I follow Shelby Sue to her room. She opens the door and tells me to wait while she changes. The place is cozy. I can't help but smile when I see that she has quite the collection of Quileute works of art, ranging from throws to a few urns. I pick one up and almost drop it. That's my mom's signature on the bottom. Sarah Black. I recognize the fluid handwriting. There are a couple of her pieces around the house.

"She was very talented. I have a few more of her pieces back home in La Push." I don't say anything. I can't say anything. She places a hand on my shoulder, gently squeezing. "It's okay to miss her."

I blink back tears. I nod while trying not to let them fall. I miss her so much and I barely remember her. How much more hurt am I expected to take? "I'm afraid...I'm afraid when she leaves me it will hurt so much more because I'll remember. Her laugh. Her smell. Her stupid blush. My mom is a memory. It's..."

I finally break down. I let go of everything that I've been holding in and she lets me. She murmurs quietly as she rubs my back. I just drop to my knees and brace my forehead against the tiled floor. Finally the sobs stop. I suck back my snot and get to my feet. Shelby Sue says nothing as she walks to her fridge. She throws me a bottle of water. "Wait here while I go change."

I stupidly ask, "You're not going like that? Wait, where are we going?"

She smirks at me, "Honey, I don't think it's real practical of me to go fumbling around the desert in my Frederick's of Hollywood robe and nightie. I'll be real quick, promise." She comes back out dressed in a pair of jeans, long sleeved shirt and some boots that have some wear and tear. She grabs her keys, shoves a few things she takes from the kitchenette into her purse that drapes across her torso and I follow her out the front door. The pick up's doors are unlocked. We get on and she peels out of the parking lot. Fuck, she can give Quil a run for his money with her lead foot. We're leaving civilization behind us as the buildings get sparser and the land becomes dominant. Yeah, it's not the trees and lushness of La Push but there's just something about it.

She suddenly jerks the steering wheel to the right and we're fucking off-roading now. I watch as the wheels kick up the sand and whatnot of the earth below us. I suddenly find myself fidgety, longing to phase and feel the sand beneath my paws. Almost as suddenly the car comes to a stop and she throws it in park to turn off the engine.

"We'll walk from here." She hops out and I follow suit. The air smells different yet the spice and fragrance of earth is similar. I just take it all in for a moment until I hear her again. "Wanna race towards that mountain Alpha? I can see you're itching to phase."

I look in the direction she's motioning towards. It's a good 2 miles away and hell yeah, I'm itching to but that wouldn't be fair to her. "Yeah but how's th...holy fuck."

She takes off running as fast as I do when phased. I curse as I flick off my flip flops and try to shove my jeans and boxers down my muscular thighs. I trip and almost land on my face but due to pure wolf awesomeness, I manage to turn it into a front flip, leaving my boxers on my left leg and phase immediately. I let out a howl which earns me a hearty laugh instead.

I immediately think to myself, "Cheater."

Then get the shock of my still relatively young life when Shelby Sue's voice is in my head, "No you're just a sucker for a girl with big boobs." I laugh and feel more of the tension leave me as I catch up to her. We run making small rodents and creatures scatter as the thunder of my paws hit the ground. A snake hisses at her as she jumps out of its reach. The mountain's right before us as we slow down. "You might want to phase back."

I nod my massive snout but she's already walking ahead. I phase back and shove my right leg into my boxers. Okay, they're more than a little gross but I am not free balling it so I make do. I hurry after Shelby Sue and we hike along this mountain. Doesn't feel like we're going up but when I look down I see we've gone up a ways. Then the land levels out and there's the mouth of a cave off to the left, almost hidden by some brush.

Shelby Sue hands me a bottle of water she takes out of her bag. I take a few gulps before handing it back and she doing the same. She puts it away and tells me to follow her. The cave is dark but with my heightened senses it's not a big deal. The sound of falling water fills the cavernous space. "What's that?"

She just looks at me over her shoulder smiling, "The way to the other world." There's a dim light coming up. Soon enough the long tunnel we've been walking through for the last half hour opens up and a gasp escapes my lips. Shelby Sue sighs in contentment at the sight before us, "It's beautiful isn't it?"

Beautiful is not even the word. Beautiful is what Bells looked like when we went to that club in Anaheim. Beautiful is what my mother's artwork is. This place is...magnificent. Dazzling. Picturesque. And a whole load of other SAT words I'll never know. There's a small waterfall going over some jutted rocks on one side that spill into a small pool but I can tell it's a heated spring because of the steam that's rising off the water. Stalactites and stalagmites decorate and brighten the large space in an vast array of colors that should be ugly but are jaw dropping. How I even know those words are all due to Bells and her never-ending attempts to make this little endeavor of ours educational along with tension filled. "It's not even the word."

Shelby Sue laughs softly. I look around some more and now start to notice smaller details such as the lit torch on the wall. I also see some human items such as a small pot over what can only be a cooking hole and some mugs and other utensils. I look back at Shelby Sue. "Can others find this place?" The very thought of some random hikers disturbing the very essence of this sacred place pisses me off.

"No. It is hidden from their mortal eyes. There are places such as this all over this great planet. Places that are so pure and unpolluted by current times that they're invisible to the common eye. The fact that you were able to see the opening just proves to me what I already knew. That you are the true Alpha."

I groan, "Here we go again with that. Sam's..." I don't get to finish because she cuts me off.

Her voice is on edge, "He is Alpha simply because he phased first and you've been too much of a fucking girl to step up. Just like you were too much a bitch to stay in La Push and fight for her. No, you decided to run away with your fucking tail between your hind legs."

I get right in her face, "Hey fuck you. If you would hold off for a goddamn minute you would have heard me say he's Alpha until I get back and take my rightful place. And I'm not anybody's bitch." I feel that rush of whatever flow through me again.

Her eyes widen and she just starts to laugh. I mean tears rolling down her face, clutching her stomach laughing. She manages to get it together enough to snort out, "Except Bella's."

The growl that erupts from my chest is expected but the laugh that follows is not. Soon we're both laughing like we're high on that special dentist juice. Our laughs die down and I realize we're on the ground. I get to my feet and help her up. She brushes some dirt off her plump rump. Se pats my cheek. "Oh sweet boy, you're really it."

I don't know what to say to that. I can take it at face value but I know she means something else. I instead ask, "How come I was able to order Em earlier?"

She rolls her eyes. "Because you're the true Alpha and even though Sam is the acting one right now, Embry's wolf knows whose orders to truly follow. Now get in the pool while I prepare what you'll need to go over to the other world."

I gulp, "Um, what I'll need? Aren't you coming too?" Fuck, yeah I'm going to be, or already am, sort of Alpha, but I sure as hell don't want to travel over to the spirit world all by my lonesome.

She rolls her eyes once more. We are going to have to have a serious convo about that. Maybe later. "I don't need any assistance of going over. You being human will."

Yeah, I forget she's a spirit and not human. I step into the hot water and feel myself start to relax. Okay maybe Bells is onto something with these hot baths. It's about 4 feet deep but I can see that the water darkens towards the middle of the pool. So it's deeper over there. I am surprised to find there's a bench protruding out from the stone. It's too rugged to have been done by hand. I sit back letting my head fall back to rest against the wall.

I watch as she drops her bag onto a flat surface that she seems to use as a table. She whips off her shirt, leaving her in a tank. She pulls things out of the bag and finds a mug. She looks over to the cooking hole and I almost jump when I see a fire start under the hanging pot. Instead, I sit up straighter and watch as she chants quietly under her breath. She walks over to where the water falls and fill the mug. She pours the water into the pot and drops some what looks like to be honey into the pot. Then she pulls out a small baggie of what looks like to be small cut up pieces of a plant? She shoves the baggie into her pocket and uses her hands to move across the top of the pot where steam is starting to rise. It looks like she's moving the tendrils of smoke with her fingers. I am now sitting upright, posture as straight as that fucking douche of a fiancé named Edward. I blink when I see a wolf in the smoke. I almost cry out when I see what flittingly looks like Bells but it's gone before I can make sure. Then her hands still and she grabs a ladle to pour out the liquid into the mug.

She makes her way over to me holding out the mug. I take a sniff and the liquid smells bitter yet sweet. "What is that?"

She answers directly, "Peyote tea with some honey to help cut down on the bitterness of the cacti."

I take the mug, "Peyote?"

The corners of her mouth start to lift in a slight smirk. "Yes, it's a cacti found in Texas that has...hmm, special powers."

I take a tentative sip and almost spit the shit back out but force myself to swallow. "The honey doesn't really help. What do you mean powers?"

She clicks her teeth, "Not really powers but more like hallucinogenic effects. People use it to trip but we're using it to help you achieve that special place of consciousness that will make it easier for me to take you to the Spirit world."

I force down some more, "You're getting me high?"

She nods happily, "Yep. Drink up now." She walks away and I swear her chanting starts up again but it's louder. More musical and wow are those rainbows shooting out of her fingers now? I try to sip the brew in the mug while trying to catch the rainbow like she's the motherfucking Lucky Charms' leprechaun. I laugh. Or snort. Or maybe purr. Not sure but holy fuck am I loopy.

"Shhh...young Alpha...shh..." More words in Quileute but not the language I know. Older. Ancient.

My eyes close as the mug drops from my hands. There's no splash but I hear it hit the ground. The sound is muted. I open my eyes and we're back in La Push but it's not La Push. There are trees, so many lush trees that it makes my heart ache to be back home. The ground is moss covered and I squat down to pick up the mug but it's not there.

"Come with me Jacob." Her voice is soothing yet strong. Commanding. I turn in the direction it comes from and lose my breath.

Check out my new fic. Exprint: The Antonym of Imprinting. It's a Leah/Sam witha little Jake/Bells thrown in the mix.