Chapter 37: Joy

(JOY)

It takes courage to grow up and become who you really are.

Who you were always meant to be.

It takes courage to walk straight toward destiny

Never flinching, accepting what will come.

I suppose it probably wasn't the best thing to hide in my room for a few days. It probably wasn't wise or fair to avoid and dodge phone calls from Delilah and Dawn, and I missed them like hell. It was plain stupid to hope my family didn't realize something was wrong.

"Joy?" My mom called my name, poking her head in my door. I thought my mother was one of the most beautiful people in La Push. It wasn't an obvious beauty, not like Cassie or Stella, but more of a hidden one, a softness and mysteriousness that you could miss if you didn't look hard enough. If anything, growing older was just making her more beautiful, she had laugh lines draw into her mouth, same as my dad, and her hair was still as long and shiny brown as it had always been.

"I'm right here." I said from my precarious perch on the window seat. I had my knees drawn up to my chin and I was watching the rain gently roll down the glass. Kim entered the room, leaving the door wide open, with it open I could hear the whole way downstairs, I could hear my brothers and my dad outside, the screen door must have been open. I could them laughing, a ball being tossed through the air, running, a large body hitting the ground. They must have been playing football.

"The boys are playing outside." My mom said, leaning against the window frame. "Your daddy wanted me to come up and see if you wanted to play."

"Play football with Danny and Aaron? Now?" I asked dubiously. When we are younger, playing football with my brothers and dad had been nothing. Now they were both much larger than me, and unlike dad, never thought to be gentle with the girl.

"They promised to be nice." My mom said with a smile. "No tackling you."

"No thanks. It's raining, I don't want to get muddy." I said, shaking my head and looking back out the window. Mom didn't move.

"Are you fighting with Liley and Dawnie?" Kim asked. I started, looking up at her. She continued. "You're together every day in the summer, it usually takes a crowbar to pull the three of you apart. But you haven't seen them in days. And you haven't been taking their phone calls either. Delilah has already called five times today."

I had to smile. Delilah was a pesky little thing. "No, mom. We're not fighting." I answered.

"Well, Joyful, what's going on? You've barely moved in three days." Kim asked insistently. I sighed, looking down at my own hands.

It should have been easy to tell my parents. Heaven knew they'd already been through it twice. But it was different with Daniel and Aaron. My mom and dad had been more proud than anything. They'd been supposed to, expected to, phase. I wasn't supposed to, the magic was supposed to skip me.

And when Daniel had phased, I'd been so jealous. I'd wanted to be as strong and fast as he'd become. I'd talked about it all the time, and my parents had just laughed. I'd been too young to understand that being a female werewolf was hard. That it was mostly impossible.

Now it looked like what I'd wanted some time ago had finally come back to haunt me. My body was morphing, changing, into something I couldn't quite comprehend. Something I was ashamed of. A girly-wolf, something my parents had never wanted or expected.

"I'm scared." I finally said. Mom frowned, reaching out to run her fingers through my curls.

"Oh Joy…" She murmured. "You're scared of what's going to happen? Liley told you about that monster?"

"Yeah." I answered evasively. The truth was, I'd barely given any thought to that. It seemed too…unreal. Besides…I was safe in La Push, right? I couldn't imagine anyone or anything being strong enough to rip through the pack. I had more pressing problems, mostly like my own body rebelling.

"Joy, just because…just because there's something out there, doesn't mean you can shut yourself away in your house. Now, more than ever, you need your family and friends. We all need each other."

"Thanks mom." I said softly, continuing to look out the window. I could hear a car coming down the street. I started when it turned into the winding driveway. Mom looked up, a smile playing across her lips.

"I told Delilah and Dawn to come over today." Mom said cheekily as Jacob Black got out of the front seat of the car. The passenger door opened and I saw Cassie, looking so much like Delilah it hurt. Jake walked around the side of the car and took her hand, leading her over to my dad and brothers. Dawn and Delilah were both in the back seat, they slid out and walked around together too, their heads bowed against the rain. My heart stuttered to a stop.

"Why are Cassie and Jake here?" I asked, my mouth dry as I watched my dad reach out and hug Cassie, high fiving Jake.

"They're our friends." My mom smiled brilliantly. "Why wouldn't they be here?"

"I guess." I murmured, standing and following my mom downstairs. The door was swinging wide open, Jacob had to duck to get through the door, same as my dad and brothers, although Aaron still hit his head off the door frame on a regular basis. He shook clear drops of water from his hair and smiled brightly when he saw mom and I.

"Kim!" He shouted, pulling her into a one armed hug. Cassie kissed my mom's cheek, her smile warm. Dad towered behind them, amused. Something about the four of them reminded me of my friends and I, or of Tyler, Eva, Daniel and Echo. Around Jake and Cassie, my parents seemed younger.

"Joy!" Delilah threw herself at me, hugging me so tightly I could barely breathe. Her skin was cool against mine, like a sweet breeze on a hot summer day. Dawn tackled both of us, but I was strong enough to hold up both of them. Neither of them weighed much at all.

"I missed you." Dawn said, kissing my cheek.

"If you ever stop taking my calls again, I will kill you." Delilah promised. I smiled.

"Missed you too." I murmured. I realized that everyone else had moved, sitting on couches. My parents were smiling, they looked relieved. Jake grinned slowly holding out his hand in a high five type motion. I just stared at him, and he raised his eyebrow quizzically.

"You told your dad." I accused Delilah. She smiled sweetly.

"It's kind of his deal." She answered. Daniel laughed, which he had to turn into a cough at mom and dad's scandalized look.

"It's okay, Joy. It's not like we're mad at you." My dad said slowly. "Surprised, but it's not something you can control."

"Life sucks and then you turn into a furry, biting, hot-tempered werewolf. Whatever." I rolled my eyes. Everyone laughed.

"Don't be so dramatic. We're excited." Aaron said with a grin. "Our baby sister a werewolf like us? It's the whole family now, Joy."

"Dad told everyone." Delilah said. "Sorry."

"We debated trying to force you to phase." Jacob said, reclining back, one arm around Cassie, who leaned against him, much like my mom always leaned against my dad. "But…it's so unusual. Joy…the only other female werewolf is Leah. She didn't phase until she was almost twenty. You're only thirteen."

I sniffed at the tone, only thirteen. Cassie smiled, stepping in. "It's not that you're not mentally prepared for it. You're very mature for your age, Joy. We're worried your body might not be quite ready for it. So…the pack decided…" She looked over at my mom.

"We're going to keep letting you go wherever you want this summer. We decided that if you happened to phase, Delilah could take care of you….and if you still haven't phased when school starts up, well, there's enough werewolves in that school to turn it into a B horror movie. You'll be fine…it's not something to worry about. You never did have a temper." Mom said quietly.

"My life…it won't change at all?" I asked. Cassie smiled.

"Not yet." Dawn added on. "Not until you phase."

"Leah's outside." Cassie said to Jacob. "And Blazey."

"Why am I starting so early?" I asked.

There was a moment of awkward silence. Everyone of the adults looked at each other. The only people that didn't look concerned were Daniel and Aaron.

"We don't know." Jacob admitted, honestly. "But don't worry. We'll figure it out."

"Why don't you guys go outside and continue our game." My dad asked my brothers. They both stood, stretching, and practically escorted the three of us out the door. Leah was waiting there, and when I appeared she instantly threw her arms around me.

"I know this isn't so great for you." Leah murmured. "But I'm excited to have another girl. If anybody can do this, Joy, it's you."

"Thanks Leah." I said, smiling for the first time in days. The boys had already picked up the football, Blaze was with them, debating teams.

My parents were talking in the house. I could hear them.

"I'm sorry, Kim." Cassie said so softly. "I…If I would never have come here…"

"We would have watched Jake be miserable for years. My kids would be out three of their best friends. Leah would have probably went psycho and killed Sam and Emily…" My dad said.

"I wouldn't have one of my best friends." Mom added on softly.

"Kids as great as yours are worth fighting for." My dad said. "Kids as great as all of ours. It's worth fighting for their future. Even if we didn't know what was behind this, even if you'd never came, we would have had to fight it someday."

"You think she's phasing early because of that…that monster?" My mom asked.

"She…she went after Echo. Tormenting, teasing I think. Like a cat playing with a mouse." Jacob added on.

"Jake and I…we think we have less than a year. When Delilah came back…she said that this all happened before Echo's nineteenth birthday. She changed the future…but I don't know how much, or which way. But we have about a year…give or take."

"She's living with that vampire, Christian." Jacob growled his name like a swear word.

"That's terrible." My dad said. "The last thing Echo needs right now is a leech hanging around, screwing up her life more."

"I don't know what to make of him." Cassie murmured. "I don't know what to say to her."

"It doesn't matter right now." My mom finally cut in. "In about a year, my children are going to be fighting something I can't even understand. Something too strong for us."

"I don't want to send Joy in." Jacob said quickly. "The younger ones…I'll try and keep them home."

"But you can't promise anything…and our boys…" Dad trailed off.

"Oh Kimmy, please don't cry." Cassie begged. I heard shuffling and moving.

"I can't lose them. I can't lose anybody…your kids, mine, Lucy's, Emily's….they're too young for this. I couldn't bear to lose them."

"We'll make it out of this, Kim." Jacob said. "I promise, no matter what, we'll make it out of this."

"Joy?" Delilah asked, jarring me from the conversation in the house. I forgot she couldn't hear what I was hearing. She smiled, inclining her head to the boys. "Wanna play? Touch football only, I'm not getting tackled by your brothers."

"Sure." I mumbled, dazed.

Maybe there was something bigger than my own body to worry about. But in the sun, the grass, the stillness of the whole world, I couldn't imagine the danger coming at us from all sides. It seemed silly…to think of Echo being in danger from any vampire when she was so strong. It seemed ridiculous that anyone could take out our pack.

But there was something that really bothered me. When Delilah came back…she changed the future. What the hell did that mean? I looked at Delilah, her red hair shining in the sun. She was right here, and she was as innocent and carefree as I was.

Wasn't she?