This one is a long one, hope you have time.
My longest chapter no doubt.
Disclaimer: There's cussing here and there, I should have made the disclaimer before in other chapters, sorry.
Also pay attention to the letters, if it has italics then it's a flashback, if not it's present time.
Stella's POV
I head towards my house, a skip in my step, just thinking of finally finding my pack mates.
I could remember the many times I called Jade, Nate and my Dad but they never answered.
I'll find them.
I know I will, something in me tells me that they are not dead.
I hear a familiar tune. A text message.
I grab my phone to see who it is.
Kim:
Hey Stella! I'm on my way.
Damnit! I forgot I told Kim to come over so we could work in homework together.
I sigh.
It's fine. I'm heading to Leah's house at night so I have enough time to do homework with Kim.
Stella:
Okay!
I text back.
I hurry to not leave Kim waiting outside.
When I get there I see her walking to the door.
With a grin, I sneak behind her and place my hands in her eyes and whisper, "Guess who?"
Kim giggles, "Stella what are you doing outside?"
"Just arrived myself." I smile and put my hands in my pockets.
"God! I had forgotten you are literally a heater." Kim touches her eyes where my hands had been.
I smile, "It comes with the package of being a shifter."
"Well Jared ls still hotter than you."
I raise my brow "He's hotter, huh."
Having reallzed her words Kim blushes, "His temperature!"
"Mhm" I say with a teasing smile.
"Your temperature is cooler than his, that's all."
"Right" I say with a smirk
"Stella I'm serious!"
"Of course, temperature. What else could you mean." I grin and tease her.
I open the door with a chuckle.
Kim was surprised with the news that I was a shifter but that didn't damage my friendship with her, if anything it made it stronger since I'm not hiding anything from her anymore.
I take Kim to my room and decide to focus on doing homework first and then telling Kim about my trip.
-40 minutes later-
"Ahhh~ finally done with that...!" Kim says as she stretches her arms above her.
"Yeah glad it didn't take too long." I reply with a smile.
Since we're done now, I'll tell her my plan.
I tell her all my thoughts and what I planned with Seth and her eyes widens, and she seems taken back.
"Wow! you're actually going to look for them?" Kim asked her eyes bright with wonder. "That must be tough! but I'm sure with Seth's help you'll find them in no time!"
I smile, feeling encouraged with her words.
"Thanks Kim! Yeah I truly hope so. I'm not dumb and I know it could take from a week to years depending on my luck but I'm not giving up!"
"It's definitely not easy, but have confidence and you'll find it." Kim says, smiling.
"Yeah, I can't be pessimistic."
"I'll take notes on what we do on class so you aren't behind." Kim assures me.
"Thanks Kim, it helps a lot." I say, glad I have a friend to count on.
"Have you told Karen?" Kim asks.
I sigh, "As you know, she doesn't know that I'm a shape shifter or much about my family so I will have to think of an excuse to tell her."
"Hmm…" Kim ponders, thinking of an excuse I can use.
"Ah!" Kim says as an idea has popped into her mind. "Why don't you say you say your uncle is calling for you? If it were your parents they would come to you but since it's an uncle he's calling for you."
"Kim you're a genius!" I hug her in excitement.
"I'm glad to help." Kim grins.
Kim and I chatted more, talked about the possibilities that I could have and where I should go and a few hours had flew by.
Kim looks at the time in her phone.
"Ahh look at the time, I need to head out."
"Thanks for coming Kim. I really needed your help." I say and show her out.
After waving her goodbye I went to my room and started packing my clothes and other necessities. Using my shifter speed I finished packing two bags in a few minutes.
I text Seth wondering if his Mom gave him permission.
Stella:
Hey Seth! How did it go? Is your Mom okay with you coming with me?
I waited for his reply while making sure I packed everything I needed.
I hear a beep
Seth:
Yeah everything's good! My Mom didn't seem so sure at first but agreed at the end.
I let out a sigh of relief, oh I'm glad everything turned all right.
I hear Karen enter the house using my shifter hearing and I go down to greet her.
"Hey Karen."
"Hi dear, how was your day?" She asks me with a gentle smile.
"It was good! I actually received a call from my uncle." I say with a smile. Guilt as I already started with my lie.
"Oh you did?" Karen asks pleasantly surprised. "What did he say?"
"He wants me to go see him in Seattle." I say lying through my teeth. I hated lying to her after all she has done for me but I have no choice.
"He does? Well I'll take you on next weekend. It's been awhile since I went there." Karen offers nicely.
"Oh no need!" I say quickly. "I already have a ride."
"Oh you do? Who is it?" Karen asks.
"Leah offered on taking me." I say with a shaky smile.
I had a feeling she was going to ask me who was taking me and Leah seemed like a good choice since she was aware of the plan and was an adult.
"That's nice of her. Well I'm going to miss you. How long will you stay there?" Karen asks.
"Uh not sure my uncle asked for a week but he usually expands the visit whenever I visit." I say looking to the side while hoping not to dig myself a hole.
"I understand but don't take too long, you still have school." Karen says in a motherly tone.
"Yeah I'll try not to take too long. I already asked my friends to take notes on the lessons." I tell, dutifully.
"That's good. When will you leave?" Karen asks.
"I'm going to go tomorrow morning but Leah wants me to sleepover on her house today. Probably to leave faster."
Karen nods her head, "Okay well just be careful Stella. Don't forget Seth also lives there. I know you are both dating and at the pace you youngsters go nowadays you probably have alre-"
My face was burning, "N-no! Me and Seth aren't doing that, we are going slow. I will see him but I'm sleeping on Leah's room."
"That's good to hear, you do seem like a responsible, young girl. I just don't want you to have children too young. Children are a blessing but when a woman is too young she may not see them that way." Karen smiles wistfully.
I nod, my heart still pulsing. Seth and I have dated for almost a month and we have not gone further than making out. Neither of us have spoken about the subject of going further. I don't know how to feel about it honestly, I truly love Seth but I still think I'm too young to do that. I don't know what Seth thinks but I'm sure he'll respect my decision.
"Well it's getting late. I'm sure you'll want to head to Leah's house about now. So let me give you my goodbye." Karen hugs me. "I hope you have a good time with your family, you have my number call me if you need anything. I'll miss you Stella, don't forget to call."
I hug back and smile. She truly is wonderful, she reminds me of my Mom in many ways. Her gentleness being one of them and her wise nature as well.
"I'll call you Karen. I'm going to miss you too but I promise I'll come back." Hopefully with my family with me.
After saying a few more words, I grab my luggage and head out.
There I see an unfamiliar truck, but a very familiar scent.
"Seth?!"
Seth comes out of the truck with a grin.
"Hiya Stellz."
"I didn't know you where coming." I say still surprised.
"That's the element of surprise."
I shake my head as I chuckle.
Seth comes to my side and grabs my luggage and puts in the trunk with ease.
We both get in and head to his house.
"So while I was talking to my Mom about it, I realized we haven't agreed on where to go." Seth told me.
"Well I was thinking of going to Seattle and then heading from there." I tell him.
"Okay that sounds good." Seth agrees.
It's been 7 months since the attack and for some reason my Dad hasn't come to La Push, even though he's the one who told me about a pack in Washington.
I've been thinking that maybe he doesn't even know where the pack was since he didn't specify where in Washington.
Nate was told the same instructions so he may be somewhere in Washington.
Jade was still with the pack I can only hope my Dad told her and the rest of the pack to head to Washington.
Could they still be in Canada….?
I shake my head, there's no way for me to know.
There's a red light and Seth looks to my side and notices my disgruntled look.
He grabs my hand, nears it to his lips and kisses it.
"We'll find them, I promise." He tells me with a serious expression.
His eyes radiating confidence and his gentle smile giving me all assurance I need.
I smile, loosen my seatbelt and kiss his cheek.
I then whisper to his ear, "It switched to red."
"R-red?" He asks, confused.
A car honk from behind gives him all the information he needs.
Seth quickly gets the truck going as I giggle and fasten my seatbelt.
He's right, we'll find them.
We soon get to his house, I grab one of the bags that has my pajamas and clothes for tomorrow.
Sue greets us when we enter the house.
She hugs me as she always does when I visit. "Good to see you again Stella."
I smile back, "Thank you for letting me stay the night, Sue."
"Of course, you're always welcome." Sue beams.
"Hey Stella." Leah greets me, she then turn to Seth. "Glad you didn't wreck Mom's car."
Ah so it's Sue's truck.
"Of course I didn't, man you have no faith in me." Seth replies.
Leah shrugs and we head to eat.
Sue's homemade chicken pot pie is the best! Though technically all her food is amazing.
Last week she gave me a lesson and I was able to learn some of her recipes.
I hope to one day give Seth all the food he loves.
I've given dishes to him that I make in my home ed class, he always loves them.
I blush remembering the first time I gave him a dish.
"Here ya go Sethy!" I grin and give Seth a plate of spaghetti and meatballs.
He eagerly accepts the plate and devours it.
"Mmmmm~ Shtella thish izz deligiousshh!" Seth says with his mouth full.
I give a big, relieved smile. "I'm glad you like it! I'll give you more food next time we make more."
Seth finishes eating the plate and nods.
"You're gonna make an awesome wife!" Seth adds with a happy smile.
My face flushes at the meaning of his words.
Wife…His wife…
He seems to realize what he says, "Um one day, y'now. If you accept." Seth says bashfully.
And from then on I gave him all the dishes I made in Home Ec while also eating a piece myself of course.
"So you're going to go look for your family, Stella?" Sue asks me, snapping me back to reality.
"Yes, it's been many months and I actually expected my Dad to reach here before I did but I was surprised he still hasn't arrived. He may be lost so I want to find him." I explain.
"You must be terribly worried, I understand and as much as I want Seth to stay here in the reservation I know he has to go with you." Sue smiles. "Please take care of each other and stay close so neither gets lost."
"Pftt I doubt they'll separate." Leah snorts.
Seth ignores Leah and says, "Yeah Mom we will."
"Thank you Sue." I say, gratefully.
"Well you're leaving until tomorrow, so let's head to my room." Leah says as she puts her plate in the sink.
I put my plate with hers and follow her to her room but not before telling Seth, "I'll see you tomorrow."
With my bag in hand I arrive to Leah's room.
"Wow, it's been forever since I had a sleepover, this should be fun." I say, gleefully.
Leah smiles slightly, "Yeah it's been awhile for me too."
Leah sits down in her bed and motions for me to follow.
As soon as I sit at her bed, she looks at me seriously.
"Fess up, what's the plan? Don't tell me you're actually going blindly to look for your family."
Blindly?
"Uhm not blindly per say, I want us to look in Seattle first and then look at nearby towns that might seem like good places to move the pack." I say, trying to sound as reasonable as possible.
I wish I had more clues but I truly don't.
Leah looks at me unconvinced.
"Before I came to La Push I went to other towns and cities in Washington. So I know what types of places they are, and can guess where my pack would go to." I say, remembering the last 3 months when I actually traveled all over Washington.
"Well it's good to see you have an idea where they could be." Leah says with a sigh.
"Mhm" I then grabbed my bag. "Well I'll get changed."
I put on my pajama and Leah puts on a simple shirt and shorts.
Leah plops down on her bed, "God I still can't believe you're a shifter."
I smile, and sit next to her.
"I understand, I wouldn't be able to believe it if I was the only female shifter in the pack."
She shifts her eyes to me, "That's right, in your pack there were more shifter females."
"They were not common but not as rare as this pack makes them out to be" I reply.
"Who are the female shifters?" Leah asks.
"My best friend Jade, who is the Alpha's daughter, a girl our age, Jennifer, an older lady named Grace, my Mom and me." I list all the female shifters I know.
"5 female shifters, that's how big our pack is." Leah muses.
"Jacob's pack yes, though if you combine Sam and Jacob's pack it's bigger."
"We 'work' with Sam's pack but we are our own pack." Leah says seriously.
Ah I had forgotten she doesn't like Sam.
"Yeah that's true." I agree with her.
An awkward silence envelopes us.
Ah shoot, I should say something.
Thankfully Leah broke the ice first.
"So did you and the other female shifters have shifter blood or…?"
"Yeah we all did, from the way I see it, if the girl has shifter blood from both of her parents then the likeliness of her phasing is the highest. In my case both my parents are have shifter blood so the likelihood was high." I explain.
"That makes sense, in my case I have Clearwater, Uley blood and Ateara blood." Leah says.
"Which made it very likely for you to be a shifter."
"Must have been nice to have other females to relate to." Leah mumbles, melancholy in her voice.
"Well… it really depends on the person. Just because they are female doesn't mean that they were nice or wanted you to phase." I say with a sigh.
Leah looks at me curious and confused at my words.
I did feel like telling this to someone, and she should know that everything good can also have something bad.
"Well let me start from the beginning, as I had already told you I phased after seeing my Mom die." Leah looked down and tightened her lips but I continued. "I started running and I was in so much pain that I hadn't even realized I had phased into a wolf. Being clouded with pain and confusion I bumped into a tree but before I passed out I saw a woman coming to me.
(A/N: This is referring to Chapter 18, If you want to see how Stella discovered her parents are shifters and unfortunately witness her Mom's murder go back to chapter 18.)
"That woman was Grace, the only other adult female shifter besides my Mom." I continue.
I groggily opened my eyes, pain throbbing in my head.
Where am I? What happened to me?
I looked around the room, it wasn't my room, or anyone I knew for that matter.
I looked down at me, I was in a bed with purple covers but what surprised me was that I was wearing different clothes.
The shirt I was using was red and slightly bigger than my size and had pink shorts.
This aren't my clothes….
I tried to sit up from the bed very confused of where I was and why I was wearing clothes that weren't mine.
"I wouldn't do that if I were you." I heard a female voice say.
A woman in her 50's with short blond hair came in, a cup in her right hand and a water bottle in her left hand.
It took me a minute to realize that woman was Grace Wilson, one of our town elders.
"Mrs. Wilson, what am I doing-" I was saying before she interrupted me.
"Call me Grace, it makes me feel old when I'm called Mrs. Wilson besides if anything its Miss Wilson." She says correcting me and feeling offended I called her Mrs.
"Um sorry, Grace." I say after a beat.
"We all make mistakes, now want some tea?" She offers me the cup of tea.
"Uh no thank you, I don't like tea." I say, as I scrunch up my nose.
"I figured, most kids don't like tea as healing and wonderful as it is." She says with a sigh.
I'm not a kid, I'm 12 years old. Already a pre-teen and soon enough a teen but I don't correct Grace, as I don't think she's like it if I correct her for a change.
"Here's water then." She gives me a bottle of water. "I'll just take the tea for myself then." Grace laughs to herself. "Oh what you're missing out, child."
Yeeah I'll just stick with the water, thanks.
"Thank you." I say and start drinking, but after one gulp I take another one and another one and soon the bottle is empty.
I stare at the bottle confusedly.
What? I didn't think I was so thirsty.
Grace unlike me remained unfazed and even took the bottle from my hands and threw it to the trash can.
"Feel better now? More hydrated?" She asked me.
"I…guess so…?" I say, not knowing how I felt.
"Well I guess it's time we started talking." she says as she sits down the chair next to the bed.
"Do you remember what happened before you got here?" Grace asks me.
What happened?
I close my eyes and start to think back and just as I did that, the rush of memories came flooding back and I opened my eyes and started trembling.
"N-no! That had to be a nightmare! M-mama…!" I quickly looked at Grace. "P-please tell me It was a nightmare Grace! That my Mom's okay, please!"
For the first time since she came in, Grace looked at me with sadness and pity.
"I'm afraid not, child."
I gripped the covers and tears soon started dripping them.
"M-mama no…!" I began shaking, the pain in my chest hurting me as I cried and wheezed.
"Stella calm down. You can't phase, you're too tired physically and emotionally you're only hurting yourself by trying to phase."
Trying to phase?! What is this woman talking about?!
I continued crying and I gripped the cover so hard it ripped.
I gasp as tears fall and I look at the ripped cover sheet.
H-how did I even rip it?! I can barely break a pencil.
Grace sighs and stands up to look in her drawers. She grabs a container that has something green in it.
She opens it and starts applying it to me.
I'm baffled at what she's doing and try to jerk away from her but she's holding both of my hands with one of her hands while the other puts the green liquid on my arm.
H-how can an old lady have so much strength?
Her hold in me is strong and firm, and I can barely move an inch as she continues applying the liquid on me.
I feel I can finally breath when she finishes.
Before I can say anything she leaves to wash her hands.
I can smell the thing she put in me, what is this? Herbs?
"Do you feel better now?" Grace says as she comes back and sits in her chair.
Better? My Mom just died! H-how can she say that!
My expression must have been obvious as she says, "Well not better but more calm? That cream I just put on you has various herb meant to sooth you."
As much as I want to deny it, I… actually do feel more calm.
She's right, I need to calm down. She might be able to give me the answers I need.
"W-what happened? How did my parents transform into wolves? Who were those creepy men? H-how did I even end up here? Where's my Dad? Whose clothes are these? Why did I get changed into different clothes? How did I break the cover? Wh-"
"Whoa whoa! I can only answer one at a time." Grace says.
"As for what happened, you know it better than me."
Well that's unhelpful…
"Your parents can transform into wolves because they have shapeshifter blood running through their veins, just like you." Grace explains.
Shapeshifter? Me?
What is she babbling about?
"We come from a line of warriors that had shapeshifter blood that allows them to shift into a wolf."
I-is she being serious? And did she say 'we'?"
As for the 'creepy men' I'm guessing they are vampires. That's the only way that could have made you phase and only vampires can kill one of our own." She says her eyes growing sad.
One of our own? A vampire killed my Mom?
"You ended up here because I found you on your wolf form and carried you here."
She carried me here? How?! She looks so old and weak.
Wait did she say wolf form?
"I became a wolf?!"
"You sure did, a pretty one at that. It's been awhile since I've seen a cream colored wolf."
Oh my god…. I am a werewolf.
Grace gives me a deadpan look.
"You are not a werewolf."
What the-! Can she read my thoughts?
"No, I can't read your thoughts. It's just something that every shapeshifter seems to think." Grace says with a shake in her head.
Something tells me I'm not the first…shapeshifter she's explained this to.
"Your Dad is where you left him, after I found you I carried you to him but he was too brokenhearted I didn't dare bother him and instead brought you here to my house." She explains, her expression saddening.
Oh Papa…
"The clothes you're wearing are my niece's though she's older than you so that's why they might be a bit too big for you." Grace continues.
"You got changed into those clothes because you were naked."
My blood flushes.
I was naked?!
"No one but me saw you so don't worry and well I'll be best if you get used to it because sometimes there might not be bushes for you to hide when you phase back."
Wait, get used to what?
…Being naked…?!
"Though there's nature everywhere so you're more than likely going to find a place to hide." Grace adds.
"You broke the cover because you are inhumanly strong now."
Wow…
"I believe those were all your questions." Grace said and she took a drink of her tea.
She's right, she managed to remember them all.
"Though now I have more questions." I say as much more questions come to mind.
"I'm sure you do, but why don't we eat first? You must be starving specially now."
I was about to object since I want her to answer my questions, but I couldn't since I felt my stomach grumble and felt hunger like never before.
"Uh yes please."
"Okay then, come with me. I'm not preparing it on my own. I'm really old if anything you should make it for me." She says as she stands up.
Wow this lady really doesn't give me a break, does she?
We both made grilled salmon, with her correcting me every step of the way on cooking it.
"From that day on Grace became my mentor and guide, she taught me all about the shifter world and everyday things like how to cook a salmon correctly." I chuckle at the memory.
Leah smiles, "Well that's nice, I'm happy she was able to help you. I only had Sam to help me and he sucked."
We both laughed at that.
"Yeah as strict as she was she was really wise and kind though I can't say the same about her niece." I say with a sigh.
"The one who you wore the clothes that time?" Leah asks.
"The very same." I puff my cheek just thinking about Jennifer.
We hear a knock in the door and I immediately know who it is.
"About time he knocked." Leah says as she rolls her eyes.
What?
Seth enters the room with a tray of cookies.
He's wearing pajama shorts and a simple tank top.
He looks so handsome in his pajamas.
"Hey Mom made you cookies, I brought them for her." Seth says with a smile.
"Oh thank you!" I say happily, always loving a midnight snack.
"I bet there cold." Leah states.
"What? No they're not they're a bit warm." Seth says and takes one and eats it.
Leah grabs a cookie and says, "I'm sure they'd be warmer if you would have knocked when you came instead of eavesdropping."
Seth almost chokes on his cookie.
He was here? I was so distracted by my story I hadn't noticed.
"W-well…I-! Uh…" Seth stuttered not knowing what to say.
"I'm sorry." Seth said, his shoulders dropping. "I was listening to the story and didn't remember about the cookies until you finished."
"Peeping Tom." Leah taunts.
"I'm not a peeping tom! I swear I only listened to the story." Seth defends himself.
"I believe you Seth." I smile.
"So you didn't come to see Stella on her pajamas." Leah raises her brow.
"No! Well yes, uh no um a little?" Seth stutters, nervously.
Hehe, well he's not the only one, he's only wearing a tank top with pants so I can see his muscles very clearly.
"I think you've said it all Sethy." Leah teases.
Seth glares at her but doesn't say anything.
"If Leah doesn't have a problem with it, I don't mind if you stay here. I have more stories." I smile.
Seth looks at Leah with puppy dog eyes.
Leah sighs, "Fine, you can stay."
"Awesome!" Seth quickly sits himself in the floor.
"So Grace's niece wasn't as cool as her aunt?" Seth asks.
"Well someone was paying close attention to the story." Leah sasses.
"Unfortunately she wasn't, she was her opposite." I say, and think back to when I met the true Jennifer.
"So… are there only adult shifters?" I ask Grace.
"It's shapeshifter, don't know why you young people shorten it." Grace corrects me once again.
I roll my eyes, "Right, so are there only adult shapeshifters?" I say to appease her.
"Most are adult yes, though I believe Kevin's boy is a few years older than you." Grace says pensively.
"He is? How old is he?" I ask, eager to find someone near my age.
"I believe he finished high school awhile back."
That's more than a few years… She must think everyone is a kid compared to her though…
I sigh, I doubt a 18-19 year old will want to hang out with me.
"Well, there's also my niece." Grace says then adds in a much lower voice. "If you're that desperate."
"Your niece?" I ask.
"You might know her, Jennifer Wilson. I think she's 2 years older than you.
"I do know her!" I say happily.
I've known Jennifer since 3th grade when she was a 5th grader and helped me out when I need it.
She has always been nice and helpful. I've always admired her.
"Wow I didn't know she was your niece!" I tell her.
"Yes, If the last name wasn't obvious enough we also share the same beautiful blond hair." Grace says sassily.
…I always though Grace dyed it… she is in her 50's.
"Wait so Jenny is also a shifter?" I say joyfully.
"It's shapeshifter and Jennifer, it's disrespectful to shorten the shapeshifter name and Jennifer is such a brat she doesn't deserve a nickname." Grace says, bitterly.
I can see Grace doesn't like Jenny… I don't really remember Jenny ever talking bad about her aunt. On the contrary she's talked about helping her out with what she needs.
Then again Grace isn't the most grateful person around.
"But yes that brat is a shapeshifter." Grace adds sourly. "And what a shame it is."
"Great! I'll go see her. See ya later Grace!" I quickly ran to the park where I might find Jenny.
Without knowing Grace sees me off and mutters, "I hope that little monster doesn't corrupt Stella…"
I find Jenny in the park chatting with some of her teenage friends.
How cool… I want to be a teen too.
I stop my tracks as I don't want to interrupt her chat.
Jenny seems to notice me and tells something to her friends who start giggling and smiling and leave her.
Jenny beckons me with a smile and wave.
I happily go to the bench where she is sitting.
"Hey Jenny!" I greet happily.
"Hi Stella, what's up?" Jenny says friendly.
"Oh I just wanted to tell you." I look around to make sure we are alone and that no one can hear us. "That I'm also a shifter!"
"What!" Jenny yells, her expression of disbelievement and anger.
"Uh yeah, I heard you were one too and thought we should go on a run one of these days…" I say a bit nervous after her outburst.
I don't really think I have friends. I mostly have acquaintances who are my classmates.
For some reason I can't make a close bond with my classmates.
I have always been close to my Mama and Papa so I haven't felt too lonely.
But now that Mama is gone and Papa has been depressed, I desperately need friends.
But from the look of Jenny's face it doesn't look like she's thinking the same as I am.
"Stella, you're joking right? D-did you hear that word from someone? Was it my aunt? She's a damn blabbermouth I wouldn't be surprised." Jenny says in a cold tone I had never heard before.
"I am a shapeshifter and Grace told me all about our history but after finding out I'm a shifter." I explain.
"Grace? She lets you call her that? That damn old woman doesn't even let me call her Aunt Grace she doesn't think I'm worthy but she lets you?!" Jenny exclaims more furious than before.
My god… Don't tell me these are Jenny's true colors.
"Jenny calm dow-"
"Don't call me Jenny! We're not friends!" Jennifer exclaims.
I feel my heart drop.
I don't get it… why is she saying this? What's wrong with me being a shifter?
Jenny shakes in anger, and I immediately know what this mean and back away slowly.
Jenny notices that and runs away into the forest, probably going to phase and let out her anger there.
I walk back to Grace's house as I've been doing for the past few weeks since my Mom died.
Grace has been my only friend since my Mom's passing. My Dad has been too heartbroken too help me with the pain and I don't dare tell him my sadness as I'm sure losing an Imprint must have been much worse.
Grace has been coming to my house to tell me about shapeshifter rules and instructing me how to control my powers.
I'm not sure if she did it out of kindness or because it's her duty as pack elder but she has helped me cope with the loss.
One way or another she doesn't let me dwell on the sadness.
Jenny's words really didn't help me…
All I wanted was a friend my age…
Before I dig myself a hole I manage to arrive to Grace's house.
As usual she has the door unlocked, I enter and find her in the sofa.
"It was that bad, huh." Grace says after seeing my face.
I tell her everything Jennifer said, and before I know it tears come out of my eyes. Jennifer had always been so friendly and nice, I hadn't expected this at all. I had wanted to be like her.
Grace hugs me close patting my head, "Calm down down, that monster child doesn't deserve you crying over her."
"I-it just doesn't make sense! I've known her for years, she's only been nice to me." I cry.
"Let me guess, she helped you find your way, gave you a ballon when you lost yours, advised you about entering middle school, let you borrow her movies, gave you a handkerchief on your Mom's funeral, etc etc." Grace says listing many of the favors Jenny has made for me.
"H-how did you know?" I say shocked.
"Because she brags about them, that's all that brat does. Talk beautifully about herself and make you out to be a helpless girl who needs her help." Grace says, coldly.
What….
"That's the only reason she does nice things for others." Grace adds.
"I don't understand what does she gain from that?" I ask, confused.
"Attention, she's an attention seeker."
"An attention seeker…?" I repeat her words.
"I'm surprised she let her facade fall that fast." Grace says.
Now that I think about it, when she was chatting with her friends, I had heard her conversation but… I just refused to believe it.
"Oh someone is here to see me." Jennifer tells her friends.
"Hm? Who's that girl?" a raven haired girl asks.
"She's a girl I've been helping out since she was a child." Jennifer says, smugly.
"Helping out? She doesn't look that much younger than us." Jennifer's brunette friend says.
"Oh she is believe me, she needs me to help her out with everything. Can't do much on her own, poor thing really." Jennifer says with fake pity.
"Wait isn't that the girl who recently lost her Mom in a robbery gone wrong?" her raven haired friend asks.
(A/N: It was told to the police and non shifters that Diane was murdered in a robbery gone wrong.)
"She sure is, as if the poor girl hadn't had enough things thrown at her, her Mom suddenly gets killed." Jennifer continues her voice filled with fake sympathy.
"Which is why I was with her in her Mom's funeral. She was crying her eyes out. She didn't calm down until I hugged her." Jennifer lies.
"Awww how sweet!" the brunette giggles.
"You are basically her idol." the raven haired smiles.
"Aw you girls are too nice, I'm only doing what anyone on my place would have done." Jennifer says in a humble tone.
"Well we'll leave you to her." the raven haired girl says.
"Yeah! She needs you." the brunette says.
Both girl leave and Jennifer beckons me.
I snap back from the memory, I heard all that unfold in front of me but my brain just refused to believe it…or was it my heart…?
"She has always been like that, the observant people notice her fakeness but most believe all of her lies. And people wonder why I dislike my only niece." Grace says with disgust.
"Is that why you shooed her away on my Mom's funeral?" I ask, my voice soft.
She pats my back, "I wasn't going to let that little monster use your Mom's funeral as her sympathy playground to brag to her friends."
"She did anyways." I let out a sad laugh.
"Tch of course she did. Well forget about her, at least you know her true colors now." Grace says.
"Why don't you tell people how she is?" I ask.
"You think I haven't? With this loud mouth I have, it would be impossible not to." Grace asks.
"Then?"
"People don't believe me, they think I'm a mean, cranky old lady who hates her cute, sweet niece." Grace growls.
"So I just let them experience it on their own, to see if she's fake or not with their own eyes." Grace adds.
That's true… I don't know if I would have completely believed Grace if she would have told me before I saw Jennifer outburst.
"B-but to think she would use my Mom's funeral to make herself look better… how cruel can she be?" I whimper.
"That girl has no limits as long as she fools people."
Grace hugs me and rubs my back.
I close my eyes and think back to a few weeks ago.
I walk next to my Dad, wearing a black dress with a black headpiece. I bought this months ago thinking it was cute, I had never thought of the occasion I would use this…
My Dad expression hasn't changed since my Mom died.
There's loneliness, anguish and neverending sadness.
I tighten my lips and hug his arm.
He looks at me and pats my head.
"C'mon Stella, let's say goodbye to Diane."
There's many people in the room, all dressed in black but none as sad as my Dad and me.
We walk to her tomb, I can feel people looking at us pity and sympathy in their expressions.
My Dad seems unfazed as his gaze in locked on my Mom's tomb.
I tighten my hold in my Dad's arm and look forward to my Mom's tomb.
We reach there and look down as she's dressed in her favorite pink with white dress.
Dad always said she looked like an angel, which only made my Mom love her dress more.
My Dad presses his forehead to the tomb, and before long he sobbed quietly.
Before two days ago I've never seen my Dad cry before.
He never had to, he had my Mom at his side.
I hear him whispering some words and think it's better to give him privacy.
I look to the people in the room.
I see many people who are apparently shifters too, before that I thought they were just my parents friends.
Grace was the one who told me all about them. I tried to talk to my Dad after leaving Grace house that day but he has been in a lull, just hugging my Mom's body.
It took all my strength and 3 other shifters to get him to leave my Mom's body and return to our house.
Grace and the other shifters were the ones who took care of the funeral preparations.
My parents closest friends are the shifters, no wonder they had always been so close…it's the pack bond.
They had always been kind to me but I don't feel like going to any of them.
I go to the corner of the room and just put my back to the wall.
I sigh.
How did this happen?
Everything is going too fast for me.
Finding my parents in wolf form.
My Mom being murdered.
Being a shifter myself.
I can't keep up…it's too much….
Before I can swallow myself in more pity, I feel a pat on my shoulder.
There I see a pretty blonde girl, her hair in a side pony tail, with a pretty black dress.
Jenny…
"I'm really sorry about your Mom." Jenny says.
"Yeah, I'm sorry too…" I mumble.
"You can always come to me if you-" Jenny was saying when Grace interrupted.
"Jennifer, your parents are calling you."
"Oh! Okay thanks Aunt Gracie!" Jenny leaves with a sweet smile.
"Don't call me Aunt Gracie, you damn brat. It's Miss Wilson to you." Grace mumbles to herself.
"Grace…? I ask, confusedly.
"Nevermind that, I just want you to know. You are never alone, you still need much guidance, I will give it to you so never be afraid to come to my house." Grace tells me while hugging me.
The memory fades as the next days passed in a blur.
I open my eyes and look at Grace.
"I can't forgive her for using my Mom's death for her own merit." I say and take out my phone and delete a picture of us from a few months ago.
"Unfortunately she is a shifter so you will have to continue seeing her during patrols and pack meetings." Grace informs me with a frown.
"That reminds me, why was she so angry I became a shifter?" I ask.
"She prided herself for being the only female shifter, now that you've phased you're her competition." Grace explained.
"But there's other female shifters, you and… Mom." I say a bit sadder at the end.
"Yes, but I don't shift because of my age, and your Mom rarely did as she focused on raising you." Grace continued.
"Wait, wait, wait!" Seth said interrupting the story. "What about the other girl? Your best friend, Jade was it?"
"Wow you really were paying attention while you eavesdropped." Leah arches her brow.
I chuckle, "I was actually going to get to that, Jade phased 3 months after I did so at the time only Jennifer and me were the female shifters in our pack."
"Where was that so called best friend of yours when you needed her? On your Mom's funeral and when you felt lonely." Leah asks, her eyes showed cold anger.
I think Leah is thinking bad of Jade.
"When my Mom died I still hadn't met Jade it was later on." I explained.
"Yeah Leah let Stella continue her story." Seth teases.
"You're the one who interrupted, punk!" Leah growls.
"Uh anyways!" I say trying to divert the siblings, "As I was saying…"
"Days passed and I focused on training and controlling my wolf. Because of my size I had to train harder to prove my strength." I say.
"Your size?" Seth asks.
"C'mon Seth I know you've noticed that my wolf is smaller than yours and everyone else's." I smile sadly.
"I thought your wolf was smaller because you're a girl." Seth said a bit confused.
I shake my head, "Leah's a girl and her wolf is bigger than mine."
"Oh…" Seth says.
"As for my human height, I did get taller after phasing I was 5'0 and have since grown to 5'8. Over the years of course, I was only 12 and was still growing." I say.
"Well you're taller than me yet my wolf is bigger than yours. I don't think human height has to do with our wolf size." Leah says.
"Yeah unfortunately that didn't stop Jennifer for bothering me about my size." I say looking down, the memories coming back.
"You're as small as fly! You expect us to consider you our ally, our pack mate?" Jennifer mocks me.
I growl as we are stuck doing patrol together.
"I'm bigger than the average wolf! And I'm your pack mate whether you like it or not!" I snarl back.
"Ha! Barelybigger than the average wolf, and you're supposed to be a shapeshifter not a common wolf!" Jennifer jabs back.
I defend myself as much as I can, but she can read my mind and knows how much her insults hurt me.
It's not my fault I phased this small.
I hurried and left her behind and put as much distance possible between us.
She did not give up and her brown wolf raced further, until she was in front of me.
That's what it always was for her, a competition.
I watch her dark brown wolf trudge farther along and I sigh.
That's another reason she hates me, she's jealous of my coat.
Mine is a creamy beige color while hers is a dark brown.
I know she tries to hide it but I can see it after all just as she can read my mind, I can read hers.
She wanted a beige, white or silver coat color but instead she got dark brown.
It also irked her whenever I got compliments for something I did. Specially my special abilities, superior hearing and superior smell.
I get along with my pack mates besides her, they are the few that can see Jennifer's true colors thanks to being able to listen to her thoughts so she isn't the most well liked which she of course blames me.
'If that brat hadn't phased, everyone wouldn't have favoritism over her…! It doesn't help her Dad's the beta, she thinks she's better than me when I've been here longer than her!' Jennifer mentally fumes.
And such are the thoughts she has about me, I don't think anyone has favoritism over me, we all get along well. I mean I'm the youngest one so sometime they give me piggy back rides or carry me but it's not like I ever thought I was better than anyone and my Dad is fair to everyone so it's not like he gives me privileges.
I finish my patrol phase back in the bushes and get back to the pack house my Dad sitting in the sofa.
I go and hug him and he hugs back.
"Hey Twinkle, did it work?" he asks me.
I shake my head, my Dad thought that maybe making us patrol together will bring us closer but it just depressed me and angered her.
He sighs, "Okay, can't say I didn't try. I'll make sure to always give you separate patrol from hers and tell Robert to do the same if he gives out patrols."
My Dad is the beta but he almost always manages patrols, Robert is the Alpha he takes care of other pack things such as leading the pack, holding pack meetings, and other Alpha duties.
My Dad is still heartbroken from Mom and I don't think he'll ever return to being the same but he still loves and cares for me, I wish I didn't have to trouble him with my arguments with Jennifer.
"How's school? Got back in track with your classes?" Dad asks me.
I had to be absent from school for a week to control my wolf and not accidentally phase in front of everyone if my emotions got out of hand.
My classmates believed I was absent due to the death of my Mom and I let them believe it after all that was the cover story and part of the reason. I needed time to mourn.
"Yeah teachers gave me plenty of makeup time to turn in my homework so I'm back on track already."
"I'm happy to hear that." he sighs in relief and hugs me close.
I smile and hug back.
I may have no friends, fight everyday with Jennifer and lost my Mother but I'm happy I have my Dad with me…
"Did your friends realize you… changed?" My Dad asks.
Ah… my Dad doesn't know I don't have friends, I just have classmates.
I don't want him to worry and want him to think I'm a happily, normal girl with friends.
Well as normal as a shapeshifter can be.
I mostly read and dance in my free time since I don't have friends but I don't want my Dad to worry about me.
"My classmates noticed I got taller but I just said I hit my growth spurt." I tell him.
"Good job, baby girl." Dad pats my head.
I notice Jennifer walk in and glare at me.
My Dad notices my gaze and follows it.
Her glare is immediately gone and replaced with a sickly sweet smile.
"Hi there Beta."
My Dad smiles grimly knowing all about her fakeness.
"It's Aaron, Jennifer. You don't have to address me as Beta."
"Oh but I don't want to be disrespectful sir, that is after all your rank." She smiles.
She then shifts her attention to me. "Just like I'm sure Stella will follow your footsteps and be a great Beta." Her voice sounding harsh when she says beta.
I narrow my eyes. "I've never said I'm going to be Beta."
Jennifer giggles loudly as if I've said a funny joke, "Oh c'mon Stella, It's in your blood you're going to become Beta whether you deserve it or not."
Dad scowls, "Jennifer you can't-"
"I gotta help babysit my brother, see you tomorrow, Beta, Stella!" Jennifer says interrupting my Dad and leaving with another of her sickly sweet smiles.
They say vampires have sickly sweet scent but I don't think anything can disturb me more than Jennifer sickly sweet smiles.
Dad sighs, "I'd never thought she'd get this bad…" he pats me in the back "Don't listen to her, you train hard and deserve all that's coming to you."
I deserve all that's coming to me…?
I deserve losing my Mom, being bullied by my once idol and being the smallest wolf in the pack…?
I feel tears threaten to come out but I swallow them back.
I know that's not what my Dad thinks but I can't help thinking this.
I can't cry and be weak when he's lost his Imprint.
"You'll be an amazing Beta, if you wish to be one. No one will force you to." Dad slightly smiles and puts his forehead to mine.
"You have amazing capabilities, a loyal heart, sincere motives, dependable ally, kind hearted not to mention superior hearing and smell."
I smile and the knot in my throat disappears.
"So did anything happen at school?" My Dad asks after a moment of silence.
"Oh! Yes actually, in a few weeks we will have a ballet show. " I smile eagerly.
"That's great! I know how much you love to dance ballet." Dad smiles warmly to me.
"Will you come see me?"
"Of course, we'll be there ehem I-I'll be there…" Dad corrects himself.
Dad is still getting used to the fact Mom is no longer with us…
I smile, "Let's go home, I'll make spicy chicken."
"My favorite, you really know how to spoil me, Starshine."
Oh Papa you deserve all the spoiling in the world…
I'll make sure to train hard in both my wolf form and in ballet.
"I can see why you really miss your Dad…" Leah says softly.
"Ah I do… so very much." I say with a sad smile.
Seth hugs me close, "Which is why I'm sure we'll find him."
I smile, yeah we will.
"So was how was the ballet show? I'm sure you rocked, I've seen your moves when you danced with Nessie." Seth happily says.
My mood immediately drops at his mention of the ballet show.
Seth notices quickly, "Oh I'm sorry, did you mess up?"
His words only made me hang my head lower.
"Damn it, you're so insensitive and you call yourself her boyfriend." Leah glares at Seth.
"What? I'm insensitive? That's rich coming from you." Seth glares back.
Leah growls and is about to snap back when I say, "That's not it."
"My dance went good, my teacher said I did a marvelous job and my many hours of practicing paid off." I explain, keeping a stoic expression.
"Then?"
I sigh and remember what happened that day.
I look at myself in the mirror after changing into my ballet dress.
I finish touching up on by my headpiece.
"You look beautiful, Stella or should I say Odette?" I hear a feminine voice say behind me.
I look behind me and I see Jade Wright, one of my dance classmates and a very talented one too.
"Thank you Jade, you look beautiful too as Odile." I compliment her.
She looks beautiful with her black dress that compliments her long dark hair and fair skin.
We are dancing to Swam Lake, I was given the important role of Odette and Jade was given the role of Odile. We were matched in terms of skill so the teacher wasn't sure who to give the part of Odette/Odile as usually a dancer would portray both.
Jade gave the idea to the teacher that she should play Odile and give me the part of Odette, which I agreed immediately.
"Thanks again for telling the teacher to give us both parts." I thank her.
"It was no problem that's what seemed fair." she smiles, gently.
"I was sure you were going to get both parts." I say.
"Why's that?" Jade quirks her brow.
"You've know ballet longer than I have so you have more experience than I do." I tell her.
"You don't give yourself enough credit, I may have been doing ballet for longer time but you have talent, spirit and determination."
"Wow thank you so much Jade!" I beam.
I feel really flattered Jade thinks so high of me, she's the best dancer in our school and is only a year older than me but has so much maturity in her some have believed she is older than what she really.
"Not to mention the extra hours you put in, of course me and the teacher will notice." Jade smiles all knowingly.
I thought I had smelled her and the teacher near the dance room after school, I always thought they'd be doing their own thing and not notice me.
"Is there any reason why you preferred Odile over Odette?" I ask Jade, I had always thought it was strange Jade would ask for Odile who's the antagonist of the story rather than the protagonist Odette.
"I did not think the character suited me, Odette is a soft, kind, delicate girl. I wouldn't have been able to give the character justice." Jade explains.
"You think Odile suits you though?" I ask, Jade doesn't seem like a devious, evil person but after my incident with Jennifer I've learned to not judge a book by it's cover.
"I'm not cruel enough to steal a girl's boyfriend but I do think I'll be easier to act like her than Odette." Jade adds.
Jade does seem like a serious and nice girl although I've never perceived her as soft or delicate. She never shies away to say her opinion in class and I've heard she has made girls cry with her harsh but truthful comments.
"You do play the character really well." I compliment.
"Thank you, Odette seems more like you, not to mention her outfit makes you look like an angel." Jade smiles.
"Oh hehe thanks, Jade." I say, feeling embarrassed.
"Girls! Get in position! The show is about to start!" Our teacher yells.
"Good luck!" I beam to Jade.
"Same to you." Jade nods.
The show started and we all danced to our hearts desires, all that practice was worth it.
All throughout the show I looked for my Dad but couldn't find him.
My superior smell made it easy for me to know what shifters came.
My Dad's scent was nowhere to be found.
I could only smell Grace and….Jennifer.
Great my Dad couldn't come but my enemy made time to see me.
I felt like crying but I swallowed my tears down, I can't ruin the show for everyone who worked so hard to make this show a success.
After what seems like forever the show ends and we all go backstage.
"Beautiful work Stella! You did marvelous!" My teacher says happily.
"Thank you, Ms. White." I smile.
My teacher leaves to congratulate everyone and I sigh.
"What's with that long face? You were great." I hear a familiar voice besides me.
Jade looks at me worriedly, and I manage to give a smile.
"Yeah it did, I-I'm just tired that's all."
Jade narrows her eyes, not seeming to believe my words.
"Your eyes betray your words, but I won't push it. Just know that I'm here if you want to talk." Jade gives me a gentle smile.
I open my mouth to say something but I can't get the words out so I just nod.
She gives me a sympathetic smile and pats my back before walking away.
We've only chatted a bit in class but I can actually feel her worry and care for me.
The pain in my throat only hurts more and I can feel the tears beginning to escape.
"What's this? Not only weak and small but also a crybaby?" I hear a mocking voice say.
Jennifer….
"My parents forced me to come for pack support, and gosh was it boring…!" She rolls her eyes.
"What's wrong with our favorite little star? Did you twist your ankle or something?" She says using my Dad's nickname in a mocking way.
Oh not now… I really don't need her to add to this.
"Oh wait, I know! You're crying cause your Dad didn't bother to show up!" A leering smile came to her lips.
I feel like I've been hit in the heart as she guesses correctly.
But I shouldn't be surprised, she would have smelled him.
"Leave me alone!" I scream, my tears now running freely.
"Aw what's that? I hit the jackpot? Well Daddy isn't here to protect you, princess." Jennifer sneers.
I growl out, my body shaking as more tears fall.
For once Jennifer gasps and takes a step back.
I turn back and leave though backstage before I accidentally phase in front of everyone.
I don't get to run much as I see a tree and quickly climb up, careful enough to not damage my dress and sit in the branch.
Minutes pass as I cry and manage to somewhat calm myself as I'm far away from Jennifer.
But my heart still aches.
Why didn't my Dad come? He knew how important this show was for me. I got to play the protagonist.
I heard footsteps nearby and a familiar scent and quickly alerted that someone was coming.
I look at the person in question.
"Jade…?"
"Hey Stella." She gives me a small smile before climbing easily in the tree and sitting by my side.
"I'm guessing you saw what happened there…" I say looking down.
"Yeah I did, don't worry it just showed Jennifer's true bitchiness to everyone there. Besides I saw her aunt hitting her with her cane for what she did." Jade says with a slight smile.
Heh, that sounds like Grace. She told me she doesn't even need the cane she just has it for hitting purposes.
"So your Dad didn't came either huh." She mumbles.
Either?
"Your Dad didn't come?" I ask.
She shakes her head.
"Oh… how about your Mom?" I ask.
"My Mom died at childbirth, so I only have my Dad."
"I'm sorry fo-" she taps my shoulder and I stop.
"It's not your fault is it? Besides I doubt you liked it when people said that to you in your Mom's funeral." Jade says.
She's right, I've never liked it. Now that I think about it, Jade came to the funeral and didn't say those words instead she told me what a great lady my Mom was and how lucky I was for having her. At the time her words only made me miss my Mom more but now I understand her meaning.
"When you told me how lucky I was to have a Mom you said it because…"
"Because I never met my Mom… yeah, I had chatted with your Mom a couple of times but that was enough for me to know what an amazing, sweet and gentle woman she was." Jade smiles.
"Thank you, you're right I am lucky." I smile back.
I was so busy feeling pity for myself I hadn't realized I was also lucky for having a great Mom like her.
"Why didn't your Dad come?" I ask her.
"Not sure, he's always busy all the time, he's missed a lot of my other performances so this isn't anything new to me." Jade says, nonchalantly.
"Oh, does his work keep him busy?" I ask.
"Yeah he's part of our town's council but he always seems to be busy, I've told him I can help him but he's always secretive about his work." Jade frowns.
Council?
"My Dad is part of the council too maybe they know each other." I say.
"He is? Well my Dad's name is Robert Wright, maybe you've heard of him?"
Robert Wright?! That's our Alpha, the secretiveness makes sense, it's pack law we can't tell any non shifter (Imprints excluded) our secret. My own parents didn't tell me the secret until I phased. Though I never noticed their secretiveness but Jade seems more observant than me.
"I have heard of him, he's one of my Dad's friends. My Dad's name is Aaron Roselle." I say.
"I've heard the name Aaron a lot whenever my Dad's on the phone, it should be your Dad." Jade says.
"Small world." Jade chuckles.
"Wow kinda mean of our Dad's to not introduce us before." I say with a smile.
"I know! I know they must be busy with their 'coucil' work but cmon." Jade grins.
If only Jade knew what 'council' work really is…
"We should hang out more." She says.
Really?!
"Oh yeah! That sounds great, we definitely should." I beam, my sadness vanishing.
"Oh that reminds me, when the teacher saw I was going to see you, she told me to ask you to return the dress tomorrow." Jade says.
I look down and realize I'm still wearing the ballet dress while Jade is in normal clothes.
"Oops."
We both start laughing and that's the start of our beautiful friendship.
As we said we hung out regularly until it became everyday and we quickly became best friends.
It turns out the reason our Dads didn't come was because there was a sighting of a vampire near our lands.
The same vampire came again 3 months later while Jade was with her Dad and that activated her transformation.
I was with her all the time, guiding her through the process which only strengthened our bond.
If I thought Jennifer hated me for being the Beta's daughter she definitely hated Jade for being the Alpha's daughter.
Though she held her tongue with Jade more than she did with me.
"Well, well if it isn't the pack royalty." Jennifer says when she sees us in a cafe.
I roll my eyes, our pack doesn't even work like royalty, yes we have ranks but we all treat each other with respect and never belittle anyone. In exception to Jennifer who believes we belittle her when we don't say anything to her.
Jade doesn't put up with anyone's bullshit though.
"If we're royalty then what are you? The Jester?" Jade says smugly.
Jennifer face becomes red in anger and leaves in a huff.
Jade shrugs and continues drinking her slurpee.
I laugh, my god Jennifer had that one coming.
"What?" She turns looking at me ever so innocently while drinking her slurpee.
"Ha! Serves that bitch!" Leah laughs.
Seth chuckles as well.
"Yeah so I guess the day from the ballet show had it's ups and downs." I giggle.
"What about your friend Nate? You told me he was one of your close friends." Seth asks.
"Nate? I actually met him before Jade, he was already a shifter and super friendly, we quickly became friends and he's the one who showed me the ropes about being a shifter." I explain with a happy smile, remembering my brother figure.
"I thought that was Grace?" Seth asks.
"Grace explained and told me everything about shifters and their way in life but she didn't phase anymore so it was Nate who physically taught me everything." I continue.
"Physically…?!" Seth says alarmed.
"Pfttt!" Leah laughs.
"I-I mean that he was the one who trained me and taught me to control my strength, taught me what was our territory, how to patrol and that kind of stuff." I explain with more detail.
"Oh." Seth calms himself.
"Did he help you deal with the bitch or did only Jade help you with her?" Leah asks.
Wow Leah really doesn't like Jennifer but I don't blame her.
"Well Jennifer tried not to bother me when I was hanging out with Nate." I tell them.
"Why's that?" Seth asks.
"She had a crush on him." I grin, remembering that.
"Of course she did." Leah smirks and rolls her eyes.
"Though me hanging out with him only made her hate me more, it didn't help she misunderstood our relationship." I say, thinking back.
"Don't think Nate likes you just because he hangs out with you! He simply babysits you and doesn't even think of you romantically." Jennifer glares at me.
I already know he doesn't like me she doesn't have to smack it on my face…
"If this is your way of getting my attention you're doing a good job at it." I hear Nate's voice near me and see that he's sitting on a nearby tree.
He was probably napping, he always naps on trees.
"You're not getting my attention on a good way of course." He frowns and gets off the tree.
"N-natey…! I didn't see you there…" Jennifer says, worriedly.
Ugh Natey cringe…
"It's Nate, Jennifer. Natey doesn't even sound cutesy it just sounds cringy but just for your words to Stella its Nathan." Nate comes and grabs me and puts me on his back "C'mon Stella I promised you a piggy back ride last time."
"Hehe yeah you did." I put my arms in his neck.
"Man I'm starving, want some ice cream?" he asks.
"Sure!"
Jennifer is right, he doesn't see me as anything else but a little sister. And I'm okay with that, as long as we can laugh together and eat a bunch of ice cream.
"Her words hurt me but It was because she was jealous of our close relationship." I tell the Clearwater siblings.
"Why did her words hurt you? You knew he wasn't babysitting you." Leah asks.
"Well at the time I had a crush on him." I say, bashfully remembering my younger self.
"You do?!" Seth stands up.
"I used to! Like years and years ago. It was just a small crush. As I got older I realized I just liked him as a brother but at the time I was still young and thought I liked him since he was the first guy I had become close friends with." I quickly explain.
Seth seems to calm down after my explanation and sits back down on the floor.
Leah looks at him amused.
"What a kid." She mumbles and shakes her head.
"So did you ever become more than friends with him?" Leah asks, smirking and turning to look at Seth's reaction.
Seth quickly looks at me waiting for my answer.
"No! He's always been just a close friend like a brother even but no nothing more than that."
Seth relaxes after my answer, but Leah doesn't give up wanting to entertain herself with Seth's misery.
"So not Nate but you must have had a boyfriend before you came here, specially with how pretty you are." Leah says.
"Leah!" Seth growls.
"What? I'm only curious." Leah shrugs.
"Well I'm not…" Seth scowls as his shoulders drop.
"No, I never did. We were told all the time about how special Imprints were, I saw it first hand with my parents so I never dated and instead looked for my Imprint." I grab Seth's hand. "Until I found him."
Seth's scowl disappears completely and he beams at me before pulling me to his lap and kissing me in the cheek.
"Ugh can you not have a spitfest in my room." Leah grumbles.
"I haven't even kissed her lips, Leah. Though now that you mention it." Seth gives me a lingering kiss.
So worth the wait.
Leah grabs a pillow and throws it at us.
"Stop! Or else I'll throw you out of my room." Leah threatened.
"Fine, fine." Seth says but still holds me in his lap and I feel comfortable here, more so than the bed.
Who knew the floor would feel better than the bed.
"So Jade must have understood her Dad's secrecy after phasing." Leah says, getting back to the story.
"Yeah she said it all made sense and wasn't as shaken up as I was. She had heard our legends from a young age and believed that there had to be some truth in that." I explain.
It had been a week since Jade phased and she had been adapting easily to pack life.
"Jade you've got to tell me it's only been a week since you've phased and you're easily one of the strongest wolfs in our pack." I say.
"My Dad told me I have superior strength so that must be it." Jade says, nonchalantly.
"Oh don't be humble with me, I know how hard you train. Always asking Nate or one of the others to play fight with you. Not to mention arm wrestling with the pack." I smile.
"Heh, Nate is still sour over his loss." Jade chuckles.
"Which one? Arm wrestling or wolf play fighting?" I ask.
"Both."
We both laugh at that.
As time goes I realized just how important the pack had become to her and unlike me strived to become an Alpha.
I still didn't know if I wanted to be a Beta.
In a way Jade had her life laid out in front of her, keep training in the pack, graduate school, get a career that's in town and become Alpha when her Dad retires.
She didn't seem that interested in finding her Imprint like me and Nate.
She covered us whenever we left town to search for them but never actually joined us.
It's kind of funny how the serious Jade always covered me and Nate.
Because even though she didn't share our enthusiasm in finding our Imprint she still wished for us to find them.
"What do you mean you 'looked' for your Imprint?" Seth asks.
"Well we had always lived in that town so we knew they weren't there so Nate drove me in his motorcycle to nearby towns hoping we could find them." I explain.
"I can imagine that you had no luck." Leah states the obvious.
"Yeah, it just happened my Imprint was in America and not Canada." I say looking at Seth.
"Oops." Seth says mischievously.
We both laugh and he cuddles me and I nuzzle him.
Ah, there really isn't anything better than being on your Imprints embrace.
I look at Leah who is looking down and I hear her mumble, "Look for your Imprint…"
Before I can ask her Leah looks back at me and gets back to the story.
"Well with that attitude that Jennifer has I can't expect her to actually find her Imprint." Leah says.
"Weeellll…she did." I say, dragging my words.
"What! That bitch actually found her Imprint?!" Leah fumes.
"Yeah she did, 2 years ago." I say.
"Ugh she didn't deserve to find him…" Leah grumbles.
"Yeah though if it makes you feel better he wasn't what she expected." I say, trying to make her stop scowling.
"Tch, she should be thankful for even finding him. She can't start wishing it is some perfect guy." Leah rants.
"What I would give to just find him…" Leah mumbles lowly. But both Seth and I heard her.
Seth and me share a glance, knowing how hard it is for Leah and how big her wish to find her Imprint is.
I already had an idea Leah wanted to find her Imprint but after joining their pack and hearing her thoughts while on wolf form I realize just how lonely and sad she feels.
"So what were her 'requirements' for her Imprint?" Leah scowls.
"Jennifer was sure that her Imprint was going to be older, outgoing and handsome. That must be why she had a crush on Nate but in reality her Imprint was none of those things."
"Well her illusions were crushed but she still got her happy ending." Leah rolls her eyes.
"They met before he phased so she bothered him at the beginning." I say, recalling the memory.
"Wow poor loser." Leah says.
"Wait so she didn't realize they were Imprints? Because even if it was before he phased, she had already phased." Seth asks.
"Jennifer hadn't looked him in the eyes so the Imprinting never happened until after he phased. He was a shy guy so he always avoided looking at people's eyes." I explain.
I remember back when I was 14 and she was 16.
Scott had become my partner for science class, he was pretty quiet but I've noticed he's smart so I'm sure our project will go good.
Me and Scott were walking home from school talking about our project and deciding on a time to work on it.
My sensitive nose quickly smells Jennifer walking on our direction so I quickly ask Scott.
"Um do you want to go that way?" I ask and point to the left.
"Sorry but my house is this way, I thought yours was too." He says and I nod.
I simply count the seconds before Jennifer clashes into us.
Which does't take long.
"My, my If it isn't Stella walking with her boyfriend." Jennifer sneers.
"Oh, we're not like that." Scott explains but I know it's no use.
"C'mon don't be shy. Stella is a pretty girl isn't she? Of course she's your girlfriend." Jennifer says, trying to manipulate the situation.
"She is pretty but we're just partners in a-" Scott was saying before he was interrupted.
"Partners! You just admitted it. How cute…!" Jennifer says with her sickly, sweet smile.
"We're classmates so stop assuming things!" I yell and grab Scott's hand and storm off.
"Awww they're holding hands! I'll be sure to tell Natey!" I hear her saying behind me but I don't look back.
"So she teased you about dating the guy who later became her Imprint?" Leah asks.
"Mhm." I say and munch on a cookie.
My god, Sue is such a good baker.
"That girl has problems." Leah grumbles.
"She must have been surprised when they Imprinted." Seth comments.
"Oh you've got no idea, I've never seen her more surprised, embarrassed, and angry in her life."
"Surprised and embarrassed I get but why angry?" Leah asks.
"Well because he's not what she expected." I say.
"Ugh! Stinking bitch how can she complain that her Imprint is not what she expected…!" Leah rants.
"Yeah well she got the opposite of what she wanted. She wanted older, outgoing and handsome but Scott was 2 years younger, quiet and well average looking." I say.
"I doubt he was happy to be Imprinted to her." Leah says in a grumble.
"Well he was just really confused, he had just phased a day before so he was still processing being a shapeshifter and to find out he had an Imprint the next day was really surprising." I say, recalling the time.
A few weeks passed after Jennifer bothered me and Scott, she teased me whenever she saw me and I heard from Scott she teased him too when she saw him. I apologized for getting him into this but he was understanding and said it wasn't my fault.
I'm on the pack house, explaining various things to Scott who just yesterday became a shifter after a vampire passed our lands.
"Wait, Jennifer is a shifter too?" He asks, with disgust in his voice.
"Yeah I know believe me I'm not thrilled either." I say with a chuckle.
And speaking of the devil, I could smell and hear her nearby.
Though she wasn't alone.
"C'mon Natey let's go on a date. We can go to the nearby cafe." Jennifer says with her sweet voice.
Wow even after all these years Jennifer doesn't give up.
"Jennifer you know I don't see you like that." Nate says as he approaches the pack house obviously trying to get away from her.
"Why?! Is it because of our age difference? It's only 4 years it's not that big of a difference."
I roll my eyes, Yeah Jennifer but your personality leaves much to be desired.
"No, it's not that, I want to find my Imprint." Nate says still walking away from her.
That's true, me and Nate have been looking for our Imprints ever since we met, driving to nearby towns in the hope of meeting them, but no luck.
"Natey c'mon! Finding an Imprint is super rare! And who knows where she is while I'm right here." Jennifer counters, not giving up.
I know from Jennifer's thoughts how much she wishes Nate was her Imprint but thankfully he wasn't that unlucky.
They both enter the pack house and Nate's eyes quickly land on me.
I can already guess his thoughts, 'Jackpot!'
"Stella! How was patrol?" Nate asks me, happily.
He knows how much Jennifer dislikes me so if I'm here she might leave.
Happy to help, older brother.
"It was good, this is Scott our new pack member." I say, introducing him.
Scott gives a quiet hello.
"Hey! So you're the new recruit I've heard about, nice to meet you!" Nate says as friendly as always.
"Ugh, you're here." I hear Jennifer say as she enters the pack house too.
Of course she means me.
"Good seeing you too Jennifer." I roll my eyes.
"Oh wow, so Scott is the new recruit? Here I was hoping it was someone cooler." Jennifer says looking at Scott disgruntled.
Scott hearing his name turns his head to look at Jennifer and when they did, they both stood frozen.
Frozen, almost entranced.
Nate and I share a look.
It can't be… can it?
After a few seconds, they seem to snap out of their trance.
Jennifer being the first, and soon her face shows many emotions.
Surprise, embarrassed, and angry.
When Scott does too, he takes a step towards her, she tightens her lips and runs away.
Nate and I stare at the scene baffled.
"W-What just happened…?" Scott says to himself.
That's what I'd like to know…
"Stella, what just happened?" Scott says now turning to me.
"I-I think you just imprinted…?" I say, feeling confused of it myself.
Scott blinks, "What's that?"
I know what it is but don't feel the most qualified to answer.
I look at my side and Nate understands my dilemma.
He hasn't found his Imprint either so he's not the most qualified either.
Thankfully Kevin, Nate's dad decides to come at that moment.
"What're you kids doing?"
Nate quickly catches him up to date and Kevin is the one who explains Imprinting to Scott.
I sigh deeply.
I'd never thought Jennifer would find her Imprint before Nate or I as she never looked for him, I also didn't know if to congratulate Scott or have pity on him.
Jennifer didn't come to the pack house for the rest of the day or the next day, Scott seemed desperate to see her so I told him her address and by the next day they were a couple.
Nate was relieved since it meant he didn't have to deal with Jennifer's flirting, and I just hoped it would make Jennifer a better person.
It didn't happen.
Jennifer kept bulling me even when she had Scott at her side and he didn't say anything and just stayed at her side.
If I ever insulted her back, Scott would glare at me and sometimes even shielded her.
It made me so angry because he had to know that she was at the wrong and still defended her.
Jennifer even had the nerve to use that against me by telling me I was Imprint-less and that I'll probably never find him no matter how much I look.
She also told those things to Jade but she never cared, her focus was on getting stronger and becoming a good future alpha.
The only good thing I saw from their imprinting was that Jennifer sometimes was busy on dates with him so she had less time to bother me.
"So even after meeting him she didn't change for the better?" Leah asks.
I shake my head, "She did seem much happier but well she still hated me and Jade because of our special abilities, our high ranking Dads and our coat was prettier."
I have superior smell and hearing, and Jade had superior strength. Jade's Dad is an Alpha while mine is Beta and I have a beige colored wolf and Jade has a silver wolf.
I still think its dumb to hate us for that, we couldn't help any of those things, we were born with all of them.
"Those are stupid reasons to hate someone." Leah scowls.
Tell me about it.
Seth hugs me close, "Well I'm glad you don't have to see her anymore."
Thank god for that.
"And well you do have the most beautiful coat." Seth whispers in my ear and I giggle.
I can see from Leah's eye roll she heard his whisper.
"Seth don't forget what Embry said the other day." I say, playfully.
"Oh don't remind me…" Seth grumbles.
Two weeks ago, it was my turn to patrol with Seth and we were playfully chasing each other while we patrolled and Seth said.
"Wow I still can't believe how beautiful you look, I've never seen such a gorgeous wolf in my life."
I chuckle, feeling embarrassed, when we hear Embry's voice.
"Well since the only other female wolf you've seen is your sister it's obvious Stella is the most beautiful wolf you've seen."
We had forgotten Embry was doing patrol in another area and could hear us.
Leah finishes the last cookie and gives the tray to Seth.
"Well the cookies were great, so thank Mom from us." Leah says and I agree quickly, "And it's time we get our beauty rest so you should leave."
"Well some need it more than others." Seth mumbles.
"You punk!" Leah yells and Seth scrambles out of her room.
Leah slams the door.
"Stella goodnight! I love you!" Seth yells through the door.
"Goodnight! I love you too!" I yell back.
"I love you more!" Seth yells and I can almost see the big smile on his face.
"No, I love you more!" I yell with a huge smile.
"Nope! I'm absolutely sure I love you more!" Seth yells back.
"I'm pretty sure I lo-" I was saying when Leah interrupted me.
"You both love each other a ton, we get it!"
I can hear Seth chuckle and I do as well.
"Goodnight to you too sis." Seth says through the door.
"Now you remember me." Leah crosses her arms.
"Yeah, yeah." I then hear Seth walk away to his room.
"Well let me get out a sleeping pad." Leah takes out a sleeping pad and puts it besides her bed.
She hands me a pillow and some covers.
"Thanks Leah." I say and get under the covers.
"No problem." Leah then goes and turns down the lights.
A few minutes pass when Leah says, "Thanks for telling us about your life, I had always wondered how it was for another female shifter."
"It's no problem, I also wanted to tell you both. You're both really important to me." I tell her.
"Goodnight Stella." Leah whispers, and I think she's smiling.
"Goodnight Leah." I whisper back.
Tomorrow is the day… I will go look for my pack, Dad, Nate, Jade.
I hope I find them all.
No, I know I'll find them.
Did I do a flashback in a flashback? Yes, yes I did. XD
Here's the awaited chapter, sorry for taking so long but as you've noticed It's longer than most of my chapters.
I know none of you asked to know more of Stella's past but I wrote it anyway XD
All these ideas have been in my head for months so it's good to finally type them.
Also I mentioned her Dad a couple of times, I know it's late but Happy Father's day!
And even super more late Happy Mother's day! Be nice to your parents and realize how lucky you are to have them!
