Author Note: Okay, okay a long time coming I now but you see how long it is. This chapter was an emotional roller coaster for me to write and basically the apex of the story so I wanted to get it just right and not short change anyone.

First of all: thanks to PattyOFurniture for doing a Beta scan for me. I was so tired of looking at it. Thanks to itslikenature for all her continued support with this labor of love. you girls are my rocks.

Alright, I'm sure I'll have something to say after the chapter so I'll just shut up and let you read. the song...johnny cash...others sing it but not like he does.

Chapter 34

The first time ever I saw your face
I thought the sun rose in your eyes
And the moon and stars were the gifts you gave
To the dark and the endless sky, my love.

The first time ever I kissed your mouth
I felt the earth move through my hands
Like the trembling heart of a captive bird
That was there at my command.

And the first time ever I lay with you
I felt your heart so close to mine
And I know our joy would fill the earth
And last till the end of time my love
It would last till the end of time my love

The first time ever I saw your face.

Sam's POV

"God," I said out loud, "I only just got her, whoever's listening please don't take her from me yet. I will spend the rest of my life making up for this but I can't live without her." I felt the lightest of brushes against my knee. The tug at my heart was like a chained weight again, the electricity from that touch sparked my whole body back to life.

"Sophie…"

"Sam…"

It was nothing but a weak whisper but I heard her. I brought my head up to meet her piercing dark eyes. They were shallow and haunted but she was awake. I smiled as big as I could as the tears streamed down my face.

"Sam," she breathed out like every movement hurt. I leaned down close to her and placed a kiss on her forehead.

"Shh. Angel, shh. Don't talk, it'll be ok." She looked around the ambulance with confusion and fear. I don't think she knew what was going on.

"It's okay, Sophie, we're on our way to the hospital. You're going to be okay."

"It hurts, it hurts so bad."

"I know Angel; they're going to fix you good as new." She tried to reach for me but I stopped her. "Baby don't move okay, you need to rest."

"No, Sam I," she paused looking around. I don't think the EMT was even paying attention, not that he could hear her rough whispers they were so quiet. "Sam, I saw you…all of you. Why?"

There were so many different meanings in what she said. I know what she meant when she said she saw us; she meant she saw our wolves. But I didn't know what she meant by 'why', why what? Why did we not tell her? Why did this happen to her? There were so many possibilities. But she shouldn't be worried about that now; she needed to focus on healing.

"Sophie, later, you just worry about getting better okay? You scared me for a minute; I thought you were trying to leave me." I tried to joke but more tears came.

"Sam, I can't…it hurts, GOD IT HURTS." She screamed the last part and then it happened, monitors started beeping like crazy and her tight grip on my hand began to loosen.

"HELP HER." I screamed to the EMT who pushed me out of the way. What was going on? Two seconds ago she was talking to me now I'm watching the EMT pump her chest.

"Sir, you know CPR right, you're a police officer right?" I knew that the Forks Hospital staff new who all the officers were so that didn't surprise me what surprised me was the idea of actually having to help save Sophie. I could have done this with my eyes closed with anyone else but with Sophie, it was so much harder.

"Yeah, yeah sure." I tried to pull myself together and move beside the EMT who was putting an oxygen bag on Sophie's once again lifeless body. He gave me a nod and I started pumping her chest. Every once in a while I would stop so he could push air down into her. We did this all the way to the emergency room in Forks while l howled like a baby.

"What's going on?" Not even fifteen minutes after we got to the hospital Jimmy came barreling through the ER doors ready to kill someone. Little did he know that someone should be me. I'm the one who did this; I'm the only one responsible for what happened to her.

I'd been sitting there since we arrived going over everything and anything that I could have done differently. I could have told her about Kade in the first place so she knew what he really was. I could have told her about us so that she didn't have to go chasing Abbey down to the damn beach to begin with. I could have been smart enough to know that I should have left someone behind with her.

"Jimmy," I stood up and noticed Anne, Seth and well pretty much everyone else come through the doors.

"Sam, wha…what happened?" Though his rage was clear what nearly broke me was the pain also so evident in his eyes. There was one thing I never questioned and that was his love for his daughter.

"Jimmy, I…we're not sure." I looked for Jake, if ever I needed my Beta it was now, there's no way I could lie to him not now, not about this. But it was Anne who came to his side.

"Sweetheart, why don't we go find the doctors okay? Let's see what they say." She looked at me with a small smile and I knew she was saving me. I knew I must look like a crazy, lost person. I was still shirtless, still shoeless and covered in her blood. I sat back down in the small plastic chairs and put my head in my hands.

"Sam, she's going to be okay, you know that right?" Seth, this kid was always so god damn optimistic what the fuck did he know.

I looked around quickly for Jimmy; he was at the nurses' station demanding to see a doctor so I knew he wouldn't hear us. "Give me a fucking break Seth," I looked around at everyone staring at me shocked. "Don't fucking look at me like that. You all know very well what happened and what the possibilities could be."

I know they say when tragedy happens you go through stages, I guess so because my shock had worn off and now I was pissed. No one had told me anything when we got here because I was not 'family.' Fuck do they know about family? Now I had to sit here while everyone patted my back trying to make me feel better.

"Sam," Rachel scolded me for my tone. "You don't know anything yet; it's best just to keep positive thoughts." I stood up when she said that and Paul jumped in front of her. What the hell did he think I was going to do to her? I watched him hold her close and rub soothing circles on her pregnant belly. This just sent me over the edge even more. How dare they have everything that I may never get.

"Shut up Rachel," I sneered and Paul growled. "Give it a rest Paul I'm not going to hurt her. But don't any of you sit there and try to pretend like everything is okay; we don't even know what happened. Obviously he hit her but why, when, how long had she been laying there in a pool of her own blood waiting for someone to help her and I was all the fucking way in Port Angeles so don't DON'T tell me it's going to be okay!"

"Son," I gasped in shock and turned around to see Jimmy standing there. "There isn't anything you could have done differently. The nurses told me how you helped the EMT; she's still alive because of you. Now the doctors said that she needs surgery immediately to repair some of the tears internally. I know she'll want to see you as soon as she wakes up so why don't you go home and get cleaned up okay?"

"No!" I didn't mean to shout at Jimmy but I was still really worked up. "No, I mean." I said more quietly. "I'm staying here, what if she wakes up, what if something happens and I'm not here."

"Sam, you need some clothes and a shower. We're not going to know anything for a couple hours so please, go get cleaned up and pick up Brady and Collin at the vet. We left them there with Koda; you know that's the first thing she'll ask about." Jimmy smirked at his comment about Koda, but still looked sad. He must be made of steel because he was so in control and I was a manic wreck. He was right though, that crazy girl, her dog would be the first thing she asked about. I nodded at Jimmy and walked toward the door.

"I think I want to come with you okay? I can't sit here waiting for her to be…"

"Sure Quil, come on."

Neither of us spoke the whole time we were gone. We drove to my house; as soon as we pulled up I could see our new house. It still wasn't quite built but the walls were up enough to start working on the inside. I was going to have Sophie come over next week to start planning it out. Our house, yes, one day, I have to believe that one day we'll be able to live here with our children and grow old with each other on the front porch. One day.

I moved like a zombie just going through the motions as I got clean clothes for both Quil and I, he was still just in his shorts too. As I stepped under the hot water all I could do was stand there and watch her blood wash away. I leaned forward and pressed m y forearm against the shower wall and leaned in resting my head on it. I cried until the water ran cold.

After Quil was showered we left. "Thanks for the hot water asshole."

"Sorry man," I smirked and actually felt my spirits lifted for the first time. Of course that changed when we went to Dr. Adam's office and picked up the twins. They were both still dirty and half dressed. Their puffy eyes gave away how upset they really were.

"He'll be fine," Brady said talking to the car window. "Nothing but a few bruises and a cracked rib. We can pick him up tomorrow if we promise to make him take it easy." No one said anything in return but we were all relieved.

"Fucking cracked rib and some bruises," Collin said a few minutes later surprising everyone. I pulled up in front of his house so they could run in and clean up and turned around to face him.

"What did you say?"

"I said a fucking cracked rib. Momma is sitting in a hospital dying to save her dog and all he has is a fucking cracked rib!"

"Shut Up!" Brady shouted at him. "She's not dying you asshole don't ever fucking say that." And then he leapt on Collin and started punching him. "Koda is like her kid you fucker," I reached in the back and pulled Brady throwing him against the door.

"Knock it off! I mean it"

"Sorry Sam," Collin said looking ashamed. "Sorry Brady."

"Yeah me too, man."

"Good, now go get cleaned up both of you." And with that they were running toward the house.

"You know those two really do love her like a second mother." Quil said staring at the house.

"Yeah, big fucking babies. She coddles them too much."

"Eh, the deserve it. Phasing so young and everything." Quil's serious side impressed me when he finally let it show. I think he'd make a damn fine leader some day.

"Yeah, too bad we didn't meet her five years ago, huh?" We both chuckled just as the boys came from inside the house.

"Way to hustle guys," Quil said as they hopped in the car.

"Let's just go okay, we're wasting time." Brady said as though he was the only one who wanted to get back.

By the time we got back to Forks we had been gone just over an hour. We walked in and saw everyone still waiting in the plastic waiting room. Jimmy was pacing back and forth while Anne sat there looking hopeless.

"Mom," Quil said as he ran over to her. Funny how moments like this make you think of the oddest things. Right now when my thoughts should be with how Sophie is doing I was thinking about all the relationships in the room, seeing Quil take care of his mother who had become like Sophie's mother in such a short time.

It made me ache for my own mother. She should be here; she should know the woman I loved. I looked up to Jimmy who was still pacing. He was what a father should be. I knew I could never or would never expect my father to be there like this. But I was oddly at peace with that fact. I never had him anyway. I didn't need him then and I don't need him now. But he did leave unfinished business; almost losing Sophie made me realize that was one thing I would set right.

"Hey guys," I said finally approaching everyone. "Sorry, you know, about before."

"It's okay man, we get it." Paul stood to give me a hug, I was glad things were okay with us.

"Why don't you guys get out of here too, go clean up yourselves. Where are the kids?"

"Nanna and Cam have them," Seth said, "but we could probably go check on them if that's okay, I know I could use a shower."

Reluctantly all the guys left but their wives stayed, not wanting to leave Sophie. They all knew too well that what happened to her could have happened to any of them. Especially Bella who hadn't spoken or moved once.

"Leah's on her way with Abbey and the boys. It took a lot of convincing for her to get Abbey to come so go easy on her once she gets here." Jake said as he walked out the door.

"Of course."

Another hour passed and we still hadn't seen so much as one fucking white lab coat. Seriously what in the hell was taking so long? I had taken to pacing with Jimmy on the opposite wall. We'd decided that having over 10 people in the waiting room of the small hospital was not necessary so the rest of the pack worked out a rotating schedule of stopping by and watching babies and making food, of course the food was up there on the list. Of course, I chuckled to myself.

Billy, Sue and Charlie were here now. Of course Quil and the twins refused to leave but that was expected. I sat back down next to Quil and watched the guys doing picture searches in the Highlights magazines that were in the waiting room. I shook my head and nudged Quil to look at them. "Idiots." Was all he said.

We were both laughing when the doors from the surgical unit swung open and a guy in gray scrubs and one of those surgery hats on top of his head came walking out.

"Mr. Coleman?" He looked around waiting for Sophie's dad to acknowledge him. I was immediately at Jimmy's side.

"Mr. Coleman, I don't know what to tell you, there was a lot of damage internally. We had to remove her spleen and her appendix just to try to control the bleeding." I stood there frozen as the doctor explained everything that they had to do. "I've got to tell you, I've never seen a bear attack like that. To make such a clean cut that was probably what saved her, the clean slices of the wounds."

Jimmy and I both winced and the doctor apologized for his choice of words. "The good news though, your daughter is going to be just fine, with time of course, she has a long haul in front of her. " He kept talking but I wasn't listening. I was of course, crying again but this time because I knew she was going to be okay. Sue came up to hug me while Anne was cradling a sobbing Jimmy. I think he tried to stay strong for her but now that she was going to make it he finally let his emotions come.

"I know everything is overwhelming right now, but if you'd like to see her…"

"YES." I shouted jumping back up to the doctor's face. "Yes, we want to see her."

"I'm sorry sir, family only. Unless you're…"

"He's family," Jimmy sounded firm and irritated at the doctor. "He's family," he repeated wrapping his hand around my bicep and squeezing. I looked down to him and gave my best thank you smile. I don't know if I would have been able to keep my senses if they tried keeping her from me.

"Of course sir, I apologize. Now then, only two at a time, follow me." Jimmy turned to Anne giving her one more hug and a very loving kiss.

"Call Ben, he's probably already in the air but call him for me." Anne nodded and we walked through the doors.

Sophie's POV

You know how they say that when you are about to die your life flashes before your eyes? Well that's a bunch of bullshit. I laid there on the beach slowing bleeding to death while my internal organs felt like they were spilling out and all I could think about was the monster staring at me. I thought about how stupid I was not to figure all this out earlier, and how stupid I was for ignoring the fact that my boyfriend and everyone around me was hiding this from me.

In a blur of black fur and snarling fangs I watched as a wolf jumped into my eye line and was just as quickly gone taking Kade with him. Although my body was a tangled mess I was able to move my head around. I saw nearly a dozen wolves, or at least it seemed like it running around trying to get to Kade. I saw Jared and Paul morph out of two of the wolves and start a damn fire.

A fire? I'm lying here dying and they are building a fucking fire? The pain was starting to spread and I knew that it was time. I was surprisingly at peace in that moment. I ached for Sam, the pull that I had felt the very first day I met him though denied was still there. It was weakened but it was there. I slipped into the dark without as much as a glimpse of the happy moments of my life, just the horror of what had just taken place.

When I opened my eyes again the first thing that registered was the pain. It coursed through my body like venom, every inch of me felt like a crushed grape. Squinting through my eyes I could tell I was in a hospital, the lights were dim and it was dark outside but the small beeping noise in the back ground and the distinct smell of disinfectant told me where I was.

I groaned as the memories of why I was in the hospital and feeling so broken came back in a rush. I was hurt because I was attacked, by a fucking vampire. No seriously a fucking vampire, I mean of all the surreal things in life. Oh and why wasn't I dead? Because wolves saved me. Yep vampire killing wolves saved me, and to make things just fucking aces…my boyfriend, the love of my life was one said wolf.

If it weren't for the pain I would have laughed. I mean what else can you do at the situation because if you don't laugh about it you'd kill someone but who can you kill when you're surrounded by the supernatural? Speaking of which, I sat up a little against my bed which was reclined but not flat. I saw Sam sleeping in a chair at the foot of my bed his head lying on the bed.

I sat there staring at him, not wanting to wake him I tried to stay quiet and just watch him. Images passed through my head like a flash sequence from the movies. The traded looks the girls passed each other the first time I met them. The cutoff of words that happened so frequently. My conversation with Bella when she was on bed rest. The bone deep feeling that I knew they were hiding something but I chose to ignore it. Then everything that happened, Abbey, Kade, Seth and Quil, Sam desperate to make me understand but still afraid to tell me anything.

That is the feeling and the sight that stuck with me most. It made me sick to my stomach. The look of fear in his eyes, the way he just sat there when I asked for explanations. The way he just left me alone, to find out everything from a damn book. Abbey was upset with me and I didn't know why, I couldn't help her. Even she thought I knew. Made me wonder who did know and what they knew. I'll never forget the fear and anger in Abbey's eyes, it will forever haunt me.

I will never forget the evil, sick humor in Kade's eyes when he told me that Sam must not love me if he didn't tell me. Why didn't he tell me? He lied to me, constantly, they all did. For months they took me in, made me family, made me love them. I turned away from Sam unable to look at his face anymore. I stared at the wall with hot tears streaking silently down my face as my life as I knew it came crashing down around me.

The next time I opened my eyes there was a bright beam of sunlight coming through the blinds. I rubbed my eyes adjusting to the brightness. My body was feeling a little bit better but then again I haven't tried to move yet. I placed my hands on the bed to push myself upright.

"UGH, shit." I said, okay I was still sore.

"Hey," a deep voice chuckled from the chair across the room. I gasped really loud, I thought I was alone.

"Son of a mother Hubbard, Ben you scared the shit out of me."

"Sorry doll," he smirked as he moved to come sit next to me on the bed.

"How are you feeling? Do you need the nurse?"

"No, no I'm fine just give me a second to adjust. What time is it?"

"It's about 7 AM; I just got here for my shift." He began pulling up my blankets and handed me a glass of water.

"Stop babying me Ben," I scolded but smiled at how doting he was being. "How, what, how long have I been here?"

"It's Saturday, they brought you in really early Wednesday morning, I got here as soon as I could. Do you remember…what happened?"

Even though I remembered every event as clear as day, I was never going to get those pictures out of my head; I had a feeling that I should let him tell me what he knew. Chances that everyone just up and said 'see Jimmy, your daughter was attacked by a vampire' were pretty unlikely.

"Uh huh, I'm not sure. I remember being with Koda," oh my god. "Ben," I said in a panic and the tears came at the very thought that something had happened.

"He's fine, almost good as new. A few cracked ribs, some bruises." I sighed deeply and wiped the tears. "I still can't fucking believe it though, I mean a bear? What are the chances?"

Pretty damn slim, I mean I had assumed they lied to cover up what happened but I couldn't help be angry at them even more than I already was. Who the hell were these holier than thou assholes to tell bold faced lies to people in the name of what? To save people the knowledge of what was out there and what could hurt them? Maybe if they had told me then I would have been able to help or stay away from Kade or something, I don't know…anything!

"Yeah, bear, crazy huh?" I answered him mindlessly still thinking about that ban of Quileute people who lied to me. I think what bothered me most was Sam. I told him I loved him, he said that he loved me back. I was planning a future with him, I could see my mixed skinned, black haired children, I could see my gray haired ass growing old next to him. Obviously he didn't feel the same way or else he wouldn't have kept something like that from me. Maybe Kade was right, he wasn't planning on keeping me around for long.

"Where's Dad?" Another person that got dragged into this mess, this family of liars. Another person who would be hurt by their secrets.

"He's with Anne, meeting with lawyers or some shit about real estate." I just 'hmmm'd' and nodded.

"Sam should be back soon though, don't think that guy has left for more than an few hours since you got here. "

"Oh, okay." I didn't know what to say. But Ben could pick up on my feelings like a metal detector.

"What's that about?" He sat down on my bed and fluffed my pillows so I could sit up higher.

"Nothing, it's nothing. I just, do you think things happen for a reason Ben?"

"Like fate? I don't know Soph, what do you mean?"

"I just think maybe this was the universe's eternal warning for me. Never mind, just I think I must still be coming off whatever they got me on." Ben totally didn't buy it but let it go for now.

"Do you think you could find me a nurse? And maybe a toothbrush?" He laughed and nodded strolling out of the door.

I didn't know how I felt about seeing Sam, my heart? Well my heart was thrilled and I swear there was a hole in it when he wasn't around; it almost pained me not to be around him. But in my head, my brain, well she was one pissed off sister. You know that kind of angry that rages from the deepest depths when you find out someone hurt you? Now multiply that by a dozen someones.

I was able to get my hair and teeth brushed thanks to a cute little candy stripper by the name of Gwen. I tried to get her to let me go to the bathroom on my own but she said I needed to wait for the doctor before any of 'those' tubes were removed.

"You're a stubborn mule you know that? You're the only person in the world who would want to try and get out of bed only 5 days after a bear ripped out half of her internal organs." While the nurse cleaned me up I made Ben tell me everything that they had to do and happened while I was out. It was pretty intense I'd agree but I was doing no good just lying there.

"Forget you Ben; I just need to stretch my legs."

"Well why don't we see how the incision looks before we start running marathons huh?" I looked around Ben to see a white lab coat wearing mother trucker laughing. "You're right Ben; you said she'd wake up fighting. Guess I owe you five bucks huh?"

"Warned you doc." Ben said as he moved out of the way.

"Okay, Sophie, I'm Dr. Barnes and we're just going to take a look at your abdomen alright?" I nodded and tensed up, I wasn't sure I wanted to see this. Ben moved to my side and squeezed my hand tight. I was glad I was doing this with him and not dad; he'd be all over Dr. Pepper here.

The doctor slowly peeled the mess of gauze and tape; I squeezed Ben's hand and looked up at him. He gave me a reassuring smile and I looked down. It was ugly, crusty from the blood but not as bad as I had expected. There were four clean lines drawing from just below my rib cage on my left side and ending just below my hip bone on my right. The doctors had stapled the wound closed.

"Two hundred and fifty internal stitches Sophie," Dr. Pepper said as he poked and prodded my wounds. "Those will dissolve. Your external wounds look good; we should be able to pull out the staples if you're ready for that." I nodded quickly as he donned those lovely latex gloves and rang for a nurse.

"Now, we're going to lean you back, you need to be still, this won't hurt but it will feel funny." I sat still and kept my focus on Ben who was busy telling all about Lori, his new girlfriend. What the hell kind of name was Lori? I could just see her, but his whole face lit up when he talked about her. I couldn't help but be happy for him, maybe he found his one. Hopefully she wouldn't lie to him too.

"All done, Sophie, now Ben if you'll just step outside we can get these tubes out so she can stand up." Thanks Doc, last thing I wanted was my brother watching them remove my catheter and shit bag. When the doctor was done, the nurse left with my dirty bandages and sheets and everything.

I was standing in front of a full length mirror with my gown pulled up to just under my tits and my sexy hospital issued cotton panties on staring at my scars. I ghosted my fingers over the marks that were now cleaned of any caked up blood. They were still very raw and red, they were oddly cold too. All the while the doctor went on and on about taking it easy and careful not to do this and that. There was a small knock on the door.

"Get in here Ben, no need to knock." The door creaked open and I heard a loud sound of someone sucking in their breath. I looked up from the mirror and saw Sam standing there staring at my stomach, his face was drawn of any color and he looked pained. His eyes pulled away from my scars and he looked at me as one silent tear fell from his right eye.

"Sam, look who decided to grace us with her presence today," okay so Dr. Pepper has jokes, he must have really bonded with the guys or something. Sam said nothing to the doctor who sensed his time was up. "Alright then, I'll just be leaving, Sam make sure she gets back in bed okay."

Sam moved toward me to help me to the bed, "I got it." I said, not meaning to sound so curt.

"Sorry," he said and backed away. He looked like a wounded animal. I made my way to the bed and sat back lying down slightly.

"Do you, um, do you need anything?" Sam asked bring his hand up to rub the back of his neck.

"I'm not doing this pussy foot around shit Sam, we need to talk and you know it." He moved a chair to the side of my bed still not taking his eyes off my wounds which were still showing because the cool air felt good on them after being bandaged up so long.

"Sophie, Angel, I'm so sorry that this happened to you," now his tears were flowing a little more freely. "If I could take this back, if I could go back and change anything…"

"Yeah well you can't and it doesn't matter. What's done is done. I'm not even going there. What I want to know is why you didn't tell me. Why you were lying to me this whole time." My voice started to pick up in volume and I was crying. "You said that you loved me, I thought we were…never mind it doesn't matter now."

"I do love you Sophie, and we are and it does matter. Please, I know I messed up, I know that but you have to know I did what I thought was the best thing for you. To keep you safe."

"Are you kidding me? YOU decided what was best for ME; do you not think I'm capable of understanding of being able to deal with it? I deserved to know! I thought I was going to marry you, so tell me when were you going to tell me or were you not because all along you knew this was just a short term thing?"

I was panting heavy at the end of my rant, it felt good to get that out, and he needed to know how he made me feel. He got up and started pacing the floor. He was talking to himself and I couldn't hear what he was saying.

"If you've got something to say Sam, just say it because quite frankly I'm done with not knowing things. I'm done with being the odd man out. Because let me guess, I was the only girlfriend that didn't know. Am I right? Everyone else knew? Tell me."

"Enough," Sam stopped pacing and was at my bedside instantly. No need to hide the special powers anymore I guess. "Yes okay? Everyone else knows and believe it or not we DID have your safety in mind when we decided to wait to tell you. What if you had run when I told you that I turn into a big fucking wolf and protect people from vampires? How would you have handled it when I told you Kade was here because he was after your blood because it smelled so damn good?"

"I would have handled it the best I could and would have had you and everyone else to help me get through it. Seriously Sam what the hell kind of excuse is that? You lied to me, you all lied to me. Is that why you hated me for so long? Didn't want me to get close to your little family secret? I wasn't special enough to get clued in, even once it was MY life on the line?"

"Oh god Sophie, how can you think that? I came here to talk to you about all this not to fight."

"I'm not fighting Sam," I said defeated. "I'm not, I'm done fighting. You lied to me, you hurt me. Why didn't you just keep on hating me huh? Why did you have to make me fall in love with you?"

"Angel? What are you saying? Don't talk like that I never hated you I just was fighting my feelings for you. I thought it was better for everyone."

"There you go again Sam, deciding what's easiest for you not us. I think I need some time to think about all this."

"What do you mean? What are you saying?"

"Please leave." I said as the tears streamed down my face. I watched him look at me in stunned disbelief before turning and walking out. I wanted so badly to tell him to stay, my heart was shattering into a million pieces but I was hurt and angry and I just needed some time. Time to accept all this new shit, time to heal from being attacked, time to adjust.

I was sobbing uncontrollably when the nurse came in to redress my wound. She quickly left and returned with my brother. She told him she'd give us a few minutes and then be back.

"Sophie babe, what's going on?"

"He…I…We…I told him to leave." I bawled out.

"I don't understand, Soph, did you and Sam get in a fight?" I just nodded as I continued to sob. "Did he hurt you? Was he mean to you?" I shook my head no.

"He…he, and I…oh God Ben," I wrapped my arms around my middle and rocked myself into unconsciousness while my brother stared at me in fear and anger.

~~**~~

A week had gone by since Sam and I fought. I got out of the hospital two days after the blow up and came straight here, where I was now. In my room, door locked, under the covers. Day number five of my self-inflicted shut in was just more of the same as the previous days.

Every morning dad tried to get me to eat; I'd open the door, take the food, let Koda out for the day and shut the door. Every day around lunch Ben would come back and pound on the door reminding me to take my medication for pain and infection. Every day, all day long different people came over to knock on the door, like they would magically be the one I would want to talk to. I know it was childish; I know it was immature but fuck if I didn't earn the right to act like this.

The only time I heard Sam was my first night home when he came over and got in a fight with Ben. There was a lot of shouting, mostly by Ben, and a lot of cussing but in the end he left. Well sort of. Every night outside my house I could feel him, in the woods. Every night I heard the sorrowful baying of his wolf. Every night my heart tried to tell my head I was being stupid.

It was around midnight and I had just walked out of the shower and back into my room. This was the only time I left my room; I knew it would be the only time no one would be there. I came back in and had a towel on my head and one around my body. I pulled the towel off and slipped on my pajama bottoms. I stood there staring at myself in the mirror. The scars were another week old, another week healed but they were still a haunting reminder of that night.

"Open the damn door Sophie." What the hell?

"Go away Ben what are you doing here?" There was a loud pounding on the door and I thought it was going to break. I quickly grabbed a t-shirt and threw it on.

"I said let me in, if you don't I'm breaking it down. Open the fucking door Sophie."

"Go away freak, I don't want to talk to you." I went back to my hovel of blanks and Kleenex on my bed. Good, he listened to me, why can't they just leave me alone.

"Alright then." I heard my dear brother say two seconds before my door flew open and banged against the wall rattling the whole house. My eyes got big as saucers.

"Are you fucking crazy?!"

"I think I just might be. What the hell is going on in this fucking town?" What? Could he be talking about what I think he's talking about?

"What do you mean Ben; I want to go to sleep." I moved off my bed to inspect the damage to my door and wall.

"Well, I'm sitting at Anne's with dad and Sam comes over with Jake and Quil. At first I get up and get in that mother fucker's face again, I mean the nerve of that asshole coming over to Anne's house. But anyway," he was talking so fast I had a hard time keeping up.

"Anyway, he says that they need to talk to me and dad. They need to tell us what has you so upset and damn Sophie if they didn't lay the biggest load of bull shit on me that I'd ever heard. I mean seriously Sophie these people around here are wacked out and I think we should run."

I started laughing at my brother as he stopped his tirade long enough to catch his breath. "Ben, go get that big leather book that's under the couch and bring it in here please."

Ben came in carrying that book that started this whole thing and I scowled at it. I patted the bed next to me and he sat down. It reminded me of when I was 7 and he was 4 and we would sit reading "Green Eggs and Ham".

"So, Ben, it's true. All of it, the stories they told you. I mean what I assume they told you. And you should feel privileged. I didn't get to find out until a fucking vampire was hunting me down to drink my blood." I said in a sarcastic tone.

"Soph…" he whispered.

"I know crazy right?"

"So all of it is true? I mean all of it?" he looked bewildered and started thumbing through the book he brought in.

"Yep, out there huh? I mean, if I hadn't seen it with my own eyes I don't think…"

"So this," he said pointing to my stomach, "wasn't a bear, they were telling the truth about that too?" I just nodded.

"How's dad dealing?"

"To be honest, really really good. I think it's a good thing mom filled his head with mythical legends of the Lakota our whole lives or else he might have committed Anne."

"That's good," I was wondering how he was handling not being told sooner but then again it wasn't his fiancé that actually turned into a wolf.

"He wanted to come…but I took off so fast that I think he knew it was better if he stayed." I nodded again, probably a good thing.

"So then, why haven't you forgiven Sam yet? I mean if you're his imprint and all aren't you suppose to just kiss and make up?" Now it was my turn to look at him like HE was insane.

"What the hell are you talking about? What's an imprint and no we don't just kiss and make up. He lied to me Ben, betrayed me."

"What do you mean 'what's an imprint', didn't they tell you about that either?"

I snorted, "They didn't tell me anything, I found out from that," I pointed to the book. "And it said nothing about imprints or whatever the hell it is."

"Well, Sam said that he imprinted on you and you are his soul mate. Said that it happens the moment you see someone the first time. I bet it's in here." Ben said flipping through the book quickly scanning each page.

"Well then, don't bother, I told you Sam hated me when I first got here. So that shoots that theory out the window."

"Hmmm, nope. He said that he fought it because you know; you and Seth were bumping uglies. Didn't want to ruin your relationship with him like his and Leah's was ruined."

"What?!" I hissed out. Leah and Sam, me and Seth, this wasn't making any sense.

"Here," he turned the book towards me. "Look." We both read over the pages quickly but thoroughly. As I read I thought about the moment Seth and Cameron met. It was just like what they are talking about. Could it really exist? I thought about Paul and Rachel, Kim and Jared, Bella and Jake. Wow, if that were the case then wow. But that didn't apply to me.

"Ben, this is stupid. This isn't me and Sam; there was no golden awe inspired moment. Okay, it just isn't us." I grabbed the book out of his hands and all the loose sheets went everywhere.

"Well he said it is. He said that he fought it and that is why you didn't feel it as strong as the others do when it happens. But you did feel it Soph, don't lie to yourself. You even told me as much."

He and I kneeled down to the floor and picked up the sheets of paper. He was right, I was lying to myself. Now that I knew what it was, that pull I felt toward him, that unexplained need to be near him even when he was mean to me. But, if that's the case, this is so confusing. It can't be true.

"Soph," I looked up to Ben who had a small binding of papers and was staring at one of them. I scooted over to him and read it with him. It looked like a family tree of sorts. It was Jacob and Bella's family. He turned to the next one and it was Quil's. There was one for the Clearwater's too, at the very bottom were Cameron and Ephraim?

"Why is Eph's name on here?" I said to no one in particular, Ben switched back to the Black's family tree and sure enough Leah's name was attached to Ephraim's. "This is so weird." I said continuing to look at the charts.

I grabbed the last one away from Ben quickly and stared at it intently. "Uley," I said still not comprehending what I was seeing. I followed it with my finger, down to Josh Uley, over to Sam Uley and Embry Call? "What the hell?" Flashes of my conversation with Embry's mom flickered through my brain.

"Holy Shit." I said out loud. Sam and Embry were brothers. I wonder if Sam knew, I know Embry didn't.

"Sis, I think Sam was telling the truth." Ben said pointing to the paper and I returned my focus to the sheet. Underneath Embry's name was Aiyanna's and under Sam's was…MINE?! I looked up to Ben who was smirking at me. I got up and started looking around my room.

"This doesn't change anything." I said to Ben who was still smirking at me. I ran to my closet and grabbed a sweatshirt and slipped on my tennis shoes. "I'm serious, he's not forgiven." I said placing a kiss on my brother's cheek and running into the living room with the paper clutched to my chest.

"Sure, sure," he said dangling his car keys out for me to take.

Sam's POV

I was lying there, in the middle of the open air on my sleeping bag. Normally I would be at her house right now, laying in the woods in my wolf form watching over her. But ever since Ben ran scared shitless out of Anne's house I figured I'd just come home. Being in my house reminded me too much of her so that's why I'm here. In this frame of a house that I wasn't sure would even get finished at this point. I think this was supposed to be the living room I was laying in. There was no roof yet, hell there was no second floor yet.

How the fuck had I managed to screw things up so royally? Was she ever going to forgive me? Would I be able to go on about my life if she couldn't? I asked myself these questions every day for the last week. I tried to see her, Ben wouldn't let me. I knew that he didn't understand, to him I was just some asshole who broke his sister's heart. Well I guess I was but she didn't even let me explain.

I met with Billy, Jake, Sue and Quil Sr. this morning because I knew what needed to happen. If anything was going to help me it would be letting Ben and Jimmy know exactly what was going on. Jimmy took it really well. His love for Anne was evident and nothing was shaking that. I wish it had been that easy for me and Sophie. They were both pissed at me for lying to her, but when Anne explained imprinting they both sort of backed off.

But then Ben took off running, to her I'm sure. So I'm here alone again, my life in shambles, waiting for her to decide what she wants to do.

I heard the car coming down my road, careless and fast. I really didn't need to deal with anyone right now. The twins were up my ass trying to get me to get Sophie to talk to them. They felt like lost children without her but what the hell was I suppose to do for them? I hoped it wasn't Quil or Seth still reaming my ass every time they saw me. I really didn't need their 'I told you so' bullshit right now.

But it wasn't any of them. As soon as the car was off and the door opened I could smell her. I shot up off my blanket and stood there watching her come toward me. She looked frantic; she was in her pajamas, wet hair tangled and messy. She was breathtaking. I wanted to run to her and hold her until the day I died but I held still waiting to see what she was doing here after 1 AM.

She came up to me. Standing with me in our house, or what there was of it. She was searching my eyes for something. "Is it true?" was all she said and I looked to her lifted hand clutching a wad of paper. I could tell what it was, and what it meant. She hadn't been told about imprinting before and once again I wasn't the one who told her.

"Yes," I barely spoke.

"Yes? Yes what? It's true, all of this, me and you?" I found some bravery and lifted my hand to hers taking the paper and throwing it to the ground. I then lifted her face with my hands.

"Sophie, you are my imprint. You are my soul mate. The one person on this Earth made for me and I know that in your heart you know it to be true."

There were tears running down her face and I wiped them as quickly as they came. "But, you hated me."

"Never. I never hated you. I was messed up Sophie, I didn't want to imprint. Leah imprinted, on a child and ended our relationship, Seth seemed so happy with you. I didn't want to ruin that."

She chuckled light, "that's the stupidest thing I've ever heard."

"So I've been told," I said smiling back.

"So, you like me? From the get?" She still wasn't sure about this, didn't want to trust me and what I knew her heart was telling her. I dropped to my knees and wrapped my arms around her waist pulling her to me.

"Angel," I looked up to her beautiful face. "From the very first moment I saw you, even though I fought it, I knew. I knew you were the one whose existence made mine worth it. From the moment we touched, from the moment we kissed, I knew that I would spend the rest of my life with you. You're it for me Sophie. I messed up I know that. But I don't work without you."

She brought her hands up to wipe the tears that were now coming from me. I squeezed her tighter and buried my face in her stomach. I felt the cold lines of her scars through her clothes. I slowly lifted her shirts with one hand and traced the marks with the other. I leaned in to kiss them and I felt her whole body relax at my touch.

I moved both hands around to her back and inside her shirt as she slid down to her knees to meet me eye to eye. "You know this doesn't mean you're forgiven right?" She said with a playful edge to her voice and a smirk on her lips. We both knew that there was a lot of talking ahead of us. A lot of issues to work out but this, we needed this now. We needed to reconnect.

"I know, doesn't mean you don't love me though."

"Doesn't seem I have a choice."

We made love right there, in the open air beneath the stars, in the living room of our new home.

okay so there we go. what can I say? I guess I don't have a whole lot to talk about. hehehe. hit me with your best shots I need to hear the good bad and ugly. oh and for the way Sophie was dealing with shit? It's Sophie...she dealt with it how Sophie knows how...like the snarky bitch she is!!