arrived in Washington. The Third Wife's name is Anna Rika, and Taha Aki is beyond pissed off that the tribe forgot her name. There are three High Spirits that look out for the tribe, each representing an aspect of nature. They sent me here so I could give the wisdom and strength of the past to the present, where it's truly needed."

"Um…" Jake looked a little lost for words. He recovered quickly. "You could have made all of that up."

"Alright. I didn't want to do this," I said ominously, then summoned some of the spirits silently. With Harry Clearwater, and Jake's mother at my side, I was going to shock the crap out of them.

"Seth, you told me about the father-son camping trips you and your father used to take when you were younger. You never said that was where your father gave you the sex talk."

Seth blushed a violent red that was visible even with his russet-colored skin. I continued.

"Jake, when you were a toddler, your mother would read the poem 'Goodnight, Moon' to you every night."

Jake blushed, too, but not quite as much as Seth did. I felt bad about revealing their secrets, but they needed to know that I was telling the truth.

"Seth, when Sam dumped Leah for your cousin Emily, you tried to beat Sam up, and got your ass handed to you."

Jake laughed. "No one ever told me about that!" he guffawed.

"Jake, you were in love with Bella Swan before she turned into a vampire. You imprinted on Nessie minutes after she was born. Isn't it a little awkward, knowing your old love is going to be your mother-in-law?"

Jake instantly stopped laughing. Seth started howling in his place. "Dude, it's true! That's so weird!"

"Anything else?" I asked politely. I knew this wasn't going to be enough for them, but I felt it was better to ask then to assume.

"Alright, that was pretty persuasive," Jake admitted once he punched Seth to make him stop laughing. "But I think we need some undeniable proof. Like, all of this stuff could've been told to you by my dad, or Seth's mom."

"If you insist," I agreed. "However, let's go outside so you don't break anything, shall we?"

As we walked out the door, Jake asked, "Why would we break something? Are you going to do something to make us phase?"

I paused for a second. "Not exactly," was my cryptic answer.

Once we were outside and clear of my house, I said, "Aki? Show Jake what you showed Paul earlier, please."

Then Jake flew through the air, and crashed to the ground at the edge of the forest.

"Is that enough proof for you?" I asked Seth. He stared at Jake, dumbfounded.

"How long have you been a… shaman?" he asked quietly. I took that as his belief.

"While I was travelling here, Aki gave me the test," I answered.

"Test?" he questioned.

"Yes, the test. I woke up that morning to Aki strangling me." Seth growled. I interrupted quickly before he could get upset. "If I could fight him off, I was strong enough to be a shaman. Aki and Rika have been with me ever since."

"Why did he have to hurt you to see if you were worthy?" Seth was watching Jake struggle to his feet.

"Tradition," I said simply. "Every true shaman in the world is chosen that way. But ever since, Aki and Rika have kept me safe, even from crazy pedophiles and sadistic vampires."

"They made sure you were able to get away from that crazy guy who tried to kidnap Claire. They made sure you couldn't feel anything from your wound. They saved you from Jane last night," Seth whispered wondrously. "They protected you from her, and made sure you didn't drown once she threw you over the side."

"And they sent Leah to find me," I added with a smile. For the first time that day, Seth smiled at me. By the spirits, did I miss that smile!

I wrapped my arms around his waist and kissed him. He kissed me back with all the passion in the world, and I was sure our fight was over.

"Will you two stop swapping spit already?" Jake muttered from behind us. I hadn't even noticed he got up.

"Tell Jake to shut up," Juliet asked sweetly.

"Juliet said to shut up, Jake," I repeated.

"Who's Juliet?" Jake asked, a confused look on his face.

"One of the many spirits that follow me around," I answered sweetly. "Trust me, you owe her a lot."

"I do?" Jake still looked confused. I decided that he had had enough information for one day.

"I'll explain later," I laughed.

"Should we go explain all of this to the rest of the pack? I know Paul wants to know what the hell threw him like that," Jake said.

"Maybe later," I said. I wasn't up to dealing with an irate wolf. I had had enough of angry wolves for one day.

"How about the Cullens?" Seth suggested. I did want to see Alice again…

"Why not? Let me take a quick shower first, though," I said. I had drowned, then I was crying for hours on end. I needed to put some effort into my appearance if we were going anywhere. Especially since Alice would attack me if I didn't look presentable.

Once I was done, we piled into Jake's old Rabbit, and headed for the Cullens.

Seth's POV

Allison was smiling widely when we got out of the car at the Cullen's house/mansion. My guess was she was happy that we finally knew the truth. She was one of those pure souls, that couldn't be cruel or hurtful if she tried. Keeping that big of a secret from everyone must have taken its toll on her.

She had a bounce in her step as we walked up the stairs and into the Cullen's house. We didn't bother knocking on the door anymore. We hadn't for years.

When we walked into the living room, everyone was already assembled. Carlisle smiled, probably glad that Allison wasn't here because she was hurt. Edward had a big smile, too. He couldn't read Allison's thoughts, but he could read ours.

"Allison!" Alice bounded over to us and hugged Allison. She was talking a mile a minute, as usual.

"Allison, it's so good to see you! How is everything working at your house? Do you like it? Have the wolves messed anything up yet? I love your outfit today! That skirt looks adorable on you! Then again, a lot of different things look good on you. You have a gorgeous hourglass shape that works for everything. Maybe you should try a little makeup next time –"

She continued on for another ten minutes. Jake had found Nessie, so they were out back playing 'hop-and-pounce'. Jake was losing on purpose, as usual.

Once Alice was finished, Edward cut in. He probably knew that if he didn't speak up now, Alice wouldn't give him another chance for a few hours. "Carlisle, it would appear Allison knows a bit more about us than we first thought."

Carlisle's eyes widened in response. "I didn't know the wolves told her everything yet."

"They didn't," Allison said, the same big smile on her face.

"Really?" Rosalie sneered with a barely disguised growl.

"Of course," Allison replied to her, the smile still on her face. But there was a tightness in her eyes that said the smile was no longer there because she was happy. "Why would you doubt that? The wolves told you that they never told me anything about the secret."

"Then how do you know, when no one has told you?" Rosalie's voice started out soft, then worked its way up to a screech.

"Because a spirit of the dead told me," Allison answered simply, still calm. But I knew she was getting pissed under the calm façade.

"A spirit? You mean a ghost? Are you crazy or something?" Rosalie continued to screech.

"Aki," Allison said, as calmly as could be, "show Rosalie how crazy I am."

Rosalie suddenly flew through the air and out one of the enormous windows. The glass froze once Rosalie tumbled outside, and returned back to the pane like a puzzle. The window showed no sign of the previous damage. Except Rosalie was outside, staring inside in shock.

Everyone looked shocked, except for Edward. He just kept smiling. Of course, he probably knew what was going to happen, so he wouldn't be surprised.

"How did you do that?" Emmett asked in wonder. He wasn't worried for his wife or anything. He wanted to know how a human had thrown a vampire out a window – then fixed that window the next second.

"Like I said," Allison said happily. Her smile was back from true happiness now. "I asked Aki to show her I wasn't crazy, so he did."

"By Aki," Edward inserted, "she means Taha Aki, the first of the spirit wolves. He is her spirit guide. A guardian, of sorts. He protects her, and helps her protect the tribe. She was sent here to aid the wolves."

"That explains it quite nicely," Allison smiled at Edward. "Thank you for explaining for me."

"Not a problem," Edward replied.

"A shaman? I've never met one," Carlisle mentioned.

"You wouldn't have," Allison said. "It's impossible for vampires to be shamans."

This was news to me. "Why?" I asked stupidly.

"Shamans are the living bridge between life and death, the living world and the spirit world," Allison explained. "Once the bridge is no longer alive, it ceases to hold the power that makes it possible to cross over to the other side and be able to come back again."

"I have no idea what you just said," Emmett commented.

"It means my spirit is able to leave my body and return, but if I was dead, I wouldn't be able to do the returning part," Allison tried to simplify.

"Oh, okay. I'm going to go make sure Rose isn't going to kill you," Emmett said, then leaped out the back door.

"There's really no need. I can never be surprised," Allison said.

"It's to ease our minds more than yours," Carlisle said.

"Thank y – do you mind?" Allison started to thank Carlisle, but suddenly turned to face a blank wall with a frighteningly scary look on her face.

Everyone just stared at her, completely quiet. Maybe it was a shaman thing…?

Then I caught the look on Edward's face. He, too, looked murderous. What was going on?

"Leave. Rosalie. Alone." Allison emphasized each word slowly and carefully, with rage in every syllable. "I don't care if she killed you! You killed HER! So I don't want to hear it!"

Allison started to walk away, but something stopped her. She turned to face the same wall as before. "If I find out," she whispered menacingly, "about you bothering Rosalie one more time, I will drag your soul to Hell myself!"

The angry look remained a moment longer, then was gone.

"Thank you," Edward was suddenly beside Allison, an arm around her shoulders. "We had no idea Rosalie's past continued to haunt her like this."

"That's part of my job, Edward," Allison answered.

"What's going on?" Bella asked.

"The spirits stopped blocking my thoughts from Edward for today," Allison explained. "He saw and heard what I saw and heard. It upset both of us."

"'Upset' is putting it lightly," Edward growled. The vampires looked at Edward quizzically.

"Royce King has been bothering Rosalie as a spirit," Edward told them simply. Who the hell was Royce King?

"It's getting late," Allison said suddenly. "We should probably get going before Rosalie comes back inside."

"Yeah," I said weakly. Every single day was an adventure with her. I loved it. I shouted to Jake out the back door. "Jake! Let's go, or I'm driving your car!"

"The hell you are!" Jake and Nessie came back inside instantly.

"Come back soon, Allison!" Alice hugged Allison one last time. Everyone hugged Allison goodbye. She just had a light that drew people to her and made them love her. Kind of like Nessie.

After extracting Allison from Alice's sixth last hug, we left. Allison looked beautiful, but exhausted. It had been a wild day.

When Jake dropped her off, I couldn't bear to leave her. As if reading my thoughts, she asked, "Seth, do you want to sleep in the spare bedroom tonight?"

"Yes!" I said instantly, and got out of the car with her.

"Call your mom!" were Jake's parting words. He had a point, though. My mom would kill me if I didn't tell her where I was staying. Especially after the Volturi scare last night. Was it really only last night? It felt like days ago.

I ended up sleeping with Allison on her bed. I didn't mean to. I was waiting for her to finish up in the bathroom so I could kiss her goodnight, and I fell asleep on her bed. I felt her crawl onto the bed and under the covers later, but I couldn't rouse myself enough to move. I'm pretty sure she laughed a little. She cuddled into my side, and that's all I remember.

Thank you for reading! Now, I don't want to disable anonymous reviews, but I will if I have to! Please, go vote in my poll for the next story I'll be writing, and review!