Today was the day after my first phase; I'd spent the night at Billy's in order to give my dad some time to understand what was going on. He hadn't taken the news very well, but Sam had reassured me everything would turn out alright in the end. I walked into the kitchen; Billy wasn't there yet so I decided to start breakfast to show my thanks for what he'd done.

I'd just finished preparing the table when Sam and Billy walked in. "Hey Billy, hey Sam" I greeted, then looked at Billy "I made us some breakfast…" I continued. He smiled and wheeled himself to his place at the table. I then looked at Sam "Would you like some? I already ate while I was waiting." Sam smiled "That's alright I ate before coming here… I actually wanted you to come with me to my place and meet the rest of the pack, Emily is very anxious to meet you." I hesitated for a moment 'Quil and Embry are probably gonna be there…' I thought and frowned, I couldn't figure out how I was supposed to act around them. Sam seemed to understand my hesitation because he added "Embry and Quil have been excited ever since they heard the news; I had a hard time stopping them from heading over here as soon as they heard the news."

'Well it couldn't hurt…' I thought and once more as if he knew I'd made my decision Sam walked over to where I was standing and started to lead me to the door only giving me enough time to put my shoes on and walk out the door with a quick "See you later" to Billy. I laughed as Sam dragged me to his truck and couldn't help but ask "Hey, what's the rush?" He gave me a knowing look "When I said I had a hard time stopping Quil and Embry from coming over I wasn't joking, they've been impossible to be around!" He said, I burst out laughing and at that all my worries that they may not want to see me were gone from my mind.

The whole drive to Sam's place I could practically feel my whole body vibrate with excitement and nervousness, but as we pulled into the drive the excitement won over. I'd barely stepped out of the truck when I heard the slamming of a door followed by two excited woops, the next thing I knew I was up in the air and into two strong pairs of arms, I could hear the familiar laughs ringing around me and I couldn't help but join into the laughing fit, crying at the same time.

After a few moments, the arms finally decided to let go of me and I finally got a good look at the two culprits, to say that they had grown would be an understatement, they'd only been about half a foot taller than me the last time I'd seen either of them and now I had to look up to see their faces, meaning they had a good foot and a half advantage on me now. Both had gained muscles as well, no longer the lanky boys I'd grown up with, their eyes also told me that they'd had to mature quite a bit and that was a little disturbing. I could see just how much I'd missed out on and with that thought I couldn't help the tears that kept falling from my eyes. A look of concern crossed both of their faces and I couldn't help but give a laughing sob "I m-missed you g-guys" and with that it was my turn to launch myself at them. I can't say exactly how long we stayed like that I know Quil shed a few tears and even Embry may have let one escape, not that he would've admitted it.

As they set me back down on my feet I could hear whoops and hands clapping from somewhere behind me and when I turned around I couldn't help the deep blush that crept up my cheeks, there stood a small crowd of people that I had grown up around but had never really gotten to know. I hid somewhat behind Embry but that didn't last long when they both grabbed an arm and began dragging me towards the hoard of people "Come on Anne! Come meet the pack!" Embry practically yelled.

As we walked towards the house, everyone had already gone in and settled in the little living room next to the kitchen. Two trays of muffins sat on the coffee table and most of the men in the room were sitting down on the sofa's stuffing their faces with the aforementioned muffins. When Quil, Embry and I walked in, Embry went to sit down with the others and Quil took my hand and led me where I could see everyone in the room. "Alright everyone, this is Anne as you already know, Anne this is everyone!" He paused for a moment then seemed to realize that I needed more of an introduction than that, with an awkward chuckle he continued pointing to the love seat to our left where a couple was sitting, the girl had long straight raven hair with pretty chocolate colored eyes and a cute smile, next to her sat a man slightly taller than Sam but with a more slender build, he had short dark brown hair with the same brown eyes that most of the Quileutes sported, he smiled wide as I looked at him as if we'd met before… "Anne this is Jared, next to him is his imprint Kim," 'So that's Jared' I thought, that explained the smile and familiar feeling he'd been giving me.

We then moved to the sofa where Sam was sitting with a young woman, her face held a long scar spreading from her cheek to her chin; whatever had happened it must have been pretty bad, I didn't stare at her face for long. It definitely didn't mar her beauty; her smile was gentle and kind in a motherly kind of way. Another young man sat at the other end of the sofa near the chair Embry had gone and flopped into. Quil continued where he'd left off "This is Emily, Sam's imprint and next to them is Paul," In a whisper he warned "Watch out for his temper…" and out of nowhere Quil was hit with a pillow that had previously resided between Paul and Sam, Paul glared jokingly and said "I heard that!" I giggled; they all looked so comfortable together I could only hope to fit in as well. "The only ones left are Collin and Brady, they left for their border patrol a few minutes ago, Paul's going to be joining them for the day." The scowl on Paul's face as he got up could only mean he wasn't anticipating the day ahead. He paused as he was about to pass and shuffled my hair with a grin "Welcome to the pack!" He called as he walked out the door.

Quil escorted me to the couch to sit next to Sam and Emily, as I sat down a thought popped into my head, "Quil, what's an imprint?" He looked to me and smiled "It's our better half or soul mate if you will…" I frowned "How do you know when you find them," I asked and then thought. It was Sam's turn to chuckle as he turned to look at Emily "When your eyes meet you know there is no one else out there that could ever measure up to them…" He broke eye contact with her and grinned at Embry who suddenly looked uncomfortable "There's also the fact of age difference," Sam continued "Being an imprint isn't just falling in love with someone, it's much more than that, you are whatever your imprint needs you to be, a brother or sister, a best friend, a secret keeper and a lover when the time comes. Take Embry for example," At this Embry turned every shade of red possible "His imprint is Claire, she's three…" At the wide-eyed look on my face Embry interrupted "Anne, it's like Sam said there is NOTHING romantic about how I feel about her and it won't happen any time soon!" I had to force myself to calm down, and once I'd calmed, I nodded to Sam to continue "As I was saying, as long as we keep fazing we stop aging, all we have to do is phase until our imprints catch up to us."

It took me a couple minutes to think about it and to find a way to accept the situation I was now in, after I'd thought about it Embry's situation wasn't as bad as I'd first imagined, it was odd of course, but I could accept it as it was although I hadn't thought there would be such age differences. As the day went on I understood that I wouldn't be able to go back to school, no matter how much I argued on that point Sam insisted that I was much too dangerous to be around any of the students same as the boys which is why I hadn't seen them in class. Sam and Jared were also wearied of me being around their imprints, that's until Emily came to me and welcomed me to the family with a warm hug. After that both boys relaxed a little.

Emily and Kim were very kind to me although I'd only just met them, when I asked why they were so happy for me to be here their reply was the same; they were glad that Embry, Quil and I had been reunited and that soon Jake would most likely join us. I could only hope they were right. The afternoon consisted of teaching me the ropes, we couldn't let the villagers know about us, patrol went in three shifts a day with two to three of us at a time, Colin Brady and I would all be paired with the others in order to be safer and as much as I didn't like it I had to agree it would be for the best… In the beginning anyway…

When it was time to go back Embry and Quil drove me back to Billy's, we sat in the truck a while before they had to leave for their patrol. When I got inside, Billy was once more in the living room and to my surprise so was my father. I hadn't expected him to be there, he must have walked over. When I walked in the living room my father got up off his seat and we stared at each other, I couldn't help the tears that gathered in my eyes for the second time today. "Hey dad…" I said awkwardly. And with that, my father crossed the room and took me into his arms. He kept me tight to him for a few moments before holding me at arm's length. "Anne, I am so sorry for letting this happen to you… If I would have known…" I stopped him there "Dad, there was no way to know, there's only one other girl like me out of all the boys and the fact I'm a half blood, no one could've known that I'd change too. Besides it's not so bad after the initial freak out…" He didn't seem impressed about my answer but kept quiet all the same. The three of us talked and the subject of schooling was brought up once more, it seemed that Emily and Kim would be helping us in that department, I still wanted to graduate after all. So, it was then decided that I would meet with everyone at Sam's every day at nine o'clock for training and schooling.

**next day**

The next day it was nice to wake up in my own bed, my father and I had cleared the air the night before and he was much more understanding than I would have thought and probably more than I would have been in his situation. I made my way to the kitchen, grabbed a bowl and poured myself some cereal before heading out to Sam's house in my Jeep. When I got there Embry and Quil stood on the front porch as I got out to meet them "Hey Anne, our turn to patrol today but we'll see you for diner!" Said Embry, with that they made their way to the woods behind Sam's house.

When I walked into the house I was nearly pushed over by two boys as they passed and headed to the kitchen 'must be Collin and Brady' I thought 'Just great, two kids in the mix of this…' I sighed. I took off my shoes and headed towards the kitchen where I saw Emily already at work on food for everyone, sitting at the table were the two boys now sat munching on hot dogs. "Hey Emily, need any help?" She turned to me with a bright smile "I'm actually almost done, but if you'd like Sam, Paul and Jared are out back, go on and let them know that lunch is ready." She then turned towards the boys at the table "These guys are Collin and Brady; they've already started to run out with the boys although today it's time for some school work." At the mention of school both boys moaned out complaints. Collin had a mess of jet black hair and coal black eyes, he was the shorter of the two, and Brady was only a few inches taller with light brown hair and matching light brown eyes. The two may have been shorter than the others but they were nearing my height, they were sure to grow taller than me within the next few weeks. I walked to the back door attached to the kitchen to find Sam, Paul and Jared standing in the shadow of the trees. "Hey guys!" I yelled "Foods ready!" As soon as the words left my mouth all three started to run for the house, I got out of the way just in time before they could plow me over.

Watching the boys eat was like watching a hungry pack of wolves 'pun intended' I chuckled to myself. Emily came to stand beside me "You know you should get some food before it's all gone." She said. "Oh, don't worry I had a big breakfast before coming here." I said, I then added "Wow Emily, I don't know how you do it; it's like taking care of a bunch of kids!" As soon as that left my mouth everyone except Sam turned my way, mouths overflowing with glares all aimed at me, after that I couldn't help it I laughed "And you just proved my point!" Emily chuckled beside me; Jared finally swallowed his food to reply "Hey! You'd be hungry too if you had to go on patrol!" I chuckled "Jared it's not about the amount of food you eat but how you eat it! I mean really, look at your face it's covered with half of what was on you plate when you first started!" I laughed. At this all the boys wiped their faces and continued to eat in a more civilized fashion.

That morning I worked on some of my school work but kept getting distracted about what was to come this afternoon 'I mean what if my phasing was just a onetime thing?' I pondered then realized I'd been reading the same paragraph for the third time 'This is gonna be a long morning…' I sighed and tried to get back to work.

When the afternoon finally came I was standing in the middle of the same clearing Sam had gotten me to phase back the other day. Sam, Quil and Embry stood in front of Brady, Colin and I as they would be our instructors for the day. Embry and Quil had readily volunteered to help me out on my first day which is why they had gotten the first patrol shift this morning. Sam stepped forward and looked to Brady and Colin "Alright boys, I want you two to go out a ways and phase, meet back here once you're done." With that they left and Sam turned to me "Anne I want you to concentrate on phasing for today, it'll take a while but Embry will be your partner to help you out while Quil and I train the boys." I nodded and walked away with Embry right behind me.

When were far enough from the others I turned towards Embry "So, any tips before we start?" I asked. He grinned "Most of the new wolves start out phasing because they're angry, so if you can't get yourself angry enough on your own I'm here to help with that." I chuckled "Well you sure can get on my nerves sometimes!" I joked. We both laughed for a moment and it felt good, it was as if they'd never left. I stood there for a moment staring at Embry before closing my eyes and concentrating on the task at hand. Before a minute went by Embry interrupted my train of thought "It also helps to remember how it felt to be a wolf, embrace it if you can." With that I heard him sit down to wait things out.

'Alright, now think…' I had a lot to be angry about and I decided to start back on the train of thought that had brought me into this whole mess. Flashes of Embry, Jake and Quil with their backs facing towards me, Gran, and the pitying glances of my father and the people at school went through my mind. Then I recalled the scent of everything, the sounds of the forest all around me, the earth underneath my feet. And that's when I felt it; a strange pull in the pit of my stomach, and with another pull the familiar ripping sound of clothes was all around me. Thoughts came into my mind before I even opened my eyes and I heard congratulating yips coming from where we'd left the others. Sam's voice entered my mind 'I see you're going to be a fast learner Anne! Now let's get to work on getting you ready for patrols.'