Note: Thank you so much for the reviews. I'm glad people enjoy this version of Kim too.

Skywon: Kim won't speak to Jared long enough for him to explain anything to her as she's scared of admitting her feelings fully, but it's definitely coming don't worry. I would definitely write a Paul story as he's probably my favourite wolf, but I'm not sure if I'd to it with Rachel or an OC. There would be less 'pack story' if it were for him and Rachel as it was just Paul and Sam at the beginning, but perhaps that would be an interesting take also. I'll think on it!

KPOV:

By the time Friday was nearly over I was exhausted. The last week had completely drained me, I wasn't sleeping well, I hadn't eaten properly; I barely had the mental energy to cook which was normally how I dealt with my stress.

I had decided to have lunch alone, telling T that I needed to study, when really, I just couldn't be bothered. T was trying to go back to normal, brushing unsaid words under the carpet as usual. Dakota seemed to have taken his word for it, but I'd avoided Meda as I knew what she thought of me. Bly was the only one trying to include me properly, but at this point I'd just rather she didn't.

Things had changed and were different whether I liked it or not. The cracks already in mine and Tokala's relationship now felt cavernous. The mild irritation I normally felt towards Meda was now full on dislike. Our little group was fragmented and likely beyond repair, but for some reason I didn't even care.

I had arrived purposefully late for Quileute History, knowing that I therefore would have to take the only spare seat and hoped that the odds were that it would be neither next to Meda, nor Jared. Luckily, I was right, and I managed to slink into a seat by the corner, at the front. I didn't make eye contact with either of them.

As soon as the bell rang I all but sprinted out of the room. I could hear Jared call after me, but I ignored him, now was not the right time to talk, in a crowded corridor.

I knew we did need to talk though; I'd almost caved in front of the store the other day. Whatever he felt towards me, whatever I felt towards him needed to be discussed. I was so confused, I thought he would have given up over the course of the two weeks he'd been following me around, but he was becoming more persistent rather than less.

I jumped in my car and headed home; Bly had mentioned something about hanging out tonight, but I didn't want to. I needed some time alone, to clear my head. I tried to busy myself around the house for a couple of hours, did almost all my homework in one sitting and then thought about food. I wasn't hungry, I was antsy.

I scribbled a note for my mom, not that I even thought she'd notice it, and grabbed a sweater and my book. As I neared the path towards Second Beach, my breathing began to get easier. There was still over an hour of light left so I figured I'd sit out there for a while reading and try to gather my thoughts.

The beach was empty, as always, and I settled into the sand about halfway to the shoreline. I had been sat for about ten minutes when I heard a slight splashing over the waves, someone was swimming in from further out to sea. I knew who it was before he even stood up.

As Jared emerged from the water, he suddenly saw me and stood stock still. I tried to control my breathing as I took him in. His jet-black hair was sticking up in tufts as he'd ran his hands through it, shaking the water out almost like a dog.

His dark eyes were zeroed in on me, his jaw clenched. My heartrate sped up as I stared at the rest of his body, his chest was heaving as he got his breath back, the muscles rippling. The tendons across his shoulders were straining, all the way down to his forearms. Droplets of water were falling from his hair down the expanse of his chest, running through the dips of muscle created by his abs. The boy was ripped. And I mean, sculpted like a Greek god ripped. His six-pack gave way to a V-shaped ravine that ran down into his shorts.

My mouth was dry, I had never been attracted to someone in the way I am attracted to Jared. I knew I was staring; I was aware of my eyes roving up and down his naked torso, but I couldn't stop. His skin is the exact colour of caramel, my hands itched to touch him. I try to remind myself that this is wrong, that I have a boyfriend, but it is as if every rational thought has left my head.

I dropped my gaze as I felt a blush form up my cheeks as he slowly started to walk towards me.

'Enjoying the view?' he smirked as he flopped into the sand next to me. Despite the water, the heat is still radiating from him and I swear he seems to be drying in front of my eyes.

I didn't trust myself to form a proper sentence yet, so I just rolled my eyes, keep it together.

He cleared his throat when I didn't say anything. 'Kim,' he began softly.

'I should get going.' I managed to croak out as I started to stand.

Instantly his hand shot out and grabbed the top of my arm. Heat immediately spreads through my entire body, the area he is touching is enveloped in warmth. I let out a gasp and looked at him, Jared dropped his hand but continued to stare at me.

'Kim please, you've been running away from me for two weeks. Please just talk to me. Just hear me out.'

'I haven't been running away.' I squeaked out but sat down again. I know he's right.

He let out a humourless laugh and looked out to sea. 'You have. Quite literally.' He glanced down at me, 'You're pretty fast for one so small.'

I rolled my eyes again, 'It's all that running away from wild animals prone to chasing young women in woods.' I arched an eyebrow at him.

We looked at each other for a minute before he laughed again, properly this time. 'Yeah…well they exist. So that's good.'

I looked back out at the water and crossed my legs. Jared had his legs drawn up in front of him, his arms folded across the top of his knees. It was then that I noticed the tribal tattoo on his left bicep.

'What's that?' I nodded towards it, 'A gang sign?'

He glanced down at his arm then over to me and let out a sigh, 'I'm not in a gang Kim. Is that what you think? Is that why you won't talk to me?'

I swallowed and looked away, 'No. I don't know…everyone else thinks you guys are all in some kind of weird cult.'

He searched the horizon again and muttered, 'And what do you think?'

I shrugged my shoulders. 'I don't really care either way, as long as you're not trying to recruit me?'

He chuckled softly, shaking his head. 'I'm not in a cult either.'

We sat silent for a minute before I took a deep breath. 'I avoid you because I have a boyfriend Jared.'

I felt him tense next to me, his fists closed slightly in front of him and he bit out, 'And you're not allowed to speak to other guys when you have a boyfriend?'

I looked up at him, his jaw clenched again, his eyes trained on the sea.

'Of course I can speak to other guys. Tokala doesn't control what I do Jared, but this is…different. You're so intense.' I trail off as he relaxed slightly and moved his eyes to my face.

'Is that bad?'

I wet mylips, the way he looks at me, like I'm the most incredible thing he's ever seen, makes my stomach clench and my mouth dry up.

'It's just confusing. I'm so, so, confused.' I took another breath, getting braver. 'We've never really been friends, haven't hung out in years, then you disappear for a few months, come back looking almost like a different person and then suddenly you're following me around. Jared, you waited by my locker, you wanted to walk me to class, you stare at me like…like…' I let the breath out, the air leaving my lungs as I deflate.

He's looking at me so softly, so gently, that suddenly I almost want to cry. 'Like that.' I manage to croak out.

Jared reached his hand out, as if he was going to touch me, then suddenly dropped it back to his lap. Instead he stretched his long legs out in front of him and leant back on his elbows, closing his eyes.

I stayed sat next to him, hugging my knees to my chest. We sat like this for a while and I wondered if he was even going to speak again when I heard him murmur.

'I'm sorry it's so confusing. I'm sorry I wasn't your friend earlier; I have no fucking idea why I wasn't.'

My breath caught in my throat as I turned slowly to look at him. Our eyes connected again, and I was almost thrown off balance. His eyes were burning, several emotions crossing his face. He seemed sad and guilty and then suddenly angry. I wanted to reach out and smooth the creases from his forehead, tell him it doesn't matter, but I was frozen.

He sat up again, slowly, as if he was scared of frightening me. Our faces were so much closer than before as his eyes never left mine.

'Kim, I like you. More than I'm probably showing you. I know I'm handling this so badly and that I'm making your life more difficult right now, but I promise I don't mean to. I don't ever want to hurt you.'

We were so close that we were almost touching. His breath was hot on my face as I sat willing myself, forcing myself not to lean any closer. I wanted him to kiss me more than I've ever wanted anything else. As soon as that thought entered my head, I saw Tokala's face in my mind and I lurched backwards.

'Jared, I'm with Tokala.' My voice was barely louder than a whisper.

Jared's eyes flickered with anger again but he didn't move an inch.

'Yes, so you keep saying. But where is he Kim? Why aren't you with him on a Friday evening instead of sat on a beach alone? Why do you hardly speak to him at school? Why is he turning your friends against you for talking to someone else? Why are you with him when you quite clearly don't love him?'

I opened and closed my mouth a few times, but no words came out. No one has ever spoken to me like this before.

'I know you feel it too Kim. I can sense it. You feel drawn to me, it's why you're so confused. You don't know why you're feeling the pull, but you are.' His voice deep and gravely as his eyes continue to bore into mine.

'I... I' I can't speak. I'm angry at him for insinuating I'm leading Tokala on, I'm angry at him for stating so obviously how I feel when I've been trying to suppress it. For being so honest that I have no choice. I feel tears pricking at the back of my eyes, threatening to spill over. I suck in a deep breath and look at my hands, willing myself not to start crying.

Jared reached his hand across the space between us and touched my hair so gently I'm not even sure it happened. He brought his hands up to his own face and rubbed it roughly before speaking again.

'Please look at me Kim.' I don't move.

He sighed and continued, 'Look, this is going to make no sense to you, but would you please come to a Spiritual Bonfire with me tomorrow?'

That made me look up. Where the fuck did that come from? He must have read the look on my face because he quickly spoke again. 'I know…I know that's a random request, but I swear to you, everything will make sense if you come. I'll explain it all to you.'

'Explain what?' I test out my voice again and look up at him. Even sitting down, he is enormous. My head reaches his shoulder, he seems to take up all the air around us.

His eyes searched mine, 'Everything. All your questions, why I'm so different, why you feel so confused.' Jared is looking at me with so much desperation, so much longing that I find myself nodding.

He let out a breath and glanced to the sky briefly before looking back at me.

'Thank you. It's tomorrow at 7pm, there won't be loads of people don't worry. Just the elders and some friends. We normally do it around the corner of First Beach, behind the Tribal School. There's an area there that no one else really comes to.'

We sat looking at each other again for a while before I shivered and realised that the sun had set and it was getting dark. I cleared throat, 'I should probably get back…'

Jared nodded and stood up as I do. I noticed that he was completely dry, his shorts, his hair, everything. I opened my mouth to question it, but he spoke before I was able to.

'Can I walk you home?'

'Oh…no, I'm fine honestly. You should get back to whatever you were doing.'

He chuckled, 'I was swimming Kim, I'm hardly going to swim home, am I? Please, just humour me and let me walk you back.'

I sighed and started walking, Jared falling in step beside me. 'That's the second time you've asked me to do something to just humour you.'

He laughed, 'Yeah, and it worked the first time.'

I narrowed my eyes at him, 'How do you know?'

For a split second he looked nervous and then he laughed again, 'Well I haven't heard any stories of women getting mauled in the woods, so I assumed you'd taken my advice.'

I stared at him for a moment and he smiled down at me, 'What?'

'You're quite a creepy guy…you know that?'

He threw me a look and placed his hand over his chest as if offended. 'I could get a lot creepier…'

I laughed now with him and carried on walking.

'Can I ask a question?' He had his hands shoved in his pockets as we walked.

'Depends what it is.'

'Why were you sat there alone this evening?'

I shrugged and thought about my answer for a second. 'I just wanted to get out and think for a while. Which I managed for about 10 minutes before you appeared by the way.' I raised an eyebrow at him, and he smirked back at me.

'Sorry, I was swimming there first before you arrived. Technically this time round, you stalked me.'

I laughed softly, 'So you admit to the stalking?'

He nods, grinning slightly at me, 'You're very stalkable…' Jared kept his gaze on the side of my face as we made it out of the trees and onto the road.

'Why do you want to leave La Push so much?' he asked, after a minute of silence.

I glanced across to him. 'There's no one reason really. I just feel like there is so much more to be seen. I don't have any family here apart from my mom, and we aren't close at all, so there's nothing really keeping me here.'

His brows were furrowed as he moved slightly closer to me, 'You and your mom aren't close?'

I shrugged, 'It's no big deal Jared. She and my dad went through an awful divorce a couple of years ago and she threw herself into her business to get over it. We don't argue or anything…we just don't really talk I guess.'

He said nothing so I continued. 'Honestly, we weren't close when I was younger either. I was more like my dad.'

Jared nodded and then asked, 'How often do you see him?'

I looked straight ahead. 'I don't. I last saw him two years ago when he walked out.'

He sighed heavily and I prepared myself for the usual questions or judgement on my decision to cut my dad out of my life but instead he nudged me gently with his arm and said, 'That's why you're so tough.'

I shot him a look, but he was smiling, 'I mean it. You're so independent Kim, you're so different to all the other girls here.'

I tried to stop my own smile by biting the corner of my lip, 'You hardly know me, Jared.'

We reached my house and I stopped and turned to him, suddenly awkward.

'Thanks for walking me home.'

He took a step closer to me and I tensed. I tried to back away, but my feet wouldn't move, I needed to be in his presence, in his warmth. I realised he was still topless and managed to control my voice enough to ask, 'Aren't you cold?'

He shook his head slowly, his eyes fixed on mine.

'Okay…well I guess I'll head inside.' I stammered. My breathing was staggered, I could barely function with him so close to me. I forced my feet to take a step backwards as he suddenly caught my hand with his fingers. Electricity flowed between us and I had to close my eyes for a second to steady myself.

'Promise me you'll come tomorrow?' he murmured; his voice so low I could hardly hear him.

I nodded but he asked again, 'Kim? Promise me.'

'I promise I'll come.' My own words were barely more than a whisper as our eyes stayed latched on each other. I wanted to step closer and lean my head on his chest, to run my fingers across the rivets between his abs, to feel his arms wrap around me. Instead I let go of his hand and took a breath before breaking the eye contact and turning back to my house.

I peered over my shoulder when I got to the door and Jared was still stood there. His eyes never left me until I moved inside the house and closed the door, leaning against it for support.

I stood there for a few minutes, getting my breath back before I headed for the kitchen. I poured a glass of water and downed it one go. I took my phone out and hovered over Tokala's number.

Whatever I felt towards Jared was getting stronger and it was taking everything in my body not to give in to it. I didn't even know how to formulate the words to explain to T that whilst nothing had happened, everything had happened.

I took a deep breath and pressed call. It rang and rang and went to his answer phone. I was relieved. I clicked off and told myself I'd try him again tomorrow.

Please keep reviewing, the next chapter will be up by the end of the week and Kim will finally learn more about Jared.