Hello everyone! It is now 12:41am where I live so I wish you all a safe and happy New Year! My gift to you for the start of the year is a super long chapter. Thank you so much for your reviews and adds, and I hope you all enjoy this chapter. Thank you for reading and let me know what you think!

Disclaimer: I own nothing associated with the Twilight series.

Chapter 14

When Jared, Kim, and I arrived at Sam and Emily's everyone that was there on Christmas Eve was already there with the exception of Embry, Quil, and Paul, who were all still on their job outside Port Angeles. Claire and her parents also weren't there, but I figured they probably had other plans. Everyone was waiting for the three of us so we could all eat, however, before I went into the dining room Jared introduced me to the two people that hadn't been there on Christmas Eve. "Jacob, Nessie, this is Amanda," Jared said with a smile on his face as he put his hand on my back and gestured to the tall Quileute young man and a girl I figured was no older than me.

"Hi," I managed as I looked at them and forced a smile. I was a little intimidated by the couple, more so by Nessie than Jacob. Jacob was like Paul and the others; tall, muscular, and broad. I just started assuming that those traits seemed to run in Paul and Jared's group of male friends. Nessie had to be the most beautiful girl I had ever seen in my entire life. I mean, you could stand her next to Miss Universe and someone would probably snatch the crown off the other woman's head and put it on Nessie's. Her copper colored hair was long, thick, and fell in gentle waves around her shoulders; her brown eyes were lined by thick lashes, a soft smile was on her pink lips, and although her skin was as pale as the snow outside it suited her perfectly.

"It's nice to finally meet you, Amanda," Jacob said, his tone welcoming and warm just like his friends. "Everyone's told us a lot about you."

"All good things I hope," I said and Nessie laughed. I was seriously thinking about not liking the girl. The sound of her laugh, which sounded like gentle bell ringing, made me hate my silent laugh.

"Of course they were all good things," Nessie said with a soft smile. Her voice was even the perfect tone. "Everyone's quite taken with you, especially Paul and I can see why." I flushed deeply and Nessie smiled. Either she was trying to be nice because she felt bad for my physical inferiority to her or she really was that nice. I had a feeling it was the latter. Jared chuckled from beside me before he put his arms around my shoulders.

"Let's go and get something to eat before everyone else eats everything," Jared said and the four of us made our way into the dining room. Jared lowered his arm from me as Emily quickly embraced me and hugged me rather tightly. I knew then that Jared told them about my illness. As we pulled apart she smiled at me and took my hands.

"He told you, huh?" I asked softly and Emily gave me a small nod.

"Don't worry, they won't treat you any different," she promised.

"Thank you," I said softly as I squeezed her hands.

"Amanda!" cried Ethan and Sara at the same time and I pulled away from Emily just in time to have both of them latched themselves to me.

"Hi guys," I said with a laugh as I put my hand on Ethan's head.

"If you take them and get them settled at the table, I'll have Sam bring your plate when we bring them theirs," Emily said and I nodded with a smile before I took Ethan and Sara's hand and got them settled at the large table. Once I was settled in the seat between Ethan and Sara I noticed that Nessie sat across from me with barely anything on her plate.

"That probably explains the perfect figure," I thought to myself, but smiled at her when she saw me looking at her. "You're not hungry, Nessie?" I asked and she smiled as she shook her head.

"Not really, I ate a little before Jake and I came," she said. "I don't really have that big of an appetite." Just then Sam put a heaping plate down in front of me and my eyes widened.

"Apparently I do," I said as I looked up at him and Sam laughed before he put a hot hand on my shoulder. "You expect me to eat all this?"

"You gotta eat, Amanda," he said as he squeezed my shoulder and walked back to the buffet table. Emily shot me a smile as she put plates in front of her children before moving back to the buffet table to get her own plate.

"There is no way I can possibly eat all of this," I said and Nessie laughed lightly. The chatter of the group around us stopped when the piercing howl of a wolf echoed into the house from outside, and then many things happened all at once. Sam, Jared, Seth, Leah, and Jacob were out of the dining room in a flash, leaving me with a confused expression and everyone else with a worried one. "Where'd they go?" I asked no one in particular, but looked at Emily. She just shook her head and forced a smile though it didn't reach her eyes.

"They'll be back, don't worry," she said before she settled herself at the table. "They probably just went to check and see if the wolves were close to the house."

"All of them went to do that?" I asked confused even more as to why all the guys, save for Michael, and Leah ran out of the house like it was on fire. Another howl sounded, and everyone just continued to eat and no one answered my question. I looked at Nessie and the girl suddenly looked uncomfortable as she shifted in her seat. "I'll be right back," I said as I stood and Sara looked up at me as she munched on her food.

"Where are you going?" Emily asked, with what I understood to be a hint of panic in her voice.

"Bathroom," I said with a frown and Emily visibly relaxed. "That's okay right?"

"Yes, of course, I'm sorry," Emily said. "I'm a bit jumpy all of a sudden." I gave her a small smile to show her that there was no hard feelings before I walked through the living room and into the hall to go upstairs. However, I didn't go upstairs; I pulled on my boots and grabbed my coat before I went outside. I had to find out what was going on. I no more stepped off the porch and into the snow when a hand was suddenly on my arm. I gasped and turned around to see Nessie, wearing a rather stylish gray coat, standing behind me.

"You need to come back inside, Amanda," she said, her brown eyes glancing towards the trees behind me. I sighed and shook my head.

"I'll go back inside when someone tells me what's going on," I said. "Where did they go? I can tell by the way everyone was acting that they know what's going on, and I know you probably know too."

"It's not my place to tell," she said. "You'll find out when the time is right, but now isn't the time, Amanda."

"But-," I started only to hear a snorting sound behind me. Nessie sighed as she lowered her hand from my arm and I turned around. Standing behind me was the massive dark gray wolf that I saw in the forest and outside my window the other night. He was panting and his dark eyes were anxious before he let out a short bark. I'd taken to calling it a 'he' because I had a feeling it wasn't a girl.

"I know, you mutt, I'm trying," Nessie said suddenly from behind me, but I was too focused on the wolf. I started walking towards him, my feet seemingly moving on their own accord. I continued walking until I was standing in front of the wolf just as close as I had been when we were in the forest. He was standing this time and I could feel the heat radiating off his body. He lowered his head, his eyes focused on me, before he whined and gently butted my chest with his head.

"What's wrong? Why don't you want me outside?" I asked as I reached out and touched his face. His only response was to whine yet again before he gently butted his head against me. Another howl sounded this one far closer than the first two. His whine became more urgent as he kept shoving me gently, forcing me backwards.

"Amanda, come on," Nessie said as she grabbed my arm and pulled me away, with far more strength than should have been possible for a girl her size. Before she dragged me into the house I saw the wolf bound back into the trees. "It's too dangerous for you to be outside right now," she said once we were inside.

"That wolf wouldn't have hurt me, Nessie," I said. "I've seen him before."

"It's not the wolf you need to be afraid of," Nessie said, her brown eyes pleading for me to just except her answer and move on. "I can't tell you any more than that, Amanda, because like I said; it's not my place to tell."

"All right," I said as I took off my coat and pulled off my boots, "but I want to know what's going on and why everyone is acting so strange." She simply nodded before she turned and went into the living room while I went up the stairs. After my little adventure I really did have to use the bathroom.

It had been uncomfortably quiet since the guys and Leah left and as eleven o'clock neared Ethan and Sara weren't up to staying awake for the New Year to come in. So in order to keep myself busy, I helped Emily ready both of them for bed. Emily readied Ethan while I took care of Sara and as I pulled the covers of her twin bed over her she looked up at me with sleep filled eyes.

"Amanda, will sing me a song?" Sara asked and I smiled as I sat down on the edge of her bed.

"You want me to sing?" I asked and she nodded. "I don't think I'm a very good singer."

"Neither is Daddy, but he sings to me anyway," she reasoned and I laughed lightly as I pushed her dark hair from her face.

"Okay," I said gently. "I'm going to sing you a song that my mommy used to sing to me, is that okay?" She nodded while I took a deep breath and licked my lips before I started to sing softly. "You are my sunshine, my only sunshine. You make me happy when skies are gray," I sang to the gentle rhythm of the lullaby, hoping that my voice wasn't going to scar the poor girl. But the content smile on her face as her eyes drifted close was enough for me to keep going.

"You'll never know dear how much I love you; please don't take my sunshine away. The other night dear, as I was sleeping I dreamt I held you in my arms, but when I awoke dear, I was mistaken and I hung my head and I cried. You are my sunshine, my only sunshine. You make me happy when skies are gray. You'll never know dear, how much I love you. Please don't take my sunshine away." Sara was asleep by the time I finished the song, so after making sure she was covered I stood and turned out the light. I went downstairs only to stop halfway down when I saw a shirtless Paul standing in the hall talking to a shirtless Sam.

Both of them must have heard me come downstairs because both men stopped talking and looked up at me. Paul turned away from Sam and walked towards the foot of the stairs. He held out his hand to me and I quickly rushed down the stairs. I took his hand and he pulled me close to him, wrapping his arms around me.

"You have to be one of the most stubborn people in the world," he said into my hair as he kissed the top of my head and tightened his hold. I frowned against his chest, but didn't say anything. I just reveled in his warmth and the softness of his skin against my hands and my face.

"It's time, Paul," Sam said behind him and Paul's grip loosened as he turned slightly to look at Sam. "She needs to know."

"Now?" Paul asked with a frown. "Why now?" Sam didn't answer. He just looked at him before he turned and went into the living room. Paul sighed softly before he fully faced me again and looked down at me, raising his right hand to my face. "There's something I need to tell you, Amanda, and I need you to believe me."

"Okay," I said slowly as I looked up at him. He took my right hand with his left as he pulled me down the hall, to a room I had never noticed. It looked like it was a spare room because the decoration was minimal and looked as though it was barely used.

"You should sit down," he said as he put his hands on my shoulders and sat me down on the edge of the bed before he kneeled down in front of me, taking my hands into his.

"Paul, you're sort of scaring me," I said. "Does this have to do with why Sam and everyone took off before they sat down to dinner? Is something wrong?"

"Nothing's wrong, but it does have to do with why Sam and everyone left and . . . and why I haven't been able to see you the last few days," he said and I frowned.

"You were on a job, weren't you?" I asked and he nodded.

"Yeah, but not the job you think," he said.

"I don't understand," I said softly and he looked like he was ill. "Paul, are you okay? You look like you're going to be sick."

"I'm fine, I'm just nervous," he said before he took a deep breath. "Do you remember the tale of the time of Taha Aki?" he asked.

"You can't go to a bonfire in the summer and not know it. It's been a while since I went to one, but I can still hear Billy Black telling them," I said, "and I've read it a million times. Taha Aki was a tribe leader who shape shifted into an enormous wolf, the spirit animal that Quileutes descended from, to protect his people from the cold ones, vampires," I continued and Paul nodded.

"What would you say if I told you that it isn't a legend; that it was real and that I along with Sam, Jared, and several others were shape shifters like Taha Aki? That there really are vampires out there, and that we finally tracked down the two we have been chasing for the last few days and killed them."

I didn't know what to say. He was completely serious, more serious than I had ever seen him in the time I had known him. Either he was completely nuts and believed that he could shape shift into a wolf or he was telling the truth and that he actually could. I was finding it rather hard to believe, but some things were starting to make sense if you took the legends into account. Their height, crazy appetites, keen senses, and their ability to walk around in the middle of winter in nothing but jean cut offs all made sense. The legends were real. They had to be, and my heart started pounding heavily in my chest as I realized several other things as I sat there.

"Amanda, say something please," he said as he squeezed my hands again and brought me out of the slight daze I had gone into.

"I believe you," I whispered and he frowned. I don't think he was expecting me to say that.

"You do?" he asked and I laughed lightly at his face before I pried my hands from his and gently held his face in my hands.

"It was you in the woods and outside the house tonight wasn't it?" I asked. "You're my giant dark gray wolf."

"How . . .?" he trailed off as he smiled and looked at me.

"There was something so familiar about the eyes," I whispered as I ran my thumbs along the dark circles I just noticed under his beautiful brown eyes. "I was connected to it because the wolf is you, and you were trying to get me to inside because of the vampires."

"Yes," he said heavily as he wrapped his large hands around my wrists. Relief flooded his eyes as he held my gaze.

"And the reason Grandpa trusts you with me . . . the reason I feel the way I do when I'm with you is . . .," I trailed off, unsure if I wanted to voice it. However, as his eyes held mine I found the strength to do just that. "What Third Wife was to Taha Aki, I am to you," I whispered. "I'm your other half, your imprint."

"Yes," he breathed again. "You know this is a hell of a lot easier than I thought it was going to be. I didn't think you were going to believe me."

"I didn't for a second, but the more I thought about it the more certain things made sense," I said. "Just think, if my mother would have had her way, we wouldn't have even made this trip and I may have never met you."

"I'm glad you did," Paul said softly. "I can't imagine my life without you in it from now on." I smiled then before I shifted closer to him by parting my legs and letting them rest on either side of him. His hands moved from my wrists to my waist and mine moved from his face to his neck. A clock chiming broke our gaze as we both looked to the small wooden clock that rested on the tall dresser next to the bed. The clock was chiming midnight, and I smiled again as I looked back at Paul and he at me.

"Happy New Year," I whispered and he grinned.

"Happy New Year," he whispered back before I pulled his lips to mine and kissed him as though my life depended on it. My year started off the worse way, but it ended on such an incredible high that I didn't think I was ever going to come down from.