Billy watched carefully while Leah stood just outside Charlie's hospital room door. She hadn't moved from that place after she had told them that she sensed a vampire in the building. Her eyes watched the hallway carefully while her fists were clenched, ready at any moment. Although it wasn't an ideal situation, Billy trusted Leah to protect them. He had faith in the pack that Jacob led.

Sue made an effort to distract Charlie, by speaking about Seth and Amanda's daughter, Hannah and the success of the bazaar that he had missed. Yet, Billy could see Charlie's eyes shift towards the door, watching Leah as she stood just beyond the glass. They had heard her phone ring a few times. As time went on, he could see her visibly relax. The anger and tension in her face was gone as she continued to speak on the cell phone. Every so often she'd glance through the window towards them, undoubtedly hearing the conversation that was going on in the room.

"So, how much do you trust these wolves to protect us from...vampires?" Charlie asked, suddenly changing the subject, and still finding it odd to acknowledge that everything he knew to come from myths are real.

Billy smiled softly.

"I trust them with my life," he replied. "I would think that after seeing what Quil had done to that vampire that was about to kill you, that you may start to trust them as well."

He paused.

"I need to ask you about that day."

Charlie snorted, his eyes looking down at his clasped hands. It was a gesture that Billy had come to recognize. He had done it a few times since he had visited with Charlie. Whenever the conversation shifted to events of that day at the lake, Charlie would change the subject or deflect the conversation.

"Come on, Billy. I'm still working my mind around the whole 'inner wolf' thing."

Billy let it go.

"Everything does sound far fetched," he confirmed. "Once you realize that the wolves are still people, it makes it easier to grasp."

"Spirit Warriors, right? Who were designed to kill vampires..." Charlie paused and shook his head. "This is just ridiculous. I mean, in books and movies, it was always silver bullets and wooden stakes."

"That's all fiction," Billy told him.

Charlie chuckled.

"Billy, vampires and people who are able to transform into wolves should be considered fiction."

"And yet they're real."

With a sigh, Charlie looked out at Leah as she spoke on the phone.

"Leah said she's one of those wolves, like Quil."

"That's right," Billy stated.

"So, besides those two, who else is there?"

Billy paused and glanced to Sue before turning his attention back to Charlie.

"Charlie, I don't know if it's a good idea for you to know, at least not yet with everything you've been through. I mean, it might be easier for you right now if you weren't aware of who they are. I wouldn't want it to change your view of the people they really are. They have lives..families...children..."

Charlie's nostrils flared, a sure sign that he was frustrated.

"Billy, I'm the frickin' chief of police in Forks and I didn't even have a clue that this was going on right under my nose. I was ready to blame these kids for those unsolved animal attacks a decade or so ago. Seriously man, I think I deserved to know that not only are there god-damned vampires but you have people running around the Rez woods as frickin' wolves. It's not like I'm going to call CNN or anything like that. Cause, I for one, know how crazy this shit sounds. No one would believe something like this in the first place."

Billy sighed. "Like I said, Charlie, they have families and it's up to them."

"So, what you're saying now is that you don't trust me. Is that it?!"

"It's not that. Hell, Charlie, this is bigger than just us here," Billy said, gesturing between themselves. "It's not my place to give out names. It's up to them. And there are things that you may not be ready to hear or know about."

At that moment, Leah stepped back in, instantly bringing a break to the conversation. As Charlie appeared to be more and more upset, Billy was thankful for the reprieve.

Leah cleared her throat and looked to Billy.

"Could I speak to you outside in the hall?"

As Billy turned back to Charlie, preparing to apologize, the Chief of police rolled his eyes and sighed aloud.

"Yeah, let me guess. This is one of those things."

Leah smiled weakly and nodded.

While Billy excused himself and wheeled his chair towards the door, Leah looked back at her mom who smiled weakly back at her daughter. The moment the door closed behind them, Leah glanced through the door at Charlie before turning to Billy.

"He's not taking it well, is he."

Billy shrugged. "He's taking it as I thought he would. He's confused, hurt and pissed - three things that aren't a good combination for Charlie Swan. What's going on?"

Leah glanced down the bright hallway before looking back down at Billy.

"The vampire that I sensed in the hospital was one of the Cullens," Leah stated, while Billy's eyebrows raised pensively.

"I guess we shouldn't have been surprised, considering Bella's been in the area."

"It wasn't Bella. It was one of the others, coming to check on Charlie cause his 'future supposedly disappeared'," Leah said with an eye roll and air quotes. "Jake and the pack met with some of the Cullen's and told them to back away from here. The thing is gone. But since he's talked with them, he learned that we may have a bigger problem."

While Leah explained what Jacob told her to relay to his Dad what they had learned from the Cullen's about the Volturi, the Romanians and about the vampire known as Owen, Billy glanced back through the glass towards Charlie. While Charlie and Sue were not speaking at the moment, it was obvious to him that the police chief was incredibly upset at not only Billy, but at Sue as well. Billy knew the importance of trust within a marriage and it was all the more evident as he watched the couple through the glass.

Leah continued to talk as he watched Sue and Charlie.

"Jake's going to start heavier patrols around Forks and La Push. As soon as the newbies can phase back, he's going to put them into the rotation and have them train with experienced wolves; give them sort of a crash course in fighting leeches."

"You can let Jake know that Ryan and Nate are welcome to stay with me until it's safe for them to go home."

Leah paused with a sigh.

"If it's safe enough for you."

"I handled Jake alright."

"Unfortunately, tempers are still quite high since the Cullen's are sticking around to help us out with protecting Forks," she said disgruntledly.

Billy's eyes shot up at Leah in surprise. "What?"

"Jake's reinstated the treaty in exchange for their help."

"It's that bad?"

"We may be having a war come to this area," she said softly. "We may need all the help we can get."

Billy turned to look back through the window towards where Charlie reclined in the bed. Sue sat beside him, holding his hand as she spoke softly to him.

"And Jake thought that it might help if you can get more information from Charlie about that vampire that erased your memory," Leah added softly. "The vampire was linked to the Volturi and specifically targetted you three. He came after you for a reason."

Billy thought for a moment before he sighed, and shook his head. He knew that would be easier said than done. So far, whenever he or Sue would ask him questions about that day, Charlie would change the subject. It was getting obvious that it wasn't something he wanted to talk about, or possibly remember.

"Damn it," he cursed. "I can't do that to him right now. He's not saying it, but I know he's not wanting to talk about it."

Leah sighed, looking at Charlie through the window. "I'm not surprised. He went through a lot. Hell, he almost died."

"I know," Billy said softly. "That's why I'm going to give him some time."

Leah paused. "Billy, it's important that we find out why that vampire came after you guys."

"I know and we will," Billy told her, taking her hand. "But you said it yourself; he went through a lot. Charlie was traumatized over what he experienced. And we've dumped a load of information on him that frankly, is hard to believe. I'm going to give him some time to adjust to it. And meanwhile, I'm going to keep doing what I should have done years ago; tell Charlie the truth about the tribe's secrets."

"Can I suggest something?"

Billy looked up at her, slightly surprised by her soft-spokenness. He'd always known her as the tough woman with an angry chip on her shoulder within the pack of wolves. He watched as Leah looked back into that hospital room where her Mom and her step-father sat. Charlie had seen her grow up and although he wasn't a blood relative, she was fond of him. He had supported her Mom after Harry's death and although he kept his distance from her while she mourned, he still cared for her and for that, Leah would always respect him.

"Of course."

"We all saw how bad it got for Charlie in the years after Bella disappeared off the face of the earth," Leah said.

Billy got flashbacks of Charlie's excitement upon getting a lead in Bella's possible whereabouts always quickly led to dispair and hopelessness. He had seen it countless times. Sue endured it, felt the pain of keeping Bella's true fate from Charlie.

"For his benefit, when you're talking about vampires to Charlie, could you make sure not to mention Bella or the Cullen's?" she requested. "I know the hell that he went through. Not only did he go through a lot, but I know that it took a toll on Mom, watching him slowly loose that hope over the years. I'd hate for him to find out that she's...existing after all these years only to him discover her fate and ultimately go through her leaving him again."

Billy agreed with a nod. He wouldn't allow his friend to endure that pain once again.

'I still don't know why you allowed...her to stay,' Nate exclaimed in his mind, as he growled. 'Bella did this to us.'

'Nate! Cut this crap! We're not going to get into this argument again. The decision was final,' Jacob thought, frustrated to find that Nate was the only one who seemed to be able to challenge the Alpha's decisions. It was one of the many interesting dynamics between them that he had discovered over the past few days. At first it was strange to find that of all the wolves, Nate was the only one that the Alpha would be somewhat passive in his challenging of his authority. Whether it was because it was his son, or perhaps he was in line of succession for becoming Alpha, Jacob wasn't certain. But either way, it was starting to drive him crazy.

'Right now, you're to focus on changing back. It's been almost four days. You need to relax.'

Days after having left the Cullen's and allowing them to return back to their home outside of Forks, the pack's main objective was to get their newest members to phase back. Knowing that there could be threats to soon come against their tribe, they needed to be ready. They couldn't be worrying about things like this later on.

As each day passed, Jacob and the others became just as frustrated as the boys they were trying to help. At one point, Jacob split up the pack into smaller groups in hopes that they could work on getting the boys to change back. Even days after their meeting with the Cullen's had ended, emotions were still running high and the boys were feeding off of each other's anger.

That wasn't the only frustration that had travelled through the pack mind. Billy's decision to not push Charlie in finding out details of what had happened the day that Old Quil died caused anger to flair. Jacob reluctantly agreed with Billy, especially after seeing through Leah's eyes, the fear in Charlie's face when he looked at her. Although no one voiced it, considering he was Jacob's father, he knew there was discontent with the decision. Since Charlie had come home from the hospital the day before, Jacob anticipated Billy now asking him about it sooner than later. For the time being, he was going to wait.

Nate scoffed before looking over at Ryan as he sat on the ground. He watched as his Uncle Paul paced around Ryan in human form, drilling him to relax and demanded that he ignore what was going on around him.

Jacob nudged Nate in the side.

'You might want to take some pointers from your Uncle Paul,' Jacob told him. 'Out of all of us, he had the most anger issues and learned to control it. Besides, you don't want your cousin to phase back before you, do you?'

Nate looked up at Jacob beside him. He knew his son well and that competitive streak ran deep within him. As predicted, Nate sat down and forced himself to relax. After a few minutes, he sighed.

'It's not working,' Nate complained.

'Give it time,' Jacob reminded him.

When Jacob felt the air shift around him, he looked over his shoulder to see his nephew, Ryan had succeeded first and was sitting on the ground, naked before Paul pulled him to his feet. Quickly, Jacob encouraged Nate to close his eyes, not only to relax, but to prevent him from becoming even more frustrated to see that his cousin had phased back before him.

'Take a deep breath and think of something relaxing,' Jacob suggested.

'Relaxing,' he miffed. 'I've tried that before. Many times.'

'Then try again.'

Although Nate rolled his eyes at Jacob's assertive and demanding tone, he obeyed.

In Jacob's own mind's eye, he caught a quick glimpse of his son's thoughts. He saw a starry night before it suddenly switched to a memory of Nate laying on the ground and a smile that he was certain he recongized to one belonging to Liz Uley. As if on command, the same strange feeling moved around him. With his own eyes, he watched as the wolf sitting in front of him slowly changed shape. Skin erupted over fur as a man appeared where a wolf once sat.

Nate let out a breath that he had been holding before his eyes opened. Almost in awe, he looked at his hands, turning them in front of him. Mud was caked under his nails and his hands were visibly dirty.

"Welcome back to the land of two legs," Paul said, tossing a pair of cutoffs towards his nephew. Nate looked up to see Ryan standing beside Paul, smiling down at him. Behind them, Jacob slowly phased back as well before pulling on his own shorts that had been strapped to his ankle. "What made you suddenly change back?"

Nate pushed himself up to stand and shrugged, embarrassingly avoiding Jacob's glance. "Just a memory."

Once he was on two legs, he stumbled forward slightly before Paul grabbed him by the elbow.

"Easy there. It's a bit disorienting after you've been a wolf for five days straight."

Paul grinned at Nate, seeing that his nephew's shoulder length wavy hair had become matted and unkept on his head.

"You're going to want to cut that down," Paul added, with a chuckle, padding his hand on Nate's head. "You'll be glad you did. Just ask your Dad about his run in with a bush of burs when he had first phased."

Nate ran his hand through a tangle of curls, pulling a crumpled leaf from his head as his Dad walked up to him.

"I remember Billy had to take clippers to my head. I was so upset about it." He paused, seeing the matted heap of hair on Nate's head. "But I can probably help you sort that mess out. We wont have to go as short as Billy did to me."

Jacob paused, watching Nate and Ryan carefully. As he had spoke, it seemed that both boys were looking at their arms, chest and legs, as though they were seeing themselves once again for the first time.

Paul met Jacob's eyes and smiled weakly.

"It's a bit strange, we know," Paul said.

"How do you guys feel?" Jacob asked.

"I feel great," Nate said, his voice sounding a little surprised while he took a deep breath, inhaling the early dusk air around them.

Ryan nodded in agreement before putting his hand to his stomach.

"But why am I hungry again?" he asked them, glancing over at Nate. "We just ate, like an hour ago."

Paul chuckled and nodded.

"It's a wolf thing. Your appetite just increased ten-fold."

"You two are staying with Grandpa Billy for a few days and he said he'd fire up the barbecue once he gets word that you guys are ready to eat like human beings again," Jacob told them.

Paul snickered as he pulled out his cell phone from his pant pocket.. "Hope he doesn't mind doing it at nine at night."

Nearly an hour later, having made their way back on foot, they were emerging out of the woods behind Billy Black's home. The smell of the barbecue caused Ryan to stop and let out a sigh of contentment. Nate pushed him forward to keep moving as the smell of the food was making him impatient.

"Is that butter I smell?"

"Not just butter, but buttered corn," Jacob chuckled, slapping Nate on the back. "Not only has your appetite but every sense is more sensitive."

As the four walked over the damp grass towards the back deck, the smells of medium rare steaks, potatoes, desserts and breads hit them. It wasn't the only thing the boys noticed. On the deck, Quil put out food on the table while Seth and Billy manned the barbecue.

In the darkness, they noticed Quil turn towards them and smile.

"It's about time," Quil quipped, sensing them coming towards the deck, as he placed another bowl of buns on the table. "What were they doing? Making the boys walk the whole way here on two legs?"

Seth snorted, his eyes on the barbecue even though he could sense the four coming closer to the deck in the darkness. "You really think they'd have them run here after taking five days to get those two boys to calm down enough to phase back?"

"Leave it to a Lahote and a Black to be the ones to take the longest to phase back," Quil said, with a smirk. "I was only wolf for a day and a half."

The conversation came to a sudden halt when Jacob appeared, and glanced at Quil.

"Jo has you beat there, you know."

While Seth cackled, Quil rolled his eyes.

"Whoa Dad! You sure went all out," Jacob said as he turned towards the table of food. On one side of him, both Ryan and Nate stared down at the food their stomach's audibly growling.

"Well, I knew that the boys would be hungry after what they've been through over the past few days," he said, tilting his head to look at his two grandson's. Their faces, legs and arms were dirty and Billy could only imagine the state of their hands.

"Why don't you boys get cleaned up inside," he suggested to them.

When the two boys glanced over at Jacob, he gave them a silent nod before they walked into the house.

"Is everything all right with them?" Billy asked once the boys were inside, having seen the exchange between them and Jacob.

"They're just being cautious," Jacob replied. "Over the past few days, they've realized how strong they are and how short a fuse they have. I think they're a little afraid of hurting someone or breaking something."

Billy nodded in understanding, looking towards the door that his grandson's just passed through.

"Are you sure you want them staying with you?" Paul asked. "We could find another alternative, like keep them out at one of the hunting cabins like what Sam, Jared and Embry are doing for their sons."

"As much as I understand what the others are doing for their boys, I want to be able to support my grandson's while they endure this change in their lives - Much like I did for you when you were going through this," Billy said, looking to Jacob.

"Okay," he said softly, understanding Billy's desire to help. "But I'll be sending someone by in the morning to pick them up. We're going to have to start them on some rigorous training right away."

As the days progressed, each morning, a member of the pack arrived at Billy's house, just as Jacob had said. They were gone all day, having been woken at 6am and brought back at night by 9. In their short time at Billy's each night, Nate and Ryan managed to squeeze in a shower and sometimes a small meal before collapsing on the beds that Billy had arranged in Jacob and the twin's old bedrooms. Habitually, each night before going to bed, Billy peeked in on his grandson's as they slept. There was no doubt in his mind that Jacob was putting them through some gruelling training. They slept soundly, not even moving a muscle from where they had fallen asleep. They had grown both physically and mentally in those few short days, but in those moments where Billy would just watch them sleep, he could see the teenage boys that they still were.

They returned to his house for nearly a week before Jacob found that the new pack members were ready to go back to their own homes. After having a rather lengthy run through the woods after a storm, Sam took the boys to clean up at his place before sending them home. The last thing the boys needed were more questions from their siblings once they did return home. It worked out well - Emily and Sean were out shopping and Liz was out with Kyle in Port Angeles for the evening, leaving the Uley's house empty.

Being that Jonah and Derek were the ones who came out covered in the most dirt, they took turns in the shower while the others cleaned up at the sink. Sam passed out towels, reminding them to keep the mess to a minimum for Emily's sake. Talon took the warning seriously, knowing how his Mom could be and snapped loudly at Ryan when he splashed water onto the floor.

"Talon!" Sam shouted, opening the front door. "Outside! Now!"

Nate smirked as Talon walked out of the house, his face disgruntled.

"Seriously man," Nate said, running the water on his arms and rubbing his skin with his hands. "You knew that would set him off."

Ryan splashed water on his face and chuckled. "'Course I did! I was sick and tired of his gloating about how cool and calm he can be. So much for that!"

"You know he'll realize you did that on purpose the next time you phase."

"I'm not afraid of Uley," Ryan said.

"He's bigger than you."

Ryan snorted.

"And that only makes him slower."

The sound of an engine approaching caused both boys to pause. At the same moment, Sam walked in.

"What's going on?"

"I recognize the car," Sam said, making his way towards the bathroom to get Derek out of it. "It's Kyle's. You guys all need to leave. The last thing I want is that kid asking questions about what's going on here."

While Ryan emptied the sink, Nate quickly wiped up the floor. Sam came rushing back out with Derek behind him, his hair still dripping wet.

They stepped out of the house just as the headlights came around the corner, lighting up the front porch.

"Too late," Jonah said, walking up to Sam as he walked out. "What do we do now?"

"Don't say a word. If you feel like you're going to phase, get out of here," he warned the five boys around him.

The engine turned off, blanketing the air in silence as the boys stood frozen, as though they were afraid to move. They hadn't been with any humans except for Billy for nearly two weeks and the very thought of it caused them to become apprehensive about the situation.

The headlights went out before the passenger side door opened. Sam heard one of the boys behind him take a quick gasp of a breath but he didn't turn to see who it was or what the problem could be.

"Dad? What are you doing out here?" Liz's voice said as she approached in the darkness. "I thought you were out with..."

She paused as her eyes fell on a boy who, up until a two weeks ago was shorter than she was. He was only wearing a pair of shorts, just like the boys around him and was also barefoot.

"Talon?"

He smiled.

"Hey Liz. It's good to see you."

Her mouth opened and closed a few times as her eyes scanned the other boys around him, unable to recognize them in the darkness. Behind her, the drivers side door opened and closed before Kyle approached.

"What...? Where the hell have you been?"

"It's a long story," he replied softly.

"You sure you're all right?" Kyle suddenly asked, his arm pulling Liz into his side. "You're looking different."

An audible growl coming from behind Sam instantly caused him to turn. His eyes landed on Nate before he quickly turned back to his daughter and told Liz to go inside with Kyle with the assurance that they'll be in shortly.

The look in Nate's eyes told him enough. They were filled with rage, but not towards Liz. Instead, it was against Kyle.

While Liz and Kyle made their way to the door, Nate was about to follow, determination and anger in his eyes before Sam quickly grabbed ahold of his shoulder.

"You can't go near her."

Nate shrugged his arm off before Sam called for the boys around him to get Nate into the woods and to not allow him to come near the house. Nate struggled within their grasp, growling and demanding that they let him go. It was his vehement declaration that she belongs to him that further convinced Sam of what had happened.

Nate had imprinted on his daughter.

A/N

So...this has been done for a couple days now. But, I've been in and out of the hospital with kidney stones! OMG! I wouldn't wish that pain on anyone! It was horrible! I was throwing up from it being so bad. It had gotten so bad that I was on morphine for a few days! Oh, and morphine made me so drowsy and loopy feeling. I didn't like it at all. But now that I'm feeling better, I hope to get the next chapter out soon. Please review!