"Acceptance and tolerance and forgiveness, those are life-altering lessons."

Jessica Lange

Jacob and Embry met me near the Clearwater house, both looking as haggard as I felt.

"Charlie's with Billy," Jacob told me. "I already phased and told Jared and Paul we'd be late. They're going to bring the patrol line in twenty miles so they can stick close if they need us. Quil's running the border.

"Good," I nodded. "Did Billy call Harry?"

"He was calling just as I left, I didn't wait," Jacob explained, already shedding his shorts. "I didn't think Seth would be ready for at least a week. Man, we really need to catch this bitch before anyone else turns."

"There's no one else left really, except for Brady and Collin and they're thirteen," Embry figured. "Not that I want to test it."

A blur of gray caught my eye as it raced through the tree line near the cliffs beside the Clearwater house. "I thought he'd be bigger," I said, tossing my shorts in the truck. "Alright, Embry I want you on point, be ready to phase. Jacob, let's bring him in."

Suddenly, the door swung open, smacking the window. There on the porch stood Seth Clearwater, wide eyed and pale. "Leah!" He bellowed, leaning over the railing.

"Holy shit," Jacob breathed, eyes flipping from Seth to Leah. "Holy shit."

After the initial surprise of having a female in our heads, it didn't take long for Jacob, Embry and I to help Leah phase back human. She was naked, filthy and pissed, as was expected. While Embry and Jacob explained to her what happened, I called Red.

"It's safe to go home," I said, wiping my palm tiredly down my face. There would be no resting tonight, not for any of the wolves. "I won't be back for a while. Let my momma know?"

"How's Seth?"

"Surprised that his sister is a werewolf," I replied dryly. "We all are. No woman has ever made the phase, as far as we know. She's the only female in the Taha Aki line on the Rez though. I can't imagine what would have happened if Rachel and Rebecca stuck around."

"Wow," Red breathed. "How's she taking it?"

"Mostly good," I said, watching Leah grin wickedly as she punched Jacob in the arm just to watch him wince. "Better than some of us. She's a tough girl, I think it'll be okay. I gotta go. We're going to rush her training, and get her on patrols tonight, if we can. We could use another wolf."

"And Seth?"

"Saw it all," I groaned. "We have no idea how that will effect his phasing. It could draw it out, cut it short; there's no way to tell."

"Well...good luck.., I guess. I'll let Helena know, and um...I can drive the girls to their dance class tomorrow, if you want to get some sleep."

"I have work," I sighed, a niggling of something bright and happy burning behind the sheer tiredness. "But yeah? That would be great. I thought I was going to have to ask Paul, and he hasn't slept in two days."

"No, no, I got it. I can drop them off before I go into work,"she assured me. "So uh...go get 'em, I guess."

I laughed, earning three curious looks from my pack. "Thanks, Red." Snapping my phone shut, I tossed it back into the seat of my truck. "Alright, you guys give her the gist of it."

"I can't fucking believe it," Leah breathed out, squirming in the blanket she wore. It was my blanket, stolen from the lock-box in the bed of my truck and the though of her scent all over it sat strangely wrong with me. "I mean, vampires?"

"You're about to get the crash course," I said, biting into my lip. "Embry, I want you patrolling the beach, and keep an eye on Charlie and Red. Jake, you and Quil are going to run the patrol line, and I'm going to take the border with Leah. I want her on border so we have wolves on all sides of her just in case she can't handle it."

"Jake said it's mostly instinctual?" Leah said, words lilting up into a question. "There's really a vampire out there?"

"Yeah, and she wants in," I replied seriously. "But from what I've seen, you're damn fast, and we need that. Let's head out, I gotta drop the truck off, and then Leah and I'll head for the border. Jake, let Paul and Jared know they can go home; Jared's working with me in the morning and Paul needs a goddamn day off. I had to ask Charlie to request for a day off, just so some of us could get some rest in."

"That's why Charlie's on the Rez?" Leah asked, furrowing her brow. "This is all because of the Swan girl isn't it? She was dating that Cullen kid."

"Don't talk about her," I snapped, lips curling back. "Boys, head out. Leah and I'll meet you up there. I need to drop the truck off."

Dawn was just breaking when at last I managed to crawl into bed. Jake had Leah on the border, and Quil and Embry were running patrols. Jared had offered to sleep on the beach, taking a grumpy Paul with him to trade shifts awake. I had protested, but Jake had shook his head and argued that if Paul hadn't slept in two days, I hadn't slept in four. It wasn't a lie, and I hauled my ass home for four hours of sleep before I had to go to work.

I pushed open my front door, half-hoping to find Red waiting. She wouldn't be of course, it had been hours. Instead I found a hamper of clean laundry on my counter, sloppily scrawled note lying atop the pile of folded shorts and shirts.

Sam,

I hate waiting. Makes me anxious. So I kind of did your laundry

and maybe changed the sheets on your bed. I haven't decided

if that's weird or not, but what's done is done, right?

Hope you get some sleep.

-Red

Smiling, I didn't bother to shower again as I made my way to the bedroom, letter in hand. Shucking off my shorts, I fell into bed, surrounded by the sent of Downy and Red. Tucking the note away in the nightstand like the creeper I was becoming, I noticed Red's hoodie hanging off the doorknob of the closet.

My eyes narrowed at it for a moment before I rolled to the edge of the bed, yanking it free with a surprisingly happy growl. It was heavy with her scent, and it made even the most feral part of me ridiculously content. Even for all the weary hysteria of the week, it had been a good day. She had come, she had sat, she had stayed. Red had been here, in my house. At my counter. Doing my laundry. In my room. My whole house smelled like her, and none of it was tainted with the bitter scent of anger. I curled up in my bed, her hoodie clutched to my chest in an alarming weird display of obsessive behavior, but I didn't have it in me to care.

All in all, it had been a good day.

Seth phased exactly a week after Leah. Paul had ungraciously offered to let Leah stay with him while his dad was out of town. Seth, who still had trouble phasing back to human but showed no more aggressive behavior than Embry, stayed with me on my couch. Between the pair of them, however, the pack was catching a few extra hours of sleep for which we were all grateful.

Seth was a good kid, a young kid, but a good one. Luck had been with us when he phased during the summer; he'd be able to start school with the confidence he wouldn't hurt anyone. Still, with as young as he was, and as small a wolf, I hadn't felt comfortable letting him run with anyone other than myself. It put a serious damper on my free time; when I wasn't running with him, I was at home with him. My only respite was work. And visiting my momma.

And Red.

I hadn't allowed the latter to come to the cabin, not fully comfortable with Seth in such proximity yet. Instead, I made it a point to come to the house once a day. I'd been missing my sisters anyway.

Pushing open the back door to the house, the sharp tangy scent of blood set my hackles rising. I was running before I realized, sliding into the kitchen bare footed. Momma and Red were on the floor, table and two chairs tipped over around them. They were leaning against the tipped table-top, and to my surprise, they were laughing.

Cackling would probably be a better word for it. They were cackling, Red with a fat-lip and Momma with a black-eye. There was a bottle of cheap vodka shoved between Red's thighs, one hand curled around the neck loosely. My mother had her other hand propped on her knee, painting each nail an electric blue polish with sloppy drunken strokes. I stared, open mouthed and gaping at them for a long minute before I found my voice. "What the actual fuck?"

"Sam said the eff word," Red tattled, around a smile. "You should spank him."

"I should spank him," Momma responded, not bothering to look up from where she was painting Red's fingertips blue. "Don't think you're too old for you to bend me over my knee," she slurred, and then giggled. Dear God, my mother was giggling.

Red's face split with a smile as she pointed at me with her bottle-holding hand. "She so will," she hummed, grinning madly. "I'm not even her kid and she tot—tot-totally spanked me."

"Of course you're my kid," Momma said, looking up and squinting at Red. "I've spanked you, that makes you an honorary daughter. Daughter Bella."

Bella laughed and handed Momma the vodka. "She spanked me so I slapped her."

"Why did she spank you?" I asked cautiously, walking around the counter to take the bottle from Momma's grip. She slapped my hand weakly, and then painted a line of blue across my palm. This could not be happening. They were bombed off their asses and had, apparently, beat the shit out of each other. But here they were...

Well, I wasn't entirely sure what they were doing.

"The girl's got a mouth on her," Momma told me, gesturing to Red with a jerk of her head. "Told her if she dropped the f-bomb one more time I was gonna bust her ass."

Red nodded eagerly, brown curls flying. "I told her the girls weren't here so I could say whatever the fu—eff. I wanted. Then she just..."

"Spanked her," Momma cut her off, looking smug. She rubbed her mouth with her palm absently.

Red snorted. "I didn't like that much, so I smacked her."

"And then I smacked her back."

"And then I shoved her."

"And then it all kind of went down hill from there," Momma finished with a shrug. "Have a seat, baby boy. Have a drink."

I eased my way to the floor slowly, a little wide-eyed as they looked at each other with mutual fond smiles. "How do you go from that, to this?" I asked, cautiously reaching for the bottle. The liquor burned my throat, but eased the tension in my stomach. I took another drink, and waited for their answer.

They both looked up in unison, in a twin-like movement, staring up at me with glassy brown eyes. "I have no idea," Momma said at last. "But I like this girl," she said, flinging an arm over Red. "I'mma keep 'er," she declared with a secret looking smile. Even drunk, Momma wouldn't give up my secret, but it still made me uncomfortable.

Red beamed.There was absolutely no other way to describe the smile she gave my mother upon her declaration. It was open and happy in a way I had never seen, even at Red's recent best. "I think I'll keep you too," she said to my momma, but looking at me. It sent a series confusing signals to both my brain and cock, so I took another drink. A big drink.

She let her head fall on my momma's shoulder, relaxed and languid in her half-embrace. Bruises and blood aside, whatever had happened, had been good for Red. If whatever wall my momma had managed to break had left her smiling like that, I'd forget the fat lip and bruised knuckles. She just looked so happy to be here, with us.

tbc