A/N: Hey gang! We're getting a little into the wolves today, so enjoy!

Slow, it turns out, means things are pretty much normal, save for Jared being allowed to tell her how he feels.

Well.

That's not entirely fair.

Mostly, Kim had asked him to keep a lid on the imprint thing, and maybe ease up on the soulmates thing while he was at it. Jared got it; it was a lot for a high school relationship. Still, that didn't mean he was sort of bummed out about it.

Right now, he's sitting at Sam and Emily's dining table, watching Kim study for their upcoming finals. He would join, but finals are an entire month away. He figures he has plenty of time to figure shit out by then.

"Jared," Kim says finally, looking up from her work with an amused smile. "If you're not going to study, you should at least do some homework."

"I'm caught up," he says mock-defensively. It's the truth. Part of being Kim's boyfriend means always being caught up on homework. Kim rolls her eyes, pointedly tapping her English textbook.

"I'm caught up on everything due tomorrow," he amends. Kim laughs, and Jared's momentarily blindsided by how much he loves that sound.

"Yeah, whatever," she giggles. "Hey, listen, I know you've already met them and everything, but my mom wants you to come over for dinner, maybe with your family too."

"What?" Jared asks dumbly. "You want my family to come over to yours for dinner?"

Kim flushes, ducking her head so her long, silky hair falls in a curtain she can hide behind. Absently, Jared cups her face, stroking back the hair while he mulls this over. Parker, he could trust, but his mom and Carey? No way. They'd definitely do something to humiliate him.

"Is that too much, too soon?" Kim asks anxiously. "I know people do these things like one at a time, but I figured, what if we just did it, you know? Like got all that awkward family stuff out of the way right now."

He's a little surprised, and a little proud. The old Kim, the one that hid in the back of classrooms and never spoke up would've never have just faced all this awkwardness head on. The new Kim, friendly-and-open-to-everyone, always-speaks-her-mind Kim is clearly ready to face a new challenge.

"No, I think you're right," he says. "We should just do it, get our whole family to meet, and that way, we don't have to do separate, painfully awkward dinners later on."

"Exactly!" Kim echoes, perking up. "Okay, come on, I know you have an essay due at the end of the week and the least you can do is work on an outline."

With that, he and Kim work on schoolwork for a while, then help Emily get food on the table before patrol. They're going out a little longer than usual tonight. One of the leeches got a little too close to the border last night while hunting, and Sam's got it in his head that they're going to try something.

For once, Jared has no objection to the extra work. The idea of those leeches getting anywhere near Kim, or his family, is too much to bear.

They scarf down their dinner and Emily promises to take Kim home after, but she insists on staying a little while to help clean up.

"Be safe, okay?" Kim tells him, effortlessly stepping into the circle of his arms. Her head comes to rest on his chest and she nuzzles a bit closer to him. "What are you telling your mom?"

"Tribal stuff," she murmurs into her hair. She's a fair bit shorter than him so he has to crouch, but he doesn't mind. "She thinks it's really cool I'm volunteering with the council."

"Technically, you are," she says. "In a way." She pulls away slightly, before rocking up on her toes to kiss him. Jared lifts her so he doesn't have to lean, deepening the kiss. God, he really could stay like this forever. Hell, if he died like this, he'd be a happy camper.

"No making out in my kitchen!" Emily says. Ironically, she's got Sam wrapped around her like a goddamn blanket, so she's really got no room to talk, but Jared grew up in a house of strong, fearsome women. Respecting female authority is ingrained in his DNA.

"No making out anywhere I can see you," Paul grumbles darkly. "That goes for you too, Sam."

"This is my house," Sam reminds him. "Whatever, let's go."

They make their way into the woods, leaving the girls behind on the porch, watching them. Jared can hear Kim talking to Emily, asking if they'll be alright if the leeches are around.

"That's what they're built for, honey," Emily assures her. "Nothing is going to happen to them."

Focus!

Shit, sorry.

What's the plan, el capitan?

We're going to run perimeters. Jared you go north to south and Paul goes east to west. I'm running a perimeter against Forks.

Roger.

They disperse, each wolf going their own way. Jared focuses on his senses, feeling the earth shift and give beneath his paws, smelling the trees and the crisp air, watching for hikers or campers that could still be straggling.

His patrol takes him by the cliff and the beaches, but he's careful to stay hidden in the trees, low to the ground and watchful. There's nothing out of the ordinary, save for a few people on the beach, huddled around a dying fire. Jared doesn't anticipate them being there that long.

He runs his route three times before Sam calls them back.

Anything?

Nope, those leeches learned their fucking lesson.

Unconsciously, Sam thinks back on the memory. He'd been trying to cut their shifts, give them enough time for schoolwork but picking up the extra slack himself, and he's come across a group of three of the Cullen clan a scant two miles outside the res.

It's strange reliving a memory that isn't yours. Jared's both Sam and watching this from the outside.

The wolf spots the group, that acrid, bleach smell high in the air. It makes it way carefully towards them, watching for their movements. It clocks three, all male. The first is a burly, bear of a man. This one will be the most difficult to kill, the wolf decides. Easiest to go for it first. The second is small in build, but nearly equal in height. There's something about the way it moves that implies practice. Not impossible to kill, but not easy, either. The third is slight. Thin, but tall, though not as tall as it's companions. Herein lies the threat. Should the wolf take on the threats first, the small one could wriggle out of his paws. It looks fast.

"Stop!" the small one hisses, voice loud in the quiet clearing.

"Aww, fuck, Edward, you're scaring away the animals!" the large one complains.

"Not all of them," the last murmurs, turning to look at the wolf head on. The wolf growls, a warning low in his throat. He begins to move towards them.

"Where are we?" the smallest asks. "How close are we to the border?"

"Fuck! Carlisle's going to flip his shit!" With that, they take off running, and the wolf gives chase, relishing in the way he gains on his prey.

"Edward, what does it want?"

"I… I can't tell! It's wavering, deciding to kill us or not."

"I'd like to see it try," the big one growls, and the wolf agrees. He's aching for a fight. Somewhere deep within him, Sam pipes up, arguing that simply chasing the leeches away from the res will do, but the wolf snarls at him, forces him to give up his scant control. Sam is weak by himself, the human part a small slice of the wolf. Without his pack, he is a lonely hunter. A singular wolf intent on ripping its prey to pieces.

"Don't!" the small one snarls. "We were too close to the reservation. We could've broken the treaty."

"Besides, three on one is hardly an interesting fight," the other drawls.

The wolf roars in indignation and the three rush past the border of their own territory. It's all Sam needs to regain control.

Jared's slammed back into his own body and he trashes for a second, boy and wolf grappling for control before finding a compromise.

We're clear. Everyone go home, get some rest. It's safe.

A/N: Alrighty, some pack stuff and an awkward family dinner in the works! Tune in next week!