"What?!" screamed Paul.
"Start from the beginning," said Sam, and it came out as a threat.
"Don't order me around, pup!" I growled. Sighing, I said, "There is not much to tell. Carlisle called me to help with the treaty because of my way with wolves. Levi and I were instant friends. We were close…"
"Gross you liked him!" wailed Quil.
"Grow up! Nothing came of it! Sometimes we hold hands on the beach, and talk about stories from our histories. That is the extent of it! The relationship troubled the Cullens and the Pack, and my mother for that matter, but for different reasons, and they never let it progress. Anyway, he imprinted and that was the end of it!"
I tried to conceal the pain I felt when Levi fell for another woman, but the pack heard me. Most of them bristled away from my feelings for a wolf, but Leah extended sympathy in her mind, showing a picture of Sam and Emily, with her emotions about it. I nodded glad she understood.
"Why was your mother against it?" asked Sam.
I grimaced. How do you explain this? "She foresaw complications if our relationship progressed."
"What the hell?" asked Jacob, confused.
"She told me sex would be difficult, idiot!" I screamed. "Vampire, werewolf. Were not exactly physically compatible. Even if I am a hybrid."
"Whoa!" said Jared.
"That is disgusting!" said Paul.
"Okay. Ew," said Quil. "TMI alert."
"Wait, you wanted to have sex with him?" asked Seth.
"Oh grow up!" I growled. "I didn't draw a diagram."
"Please don't," said Sam.
I turned to Leah. "Are all of them children?"
"Yeah, pretty much," she said.
I snorted. I looked at the pack and they all looked at me with horrified looks. "Okay, let's get something straight. Sex between a vampire, a human, or a werewolf is not sick. It's just complicated. Okay. You are all werewolves, and half of you are sleeping with a human. I don't think that's wrong. It's no different here. As long as you can be smart about it, it's no one's business."
"We have to sleep with humans," argued Paul. "There are our imprints."
"How do you think it makes them feel? To know you spend half of your time in this form?"
Paul took a step back and looked at Sam for guidance.
"I never thought about it," he said.
"Right, 'cause there is nothing to it. Sex is about two people loving each other. Its not about whether one is human or a vampire or a werewolf. It's not about preserving the pack, or creating an army, which is why Aro had me, or so I thought. True sex is about love and passion. You can have that with anyone."
"So why couldn't you and Levi be together?" asked Seth.
"Besides the fact that my mom is Catholic and would have my neck? We did not know who my father was. My mom was positive it wasn't Aro. If my father was a human, I could have gotten pregnant and that would have been bad news for everyone. Imagine half werewolf, quarter vampire, quarter human toddler running around the twentieth century. Lots of people would die. The Vouluri would kill us for sure."
"Then he imprinted on a girl anyway," said Leah.
"Yeah," I said, wistfully. "He told me like a gentleman, and I got to know that it was an imprint and he did not do it on purpose, which I think helped a little bit. But when we parted, or broke up, in the 21st Century, I couldn't be around him. I left."
"Why didn't you transition into a werewolf and be with him?" asked Quil.
"Didn't know that I could. Also, don't think it would have made a difference. Leah and Sam were together for four years, and he did not imprint on her. You have to be around a certain someone. Levi had been around me for three years. If he did not imprint on me, transitioning into a werewolf would not have saved us."
Quil nodded.
"So you have run a little in this body," said Sam. "Want to try phasing out?"
"Phasing out?"
"Transitioning back to human form," he clarified.
"Um, okay," I said, wearily.
"Sam, she doesn't have any clothes," said Embery.
"Wait a minute," said Leah, and she took off, heading east. "She is a little smaller than me, so my clothes should fit her fine."
Through Leah's eyes, I saw where she ran to a specific log hollowed out, and stuck her face inside to grab a bright red backpack by her teeth. Then she ran back to us.
"Come on," she said to me, and I followed her to a more secluded part of the forest. "You ran a long way. The forest is deep. We can phase out here without the boys seeing. Eventually you will see them, and they will see you, but privacy is essential while you are getting used to this."
I nodded.
"Alright," said Sam, "to phase out, all you have to do is relax in such a way that your body starts to feel human, and then you will start to shift. It's hard to explain but it is not hard to do."
"Biofeedback," I said.
"Huh?" asked Quil.
"What you do is control your breathing to release the tension in your body and your body responds by relaxing and calming down. We do it in therapy all the time. I ought to do it in a group with yall."
"Okay, whatever, just do it," huffed Leah.
I smiled, and started the process. Slowly, I felt my body melt from one form to another. This wasn't hot anger, this felt like taking a warm shower. It felt good and relaxing. I looked around and saw Leah in wolf form, but I could no longer hear her thoughts. Looking down, I saw my fingers clawing at the soft earth. I was human.
I found the red backpack, and saw that Leah thought of everything, even a comb. I got dressed in some jean shorts that were a size too big, and pulled the sports bra and a gray tank top that fit perfectly. Then, I threw on the black converse. Finally, I brushed my hair with the comb. Finally human, I went back to join Leah, bringing the backpack with me.
Leah sized me up. "They're a little big, but they'll do."
"I used your comb," I said, sheepishly.
She took a deep breath. "Normally I will be mad, and you can't once you get your own stuff out here. But today, I got a pack sister, so I'm happy," she said, and drew me in for a hug.
"Oh God, they're hugging," said Jared.
"Shut up!" Leah and I said at the same time, ending the embrace.
Sam came into view in his human form. "How do you feel?"
"A little woozy," I said.
"We should get you to Carlisle."
I nodded.
Paul came up beside me and then Jacob, Quil, and Embery came with him.
Upon seeing Paul, my mind flashed to that break in confidentiality. "Look guys," I said. "There is no way I can keep up with confidentiality, so I need to tell Carlisle that I should resign."
"What?" said Seth.
"No!" said Quil.
"Bella likes you. She actually likes being human," said Jacob.
"I just got upset," said Paul. "No big deal."
"Well how can I do this?" I asked Sam.
"We will come up with something. Right now we need to get you to Carlisle, so he can make sure everything is okay?" he said, and held out his hand.
I grabbed his hand, and went to take a step, but then my head started pounding, and succumbed to the darkness.