An extra long chapter to make up for an extra long wait! I have been so excited to write this chapter and wanted to make sure it was just right. Thank you for your patience and THANK YOU FOR ALL THE LOVE. I can't wait to hear what you think and can't wait to dive deeper into the awful, sticky mess we've got going!

VIII. Moirai

"... And we could go to the pumpkin patch! I think mom said there's a corn maze there, too."

Kim spoke excitedly as she drove, eyes twinkling against the rain-covered windshield. Nina pondered the thought, allowing herself to gaze out at the passing scenery. Kim and her family were going out of town the coming weekend, and the invitation had been extended to Nina as well.

She remained silent as they pulled into the parking lot, the very thought of staying at her own home for the weekend seeming dreadful, but something just didn't seem right about imposing on Kim's family's trip.

"I don't know," Nina shook her head, "I'm fine just roughing it at home, really." She shut the door behind herself, waiting at the back of the car until Kim gathered her things.

When she joined her, Kim's face was unsure, lips pursed to the side.

"At least think about it?" Kim asked. They began walking to the school, pulling up the hoods of their raincoats as they went.

"Sure," Nina sighed.

It was early in the day when Nina realized Jared wasn't at school. She had grown so used to his company over the weeks leading up to it that she found herself feeling off without his winking or cackling, and especially without his warm gaze on her wherever she went. As strange as the thought seemed the very moment it passed through her mind, she was quite off-put at the fact that he hadn't told her he'd be absent.

The following day, Nina awoke to the sun streaming in through her window, streaking golden rays across the mild disarray of her bedroom. The unusual sunshine sent a jitter of excitement through her, and she found herself moving more fluidly through her morning motions. The very thought of a breezy, sunny day towards the end of October was nearly unheard of in the Pacific Northwest, and even when passing by her mother's mess from the night before didn't seem to deplete her spirit.

When Kim pulled up alongside the entrance to her driveway, three of her windows were rolled down- the fourth being broken and never rolling down- and she began speaking before Nina had even reached the car.

"Can you believe this?" She cried in delight, hands gesturing with delight towards the sky.

With a lighthearted smile, Nina opened the passenger door and plopped herself in, tossing an arm out the window as Kim began to drive.

They were just down the street when Nina found her mind on Jared, and that familiar dryness settled into her throat. She glanced in Kim's direction, eyes training on her broad smile as she hummed along to the music on the radio. The very thought of hurting her made it nearly impossible to swallow, and it seemed to grow worse as she fought to disregard Jared's image from her mind.

"Kim-" she forced a swallow and faced her, straightening her shoulders against the back of the seat.

Her eyes flickered towards her in acknowledgement.

"I feel like I have to say something or else I-"

"Oh my God!"

The sudden shrill of her voice knocked the bravery from Nina's breath as she searched for the cause of Kim's excitement.

It didn't take long for her eyes to find the gargantuan, tanned body walking along the side of the road as Kim slowed down her vehicle.

He turned with a smirk, his eyes meeting Nina's almost instantaneously and pooling with that look that seemed reserved just for her.

"Morning, girls," Jared smiled, hunching over to bring his face to Nina's window. She opted to look at Kim instead of paying attention to the closeness of their faces.

"Need a ride?" Kim's words tumbled from her lips clumsily, and her blush was illuminated by the sun flooding the small car.

"Sure, I wouldn't mind one," Jared shrugged, moving in the direction of the back door.

The thought rose and clicked in Nina's head and she was unbuckling and opening her own door before she had even processed the reasoning behind it.

Jared raised an eyebrow at her as she stood up outside the car, backpack in hand.

"You'll want the front, right?"

His mouth was slightly open as he stared down at her, his eyes seeming to grow more intense than normal.

"Motion sickness?" Her voice betrayed her in the form of a squeak, and she felt silly as soon as it left her mouth. But the look on Jared's face washed that thought away just as quickly as it came, and he smiled even brighter than normal as he nodded.

"Yeah," he stepped back and allowed her to move to the back door, "yeah, thank you, Nina."

She spent the remainder of the ride to school stewing in her own thoughts. Jared's strange heat seemed to touch her even from the front seat and stood as a reminder of the guilt that was gnawing away at her esophagus. She wished that she were able to be amused at the uncanniness of his timing, miraculously appearing as she was about to confess her shame to Kim. Perhaps the time wasn't right, perhaps she was overthinking it all and making it bigger than it needed to be.

By the time they arrived in the parking lot, she had convinced herself that was the case.

Her morning blew by uncomfortably quickly, and soon, Nina found herself by Kim's side as they walked to lunch. They had just entered the cafeteria when Kim began speaking, the glow of the day's weather still palpable.

"Have you decided on this weekend? Mom wanted me to tell you again just how much she'd like you to come."

Nina pursed her lips to the side, shaking her head slightly, "I think I'll just stay home honestly, maybe explore a little and get some last shots of the leaves before they're all gone for the year."

Kim looked at her with a pout but didn't speak again as they joined Jared and Paul at their booth. They slid into their respective seats- Nina beside Paul and Kim beside Jared.

"What a good idea, Paul," Jared gritted out his teeth, forcing a smile in Nina's direction as his eyes moved to her from Paul's face. She raised an eyebrow at him before looking at Paul.

He narrowed his eyes quickly at Jared and jerked his head slightly to the side before turning to meet her stare. With a scrunched nose, he forced a faint grin and shrug of his shoulder before beginning his daily attack on his lunch. Nina refrained from cringing as she returned her attention to Jared- Kim's eyes were already on him.

"We're having a little bonfire this weekend, why don't you two come?"

The girls shared a glance and Nina tried to push away her suspicions towards Jared's timing once more. Kim frowned.

"I won't be in town this weekend-" she perked up, "but Nina will be!" She faced Nina with a grin, "you should go," she nodded encouragingly.

"I-" she searched for the words.

"I'll pick you up," Paul sighed, facing her. She raised an eyebrow as he elbowed at her side, "Friday night around five."

"Okay," she chuckled nervously, "I guess I'll be there."

The rest of the week flew by. Kim and her parents left Friday morning for the weekend after dropping Nina off at school- and insisting one last time that she change her mind and join them. She had declined once more, and though she was dreading being under her mother's roof any more than necessary, she was relieved when they accepted her answer.

Jared wasn't in school, and though he had told her the day prior, she still felt strange going through the motions without him or Kim by her side. Despite their absences, she wasn't left without company.

Paul had found her halfway through the morning, shoving at her side obnoxiously and accompanying her through the halls for the majority of the day. During lunch, they argued about whether Seattle or Tacoma- Nina learned he had been born and spent some of his childhood there- were more dangerous. Despite the statistics of crime that she had used in her argument, Paul was adamant that there was more danger near them than in Tacoma.

As he drove her home from school that afternoon, the mood of their conversations began to shift. While Nina had noticed that he was rather arrogant and disagreeable, sometimes even downright argumentative and confrontational, she found herself enjoying that, for whatever reason, he had began to join the strange friendship between their lunch table.

"I'm glad you decided to stick around and join us this weekend," he spoke mildly as he drove. While Nina could only remember him being near her house on the night he picked her and Jared up to go to the hospital, he seemed to know the way there without her instruction.

"This weekend?" She raised an eyebrow at him.

"Yeah," he chuckled, eyebrows flaring upwards with exasperation, "bonfire tonight, basket-making or whatever shit Emily has planned for you tomorrow, and Sunday breakfast with the…" his confidence faltered as he seemed to mull over his words, "with all of us."

Her face, rather pretty even in its slight contortion, remained twisted with curiosity towards him.

"I didn't," she quirked her lips, "I only knew about the bonfire."

Paul snorted slightly out his nose with another chuckle, a condescending smirk snaking its way onto his face. His features were sharper than Jared's, despite the two being the same age.

"You didn't really think Jared would miss a whole weekend to hang out, did you?"

His words settled into her brain heavily, and she was unable to control the flashes of Jared's face from materializing in her mind, a solid ball of heat nestling into the center of her chest.

She didn't need to look back at Paul to know his obnoxious grin was still intact.

"I'll be back later," he spoke again once they had pulled into her driveway, casting a look of amusement in her direction, "don't keep me waiting, Jared'll kill me if I take any more of his time with you than necessary."

"I'll be ready when I'm ready," Nina laughed in return, fighting the flush from making it to her cheeks, "you'll both be fine." She hopped out of the truck with one last grin of appreciation towards Paul. The cold struck her immediately, and she was reminded that Paul seemed to run at the same inexplicable temperature that Jared did.

"That's what you think," he muttered, his eyebrows moving again as she shut the door.

The air seemed thicker than normal when Nina stepped into her house, and she furrowed her eyebrows at the dull music playing from the stereo on the kitchen counter. Her mother was still in her work uniform- a plain button up shirt with the hotel's name embroidered on the chest. She was a receptionist there.

"Home on a Friday?" She croaked. She picked at a partially burnt piece of toast.

"Only for a little bit," Nina shrugged, beginning towards her room, "then I'm leaving." As she spoke, she hoped that her mother would be in bed by the time she returned from the bonfire.

"It's coming up, you know."

Her words stopped Nina in her tracks, though she didn't turn around.

"I know."

She nearly held her breath as she waited for a response.

"He'd want you home more often."

Nina inhaled deeply, debating a more peaceful answer than what came to mind instantly. With a slight face to herself, she shrugged a shoulder and closed the distance between herself and her room, mumbling as she went.

"He'd want you functioning more often."

Later that evening, at almost five-o'clock on the dot, the rumble of Paul's truck chugging into Nina's driveway sent her flying from her room as she pulled on a lined denim jacket.

"Hey," Paul drawled pleasantly as she threw open the truck door, hopping in rather hastily.

"Didn't even keep you waiting that long," Nina made a face in his direction as she buckled herself in, pleased when Paul spared no time in pulling away from the house.

"It's a good thing," he replied, arrogance dripping in his tone. She refrained from rolling her eyes at him and instead settled on a glare, and he sent her a smirk from across the cab of the truck.

Jared was waiting in the parking lot when they pulled in at the beach. It took only a moment for his eyes to find Nina, and then he was moving to the truck, throwing open her door with a smile before Paul had even shifted into park.

"There you are," he tossed an arm around her shoulders, squeezing them tighter than she expected. His warmth was almost overwhelming and she was seemingly swallowed by his size as he began leading them towards the treeline.

"Yeah, you're welcome, Jared," Paul called out from behind them, "no biggie."

"Where is this bonfire?" Nina raised an eyebrow as they walked, still protected from the cold by his partial embrace. They walked beyond the shore and deeper into the trees, a sudden incline raising question.

"Up near the cliffs," Jared shrugged, smiling briefly at her, "sorry I didn't mention that."

"It's a good thing Kim couldn't come," Nina pouted her bottom lip slightly as she chuckled, "she hates these heights."

His hand seemed to grip her arm just a little bit tighter, but he remained silent as they carried on.

"Why weren't you at school today?"

Jared's eyes found the sky through the branches as he answered her, shrugging again casually, "I just had some work stuff to do."

"Sounds pretty demanding."

"You don't know the half of it."

They broke through the thicket and emerged into a clearing about halfway up the cliffs. Nina could hear the waves crashing against the walls of it, but her attention was set on the circle of logs situated around a small bonfire, people she vaguely recognized as council members seated in its glow. Beside some of the elders sat Sam and Emily, the older girl rising carefully and beginning towards them.

Breaking Jared's careful hold on her, Nina met her halfway with an embrace, careful not to squeeze her too hard given her recovery from the bear attack.

"I'm so glad you're here," Emily tightened her grip, speaking softly into her hair as she did so. Nina's heart nearly swelled in response and she murmured an agreement as they separated.

"Are you familiar with the legends?" Emily asked, eyebrows raised.

"Not really," Nina shook her head, embarrassed, "really just what we've learned in school."

"Not to worry," Emily smiled, "I hear Billy's the very best at telling them."

She felt Jared's presence grow behind her before he had even brought a hand to rest on her shoulder blade, and with one last smile to Emily, she allowed him to edge her towards the council members.

"Harry Clearwater," Jared regarded the man as he stood, "this is Nina."

She reached out confidently to shake his hand, smiling broadly as he welcomed her. Billy Black and Old Quil Ateara, the other elders, followed suit, one more kind than the next.

Paul joined them shortly after, and Nina found herself tucked quaintly beside Jared on a log as everyone settled into their seats. His arm had woven its way back around her shoulders, and she welcomed both his heat and the comfort it brought openly, her mind strangely clear as she allowed her head to rest against his side.

A sort of reverenced hush fell over the group as Billy Black began to tell the legends of their tribe. An air of authority seemed to blow about him, similar to that that Nina had noticed about Sam previously. As he spoke, she became oblivious to all but the feeling of Jared beside her and the words that danced from Billy's lips.

"The Quileutes have been a small people from the beginning," Billy began.

A few seats down, Nina noted the way Emily had began to scribble along in a notebook in her lap as he spoke, as if taking notes or scribing the entirety of it.

"And we are a small people still, but we have never disappeared. This is because there has always been magic in our blood. It wasn't always the magic of shape-shifting- that came later. First, we were spirit warriors."

Nina sat up straighter the more she listened, her curiosity piqued. Jared seemed to move instinctively beside her. Billy told of their beginning in the harbor, the skills they possessed as shipbuilders and fishermen and the abundance of fish for their taking. He spoke of the enemies that coveted their riches and the escape that took place after a larger tribe moved against them- this, she had all learned in history. It was when he began telling of their magic and how it was used to drive off their enemies that she felt reeled back into the story.

"Now, when the warriors were their spirit selves, they knew each other's thoughts…"

For just a second, Nina's eyes flickered in Paul's direction.

"... The great wolf followed Taha Aki's spirit as he twisted and writhed in agony through the woods. The wolf was very large for its kind, and beautiful. Tahi Aki was suddenly jealous of the dumb animal. At least it had a body- at least it had a life. Even life as an animal would be better than this horribly empty consciousness.

"And then Taha Aki had the idea that changed us all. He asked the great wolf to make room for him, to share. The wolf complied. Taha Aki entered the wolf's body with relief and gratitude. It was not his human body, but it was better than the void of the spirit world."

None of their tribal lessons had told them of a story so woven with magic, and while the logical part of her brain reminded her of its falsehoods, Nina allowed herself to be enthralled nonetheless. She was faintly aware of Jared pulling her even closer, but her eyes remained on Billy's dark face.

"... But, as he joined the wolf, the greatest magic happened. Taha Aki's anger was the anger of a man. The love he had for his people and the hatred he had for their oppressor were too vast for the wolf's body, too human. The wolf shuddered, and- before the eyes of the shocked warriors and Utlapa- transformed into a man. The new man did not look like Taha Aki's body. He was far more glorious."

A thought ignited in Nina's mind, a mere flicker of recognition and connection to something, but it lost its spark just as quickly as it had come.

"... Taha Aki fathered many sons, and some of these found that, after they had reached the age of manhood, they, too, could transform into wolves. The wolves were all different, because they were spirit wolves and reflected the man they were inside."

Billy Black concluded his tales with regards to Taha Aki's third wife, and the circle seemed to shift as Old Quil Ateara took over the story. In that time, Nina spared a glance up at Jared's face, admiring the way the fire illuminated his features- a mixture of childlike roundness and the sharp lines of maturity. His eyes found hers quickly and they shared a smile as Old Quil began to speak.

He began with trouble growing in the north with the Makahs and the disappearances of young women from their tribe. Taha Aki, having began to age after giving up his spirit wolf, entrusted his oldest wolf-son to find the culprit.

"... They came across something they had never encountered before- a strange, sweet scent in the forest that burned their noses to the point of pain. They did not know what creature would leave such a scent, but they followed it…

The prospect of a blood-drinking beast pale as stone was something Nina had only heard of in horror films that her father used to force upon her mother during the month of October, though she had never been chilled so deeply by the fake blood and fangs on the television. When Old Quil spoke of such a thing in their legends, however, a shiver threatened to trickle down her spine. As if reading her mind, Jared's hand left her arm and trailed down to her hand, taking into his with ease and never faltering in his attentiveness to the story. She didn't pull her hand away.

"...Taha Aki never rejoined the tribe."

Nina had nearly gasped at the story of the Third Wife, and from across the fire, she was comforted by the obvious affliction on Emily's scarred face.

"...He never changed back to a man again. He lay for one day beside the body of the third wife, growling whenever anyone tried to touch her, and then he went into the forest and never returned."

Jared squeezed at her hand, and she felt his eyes trained on the side of her face. She was serious as she kept hers on Old Quil.

"Time passed, and the descendants of Taha Aki no longer became wolves when they reached manhood. Only in a great while, if a cold one was near, would the wolves return. The cold ones always came in ones and twos, and the pack stayed small.

"A bigger coven came, and your own great-grandfathers prepared to fight them off. But the leader spoke to Ephraim Black as if he were a man, and promised not to harm the Quileutes."

Nina's head subconsciously tilted.

"His strange yellow eyes gave some proof to his claim that they were not the same as the other blood drinkers. The wolves were outnumbered; there was no need for the cold ones to offer a treaty when they could have won the fight. Ephraim accepted. They've stayed true to their side, though their presence does seem to draw in others.

"And their numbers are forcing a larger pack to grow… and so the sons of our tribe again carry the burden and share the sacrifice their fathers endured before them."

Nina hadn't even realized that Old Quil had stopped speaking at first. The silence of the group was deafening, the waves beyond the cliffs suddenly seeming a million miles away as her mind raced with both childlike curiosity and painful skepticism. She felt cheated for having not heard the tales before.

Sam and Paul had risen almost simultaneously from their seats, the former kissing Emily's good cheek with care before moving into the darkness of the surrounding trees. Paul's eyes found Nina was amusement, and she narrowed her own at him as he approached.

"Whatcha think? Freaked out?" He raised an eyebrow with challenge.

Nina rolled her eyes as she stood, stretching her arms above herself as Jared rose behind her, brushing along her spine as he did so.

"Freaked out by legends? You should hear the tales of Catholicism," she shook her head, suppressing a yawn. Behind her, Jared chuckled nervously.

Paul stared at her with a look she couldn't quite place, and she wondered if he simply didn't get the joke or didn't find humor in it.

"Wanna head down to the beach?"

Jared's lips brushed along her hair as he spoke and sent a parade of shivers down the back of her neck, and she was thankful he couldn't see her face as she regained composure. She nodded, and Paul sent them one last glance as he followed along where Sam had disappeared to earlier.

Nina's shoulder brushed against Jared's arm as they descended towards the beach, and she thought he had nearly grabbed her hand once or twice as they went.

They broke through the treeline and into the sand, and Nina stopped to inhale the breeze, shutting her eyes as she did so. When she opened her eyes once more, Jared was still beside her, eyes trained on her face.

His features were illuminated this time not in orange like at the fire, but instead with a silvery glow that revealed the differences in their complexions. His eyes looked black as they glowed at her. She allowed herself to smile at him, a comforting airiness settling in her chest.

"What'd you think of the legends?" Jared asked. They had resumed their walk, nearing the water as they did so.

"They're incredible stories, really," she nodded slightly in his direction, "I wish we had learned them like that in school."

She found a log along the shoreline, stepping up onto it and balancing along beside Jared. Standing on it, they were nearly at eye-level with one another. He remained silent as she walked the length of it, a hand held out towards her. When she reached the end, a light smile on her face, they faced each other.

In that moment, there was something so pleasant, so natural, and Nina couldn't remember ever feeling so content or at ease. It was just right. The salty air seemed to flow in and out of her lungs easier, and smiling seemed like the only appropriate thing to do. Living in that moment was easier than every single one before it.

"We save the scary stuff for special members of the tribe," Jared chuckled, scrunching his face at her. With a swoop of his arms, he caught her hands in his own.

"Scary?" She teased back, mimicking his face.

Their hands hung between them.

"You're not scared of giant wolves protecting the tribe?" He challenged, a corner of his mouth tilting upwards.

"No," she replied, shaking her head. Her nose was still wrinkled, and she tilted it towards him with emphasis to her point.

Jared smiled, and Nina held her breath as he leaned closer, his nose just grazing hers. His voice was quieter as he spoke again, something darker lacing his words.

"What about the cold ones?"

A smirk found its way onto Nina's lips, and she leaned forward just enough to press their noses together.

"Nope."

Everything stood still for just a moment.

And then with just one motion, Jared had swept her off the log, and her giggles were filling the beach as he spun the two of them.

"You're not so tough," he laughed, bringing her back to the ground in front of himself, arms still neatly wrapped around her. Their sounds of delight faded and the ocean's roar came back into focus.

Nina found herself holding her breath, despite her giddy breathlessness. She could feel the flush of her cheeks and practically hear her heart racing. She felt as though she had just ridden a rollercoaster or even perhaps gone skydiving, but she knew that was a silly thought for simply playing on a beach with someone.

But when she looked back up to meet his eyes, once more pooled with overwhelming emotion, a breathless smile on his face, she couldn't convince herself he was just any someone.

"How about we get you home?"

With one more smile, Nina nodded, and Jared's arms reluctantly fell from her. As they began towards the road, his fingers found hers with determination, and she allowed him to lace them through her own.

She had lost track of time from when Paul had picked her up to then, when the moon stood above them, their shoes padding along the blacktop.

"Em really wants to show you how to make those baskets of hers," Jared began, turning his face in her direction. Their hands were swinging lazily back and forth, somehow molded together just right. "I could come get you in the morning and bring you over, if you wanted."

"By come get me and 'bring' me over, you mean walk me there?" She raised an eyebrow, giggling.

Jared rolled his eyes playfully but nodded nonetheless, "Yeah, that's what I mean."

She thought of bringing up the fact that Paul had told her Jared had already counted on her doing that, but the grin on his face left that thought alone, and instead, she shrugged her shoulders and bobbed her head slightly.

"That doesn't sound too bad."

Her trailer came into view, unlit and rather shabby by comparison to Emily's dreamlike abode. A sigh escaped Nina's lips before she could stop it.

They passed into the driveway, Jared sneaking a grin in her direction. Halfway to the steps, she pulled him to a stop, smirking upwards at his crestfallen face as he turned to her.

"Still?" He whined, dropping his shoulders and pouting a lip.

"Still," she nodded, sucking in her lips with a grin.

With the shake of his head and a sigh, he fell back into place in front of her, his grip on her hand like an iron clasp. His extreme heat was tickling up her wrist.

"One day?" He raised an eyebrow, his eyes flicking to the front door.

"I'll think about it," she quickly responded, a playful glimmer in her eye.

"I'll take it."

With that, Jared was wrapping her into another embrace, his face coming down to her hair. She heard him inhale deeply and allowed her eyes to shut for just a moment as she relished in the ease it brought her.

She missed it as soon as he released her.

"When should I come?"

"The earlier the better," she admitted, an unwelcome, nervous chuckle escaping.

"I'll be here."

With a gentle squeeze to her hand, Nina was finishing the length to the front door and slipping quietly through the gap.