You guys are seriously awesome.

I can't believe it - we've almost hit 450 reviews. You don't even know how much that means to me. Thank you so much :')

Again, sorry for such a delay. I'm so busy and so tired right now, writing takes a lot of effort. Next month won't be so busy, so I'll try to update more often. I thank you for your patience and not giving up on me :)

Many of you are still looking for Lila to get what she deserves - don't worry, her time will come. As for Callum, well, there is perhaps a chance of a conversation between him and Brynn in the future, though I'm not going to be as nice as I should be and tell you what it's about. Guess you'll just have to read and find out...

I hope you enjoy this chapter, not an overly long one but an update nonetheless. It's almost the calm before the storm.

And let me tell you, this storm going to hit hard.

Don't forget to review!


The front door burst open.

"That's it!" came Emma's shriek.

I barely raised my eyes from the TV screen before me; hardly even paying attention to the old movie that was playing. A bowl of forgotten popcorn rested next to me. Only when Emma stomped into the living room and stood in front of me, demanding my immediate attention, did I bother to acknowledge her.

"Hello, Emma," I muttered sarcastically. "Nice to see you. Please, come in."

She crossed her arms over her chest, glaring at me. "Don't sass me."

I purposely stuffed a large handful of popcorn into my mouth in response.

"Brynnie," she sighed. "What are you doing?"

I raised an eyebrow at her, before I gestured to the bowl of popcorn and then, the TV screen. I knew this wasn't exactly what she was asking of me, but I really didn't want to get into it with her right now. If I could guess, we were about to take part of a conversation that had similar features to the one I had just suffered through with my mother only three hours ago. I could only take so much before I lost my mind.

"That's not what I meant," she retorted sharply.

I mentally applauded myself.

"You haven't left your house in two days, Brynn," she said, as if I wasn't aware. "What are you going to do? Stay in your living room for the rest of your life and eat shitty popcorn?"

I shrugged. "Maybe."

"Brynn," she grumbled.

I sat up, discarding my bowl to an empty couch cushion. I pulled my knees to my chin, wrapping my arms around my legs. Then, I forced myself to take a deep breath. She seemed to forget that I was dangerous to her now. Before, she could just push me until I gave in. Now, it took a lot more effort for me to remain calm. I didn't want to hurt her.

"If you haven't noticed," I began, speaking through clenched teeth. "I'm not exactly staying here on my own will. Call it house arrest, werewolf style."

My eyes travelled to the slumped figure on the other couch. Parker had been placed on babysitting duty this morning, much to his delight. I didn't blame him for being bitter; I wasn't exactly fun to be around right now. I was the queen of pity parties. It hadn't taken him long to pass out cold. He had been like that for several hours.

Good thing no killer vampires had tried to break in.

"You're telling me that you aren't allowed to leave?" Emma asked incredulously.

I shrugged again. "Alpha's orders."

She pulled out her cell phone, stabbing the keypad angrily with her fingers. I stared at her carefully. "Em," I murmured, one hand stretched out towards her. "Em, what are you doing?"

She held up a hand. "Shush."

I groaned, slapping a pillow to my face. A second later, Emma was shouting into her phone.

"Cody!" she demanded. "What in the hell—"

I rolled my eyes, before I got to my feet, taking my bowl of popcorn with me to the kitchen. I placed it on the counter, knowing it would be a waste to throw it out. These boys were like garbage disposals—one of them would eat it. Then, I shoved my feet into a pair of muddy shoes and slipped out the back door quietly.

It was bad enough that I had to listen to Cody gab on and on about everything all the time; listening to Emma and him fight over something so ridiculous was just the last straw. I was tired of this.

It had been a week since my encounter with the vampire, a week since my life had pretty much been turned upside down. Part of me had hoped that Cody would be a little lenient on the whole babysitting thing. Did he really think he could afford to have someone with me all the time? Apparently, he did.

There was literally someone with me 24/7. Cody had the boys switch out during the day—one being with me for the first half, the second being with me for the rest. At night, either my brother or Lucas slept in my room on a futon my parents had put in there. Well, Tate slept on the futon, Lucas slept in my bed. But, they didn't need to know that.

I felt smothered, more so than usual. I couldn't even go to the bathroom without someone standing outside the door to make sure I didn't get "kidnapped". It was literally ridiculous. The boys were already run ragged enough with the extra patrols around La Push because I wasn't allowed to be on patrols right now and Cody had extra people watching me. They were tired and cranky—I was tired and cranky.

I needed some space.

The trees were loud as I walked slowly through the forest, leaves rustling in the wind. For the first time in probably ever, I relished in the quiet aspect of the woods behind my house. The solitude was peaceful and calming. I could almost hear myself think again.

It didn't take me long to reach First Beach and when I did, I clambered up to the tallest peak of the cliffs, sitting right on the edge, my feet dangling over the crashing waves. A little bit of spray from the rough water splashed me in the face, but I hardly even noticed. I pushed a damp piece of hair away from my forehead, lost in my thoughts.

It was funny to think my life had gone in a complete circle. Everything had changed—I had changed. I had gained more friends than I knew what to do with, learned to accept whom I was, and most importantly, had gained a newfound respect for the pack. I was a better person, now.

And I couldn't help but think that I had Lucas to thank for all that.

I had always been pretty unsure of myself, worried about where I was supposed to fit in. It was different for Tate, he had the pack—he knew where he belonged. But, I hadn't felt like I was meant to be anywhere until Adam's birthday party all those months ago, when Lucas had imprinted on me.

Imprinting had always been a part of my life. My parents were imprints, my best friend had Max; hell, imprinting was how I came to exist. And, I always knew that it was special. But, I supposed that I never really knew just how special until I had gotten an imprint of my own. I wondered if that had to do with the fact that I had been consumed by my urge to be imprinted upon by one person only—the wrong person. A person I hardly even communicated with anymore.

I couldn't help to think that I had grown up a lot, not only in height, but also as a person. I wasn't afraid to stand up for myself anymore. I knew what I wanted. I wasn't going to let anyone get in the way of that.

It was strange to think that I was truly proud of myself. I had conquered so many things—phasing, Lila, even just walking in the woods. These things I couldn't have done before, were now things I did almost every day. I was a different person; all because I had phased.

I could almost hear my mother's voice saying, "I told you so."

It was then I realized something. Of course, it had taken a trip to the cliffs for my mind to figure it out.

How could I let some random, crazy vampire ruin what I had built for myself? I loved my life in La Push. I had, literally, the best boyfriend a girl could ask for, a wonderful family, and most importantly, I had a future with all of these people. After everything I had gone through, was I really going to let one psychotic bitch of a vampire get in the way of that?

That would be a big fat no.

The sky started to darken, a sign that a storm was coming. I took one look at the thick, heavy grey clouds and decided I'd better head back. Being out in the rain didn't bother me as much as it had used to—I didn't get cold—but it was much easier to be out in the rain in wolf form. And, if I phased right now, I'd be on the receiving end of ten lectures about how I shouldn't have left my house. I wasn't in the mood for that.

I wasn't overly surprised to see a large crowd of people on my front porch when I broke through the trees. I felt a twinge of guilt as I took in several of their expressions, clearly worried about my whereabouts. One figure in particular caught my scent nearly straight away, his head snapping up in my direction. A look of relief mixed with fury crossed his tanned face.

I was in his arms before I could even reach the porch, squeezed so tightly to his bare chest that I could barely breathe. I sighed, happy to oblige to having the life squished out of me, so long as I could be close to him. I felt myself relax as his embrace softened. His lips found purchase on the edge of my jaw.

"You're lucky I love you," he grumbled, words muffled by my face. "Or, I probably would have killed you by now."

I shrugged teasingly. "Get in line."

Lucas pulled back to look me in the eye, serious. "Don't say that," he murmured quietly. "That's not funny."

I frowned. "I'm sorry."

It was tense for a moment before he sighed, pulling me close once more. His hands rubbed my shoulder blades. "Sorry," he whispered, sounding embarrassed. "I just—you scared me. No one knew where you were and you didn't take your cell phone and, God, baby, all I could think about was—"

I placed my hand over his mouth, stopping his spew of hysteria. "Lucas," I whispered. "Look at me." He did. "I'm fine, okay? I'm right here with you."

He nodded, closing his eyes. He rested his forehead against my collarbone.

I felt a lot guiltier now. "I—it was stupid to leave, I just, I don't know."

"I understand," he soothed. "This is a lot to deal with, for all of us."

I blew out a sharp breath. "Yeah, it is."

He straightened up, throwing an arm around me and pulled me close to his side. "C'mon," he murmured, pressing a kiss to the top of my head as he led me towards the porch. "You gotta talk to the boss-man."

I blanched. "Can't I just—skip that part?"

"No."

Cody was pissed. He stood next to his equally upset sister, an arm around her. Before he could get a word in, Emma flew from his side and catapulted herself into my arms, sending me back a few steps. Her brother waited until she was done squeezing me to death before he started yelling at me.

"Brynn," he exclaimed. "How many times are we going to go through this? What part of 'stay here with Parker', did you not understand? You do realize how dangerous this is; how much danger you're in?"

I rolled my eyes. "Maybe you should ask your protection detail how much danger I'm in. Since, you know, he was asleep the moment your ass left my house this morning."

Cody's eyes flashed. "I'm giving you one more chance, Brynn," he told me, tone sharp. "Either you listen to me and do what I say—for your own good, I might add—or I'm going to get your parents involved. And I know you'd rather take punishments from me than your dad. Uncle Paul doesn't have a problem grounding your ass."

I sighed. He was absolutely right. Here they were, busting their asses to keep me safe, and I was just making everything difficult. Maybe I hadn't changed all that much.

"You're right," I said softly. "I'm really grateful that you're all helping me. I'm sorry."

Or, maybe I had. I couldn't remember a time I had apologized to Cody before.

His face said the same thing. He struggled on a facial expression for a moment, before his features seemed to soften. "We're just trying to keep you safe, Brynnie."

"I know."

Tate jogged up from the woods, then. He grabbed me from Lucas' side and put me in a headlock, pressing his fist to the top of my hair before he noogied it all around, spinning me in circles as I was bent forward. I laughed, shoving at him.

"Stop it," I complained.

"Nope," he replied in a singsong voice. "This is what people get when they don't follow orders.

"Tate," I gasped out, laughing too hard to speak.

He just chuckled, digging his fingers into my ribs.

I finally had to get Lucas to intervene. When I broke free, I scurried to Lucas' side as I hastily tried to fix my hair. I stuck my tongue out at my brother and he returned the gesture. Tate had changed a lot, too. He still worried, but he didn't have outright temper tantrums when I did something I wasn't supposed to. Although we had been close before, we understood each other a lot better now. I was completely and utterly thankful for him.

Cody stared at us all for a moment before he shook his head. He cast a glance towards the house. "Parker's been sleeping the whole time?" he asked me.

I didn't particularly feel very good about throwing him under the bus, but I wasn't about to receive all the blame on this. Parker had been phasing forever; if he had wanted to keep me from going to the beach, he would have.

"Yup."

We all watched with amused expressions as Cody stalked into the house, slamming the front door. From the porch you could hear him yelling.

I leaned into Lucas' side, glancing up at him with a grin.

"What?" he asked.

My grin grew. "It's the first time this week he's yelling at someone else besides me."

Lucas groaned, wiping a hand over his face. "And you're proud of that?"

I shrugged, unabashed.

With the way things were these days, I'd take what accomplishments I could get.


Let me know what you think. Brynn's got a plan up her sleeve. What do you think she wants to do?

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