Something Wild

Chapter 31 - A Little at a Time

The salt air of the beach always brought a smile to her face. Even when there was a chill in the air, and the sea was churning, she was content to watch the waves dance. Naomi and Sam walked along the shore, just far enough from the water's reach that it only got their ankles. She was thankful for his presence. The events of the last day hadn't quite sunk in yet, but she knew the moment was fast approaching.

Naomi sat on the shore, letting the ebbing waves rush in and pass her calves. Sam humored her, standing by her side with a smile.

"Who's the oldest, again?" he asked. "Sometimes I forget." Naomi turned her head up at him.

"Just because you're more serious and I'm more playful doesn't mean you get to question my authority." She stuck her tongue out at him for good measure. He laughed.

"You do realize that I'm your Alpha now, right?"

She furrowed her brows. "...that's not going to stop me from questioning your authority." Naomi climbed to a standing position, dusting the sand off her hands as she did so. They walked over to and sat on a nearby log, facing each other. "Well...I suppose we might as well burst the bubble, huh?"

Sam ran a hand through his dark hair. "Right. Well, first things first — Jared and I set those vampires on fire. The ones that attacked you last night. They won't be troubling you anymore."

Naomi looked down at the log, tracing the lines in the wood with her finger. "One of them was my old roommate, you know," she said quietly. "I know there was no saving her. Still…."

"Sorry to hear that."

"It's okay." Naomi looked back up at her brother. "Paul mentioned that you guys thought there were vampires in Seattle. I'm guessing you didn't just mean those two."

"...no. We believe there may be...an infestation of sorts."

"How many is an infestation?"

He shrugged. "I'm not sure how many, but more than just those two, and likely even more each week that passes. It's the only thing that makes sense, given the number of murders in the last few weeks."

The thought sent a shiver down her spine. "Are you — are we going to go...kill them?"

"The thought has crossed my mind...but our priority is La Push. If we all go — and we would probably need to all go in order to deal with them — then there would be no one left to defend the Rez. That's a risk I can't take, especially with the Cullens having returned not too long ago."

Naomi nodded slowly. "I...understand."

"About the pack," Sam continued, "we're going to need to reintroduce you to everyone. Now that you've got these heightened senses, you should get familiar with our scents and what our wolves look like. Then we should probably start training you and teaching you the patrol routes."

Her hands tightened on the log before she even realized her fingers were digging into the wood. Naomi swallowed hard. "What about school?"

The first hint of trouble was that Sam had his stoic mask on. He'd gotten so good at it in the last year. She hadn't been on the receiving end of it for a long time, and she'd almost forgotten what it felt like. Her little brother, so alien and so stern.

"Sam, I can't just —"

"I don't like it either," he said. "I try to make sure the younger wolves are in school as much as possible. That's why I take on so many shifts. But this — protecting our people, the reservation? This is important. It's our sacred duty." And she wasn't a younger wolf. She was the oldest. She wouldn't count.

"So am I just supposed to drop out of college?" Naomi challenged, her voice raising in pitch. She tried to swallow the awful pressure in her chest. It felt like she was starting to drown, and the only things she could think about were the two exams that she was missing back in Seattle. "I didn't even get to finish my finals!"

"I'm sorry." Sam reached forward to take one of her hands. She let him, feeling her breaths become shallow. "Did you already miss them?"

"I...I have one today. In a few hours." It was the one she couldn't afford to miss. She felt a sudden surge of urgency. Naomi gave Sam a pleading look. "I have to get back somehow. I need to make it on time."

Sam was quiet for a moment too long to be good. "Naomi, you just phased yesterday. I can't let you head back to Seattle — where there's who knows how many vampires left. I shouldn't even be letting you get this close to Mom, but you've seemed pretty in control so far. If I let you go all the way back to Seattle, where you got attacked by two vampires, let alone stressed in an auditorium full of humans...well, I can't take that risk. There's just way too many risks."

Naomi was shaking her head the entire time he was speaking. She knew he was right, but how could he be? She was calm, right? Leah always said she was too easygoing. She would be fine. She could go and take her exam and run back. Easy.

Naomi opened her mouth to argue, but Sam interrupted her. "Please, don't make me have to order you to stay."

She felt tears slip down her cheeks before she could even finish processing his words. She was going to end up failing one of her classes and might have to drop out of college altogether now that she was part of the pack. And Sam was going to enforce it, even if he had to give her an injunction.

Naomi turned away from him, bringing her knees to her chest and curling up info herself on the log. The tears kept flowing, and she began to shake with heaving breaths. Sam ran a warm hand down her back, trying to soothe her. She wanted to shrug him off, but it wasn't his fault.

She took a few steadying breaths, and the tears subsided. Sam let her sit there, staring out at the ocean, until the churning waves stilled.


Sam must have thought she needed time before they continued to talk business. When Naomi felt okay enough to peel herself from the log, he walked her over to the Clearwaters' house, promising to continue their conversation later.

Sam pressed a kiss to the top of her head and gave her a squeeze before heading off into the forest. It still pained him to come by the Clearwaters', and she didn't blame him for not wanting to run into Leah in her own house right now. Naomi wiped her eyes, surprised the lashes were still wet, and knocked on the door.

It wasn't long before Leah opened it, quirking an eyebrow at her. Naomi greeted her with a hug, throwing her arms around the younger girl. Leah reciprocated, visibly confused, but didn't comment on it.

"I know you phased and all," Leah said, "but it's still weird seeing the proof. You smell like one of us now."

Naomi knew what she meant. She'd never noticed people's scents unless they were particularly fond of a perfume, but she was beginning to pay attention. Leah smelled earthy, fresh, and somewhat like lavender — the same soap she'd been using for years.

"Well, not that this isn't nice, but you can let go now."

Naomi couldn't help but laugh a little. She let go of Leah and followed her into the house. Her stomach rumbled, and they wandered into the kitchen, where Leah pulled a couple of frozen pizzas from the freezer. Naomi offered to help and set the oven while Leah unboxed them.

"It's good to see you, Leah," Naomi said.

"I can tell. That hug lasted like five years."

"Sorry." She laughed a little. "I was just...a little overwhelmed."

"With phasing? Did it finally hit you?"

"A little."

"Oh!" Leah walked over to the table outside the kitchen and picked something up off it. She flashed the silver flip phone at Naomi and tossed it to her. To Naomi's surprise, she caught it effortlessly. "A replacement for you. You just need a new SIM card."

"And everyone's phone numbers," she said, "but it's a start. Thank you so much, Leah."

"Don't sweat it."

"Seriously. Thanks." Naomi placed it in her back pocket and turned to put the frozen pizzas in the oven. "Should we make one of these for Seth?"

"Nah, he's at school. He won't get out for another hour or two, and even then he'll probably head to Emily's or something. She'll feed him." It was...surprising to hear her say her cousin's name so nonchalantly. Naomi wondered if some progress had been made between them in the time she'd been gone.

"Are you there often?"

Leah leaned against the counter, crossing her arms. She shrugged. "As often as I have to be, which isn't too much. I can tell you wanna ask. Things are a little better with my cousin. Not comfortable, but better."

"I'm glad."

"Yeah, yeah. I still can't stand the whole situation, or any of the guys." Leah frowned. "I mean, maybe one or two are okay." Suddenly, she smiled wide. "You know, I'm sorry it happened to you, but I'm really glad you're stuck with me now."

"The fact that you're here is one of the only things getting me through it," Naomi said. "I can only imagine what you've been going through as the only girl. Even with my brothers there, I don't know if I would've been able to do it." To say nothing of every single other thing that becoming a pack member would entail...

Their pizzas were done in minutes, and Naomi had unboxed another two to replace them in the oven. Somehow, the smell of fresh pizza had not yet attracted the wolves. That was fortunate, since Leah and Naomi did not intend on leaving them any.

"Pepperoni?" Naomi offered, plating a stack of the fresh slices in front of Leah.

"I don't know how you went from burning bacon to making gourmet pizzas in the oven in a couple of months," Leah said, sliding the plate closer to herself. "That's gotta be more magical than whatever transformations we go through."

"Very funny. I'll have you know, I mastered oven-based frozen foods last semester." Naomi threw her a simpering glance, then cheered right back up as the first slice of cheese hit her taste buds.

"I'm serious. These are amazing. Why did you bother cutting them into slices, though? It's not like we're sharing with anyone else."

"Now I know you're joking — either that or becoming a wolf really has made you uncivilized. This is still just boxed, frozen pizza." Naomi sighed happily. "And to answer your question, triangles are just the perfect shape for pizza. I refuse to accept otherwise."

They each had at least two entire pizzas before anyone else had a chance to pass by. Some may call her paranoid, but Naomi had heard stories of the day Emily's pot roast had interrupted a patrol. She supposed it was lucky that the Clearwaters' house was not in a high-traffic location for the pack.

"You know, I'm sorry for shutting you out before," Leah said as she washed up the plates and utensils. Her short black hair fanned out as she lowered her head, obscuring her face. "But you can probably understand it better now. Sorry you have to deal with this."

"It's fine," Naomi said simply, swinging her legs from the high stool at the counter in front of Leah. "I'm not upset just yet about the actual phasing part. I think I freaked out about missing my finals. But I'm going to figure something out."

"You're way too chill sometimes." Leah scowled. Naomi would've normally agreed. "How the hell did you even phase?"

Naomi shrugged. "Sam thinks it has to do with the fact that Paul almost died in front of me. That would be enough to get anyone...unchill."

"I heard about that when Paul phased last night. And about the fact that you guys didn't...I mean, that you didn't imprint on him."

Naomi rapped her knuckles softly against the counter, making a noncommittal sound.

"So it's really true? What's that feel like? Or not feel like?"

"I don't know." Naomi blew out a stream of air, reluctant to answer. "Everyone says you should just know when you imprint. I didn't feel anything different. Yeah, I care about him, but I didn't feel a shift in the cosmos or anything strange like the moment we met."

"That's refreshing. Again, sorry for giving you such a hard time about it when it happened."

"Given the circumstances, I'll let it slide. Just remember: I can bite you now."

Leah guffawed. "You can barely even run — I saw that well enough during patrol last night, too."

Naomi shrugged. "I don't need to be able to run to use my teeth."

"Probably not, but you definitely won't be able to catch me in the first place."

"Eh, I'll get Paul to bring you to me."

"How's that? You can't even communicate in the pack mind!"

Naomi deflated. "Yeah, there's still that."

"He wouldn't be able to catch me, anyway. I'm the fastest."

"Until I figure out my legs, anyway."

"Big talk." Leah puckered her lips. She leaned over the counter, bracing herself on her elbows. "Listen," she said. "I have something to tell you. Sam sent me a message...thought it would be best coming from me." Her mouth twisted when she said Sam's name, like it always did, but Naomi knew she was serious.

"I'm not going to like this one bit, am I?" She didn't like how her conversation with Sam had ended earlier today. She didn't blame him for wanting to soften another blow with Leah.

Leah shook her head. "'Fraid not."

Naomi rested her chin in her hand, her elbow on the counter. At this point, she was hoping to just be numb to everything. How much worse could it get than derailing her, albeit short, life plans? "Fire when ready."

"So, I'm not one-hundred percent on this since I haven't seen it myself, but I'm willing to bet the Elders aren't totally crazy when they say that, while we're still actively shapeshifting, we probably won't age."

Naomi narrowed her eyes at Leah. She raised an eyebrow. Leah nodded. Naomi raised the other eyebrow. "Okay, now that you say it, I remember hearing that during the bonfire. I thought it was just...a metaphor? But it's actually a thing?"

"Yeah, I have a feeling." Leah grimaced. "There's a reason I'm bringing that up. It gets better."

"Oh, does it?"

"I haven't gotten my period since before I became a wolf."

Naomi's face went through the same motions of confusion, surprise, and disbelief until she settled on shock. "...at all?"

"At all."

"But...what about when you want to have kids?"

Leah shrugged. "Dunno, but I'm not trying for a while anyway."

"I mean...but that doesn't really mean that we don't age."

"No, you're right. It could mean we're sterile now."

"That's not better."

Leah shrugged again. Naomi couldn't tell if she was unbothered because she truly didn't care, or if she was just desensitized at this point.

"I hope it's not permanent." Naomi didn't mean to sound worried. She didn't even realize she'd wanted kids until the possibility was possibly removed.

"I don't think it is," Leah said. "If, according to the Elders, the whole point of imprinting is supposed to be spreading our genes, there's no reason Paul would've imprinted on you and you would've become a sterile wolf."

"Unless that's why I haven't imprinted on him," Naomi muttered, her eyebrows knitting together and her lips downturned. Leah's eyes widened, clearly not having even considered that possibility.

"I'm...sure that's not the case," she said reluctantly. "I'm sure you and Paul will be fine. In any case, who cares about that biology bullshit? You could just adopt if you want kids. There are plenty of brats that need good homes."

Naomi was about to argue, to voice some of her concerns about the actual imprint, but stopped in her tracks. For Leah to provide even that much was monumental and she couldn't ruin that by disagreeing. It made her feel a bit better to believe it, too. Besides...if there was one thing she was starting to suspect, it was that the Elders didn't know everything. Her theories were as good as theirs.

"Yeah, you're right," Naomi said instead. "Thanks, Leah."


Naomi didn't get back home until dinnertime. Leah had taken her car (Sue's old one, as Sue had inherited Harry's) and drove Naomi into Forks to get her phone set up. They added as many contacts as Leah had to Naomi's new phone, but she was just going to have to email certain people for their contact info, like Jessy. She wondered if anyone was trying to reach her and decided to email Lisa as soon as she got back to her computer.

It was going to have to wait. When Leah dropped her off, Allison was immediately in the doorway, apparently having been on the lookout.

Naomi was not ready for this. She almost hoped Allison would ignore everything, given how little Sam responded after those two weeks he disappeared. Naomi thought Allison wouldn't have wanted to risk the fallout, if it was a repeat of last time. She should've known better.

"Omi, dear," Allison greeted, "Great timing. I have a roast in the oven that should be about done soon. Can you help me set the table?"

She didn't want to. She really didn't want to. But Naomi trudged into the kitchen to grab plates and bring things over to the table. Sam wasn't in the house, but perhaps he'd be joining them soon.

"So, um," Allison began, "where's your car?" She tried to sound nonchalant, but her pitch gave away her concern.

"Probably totaled somewhere in the woods," Naomi muttered, sitting down at the table and reaching for a plate. She must have been louder than she thought.

"What?!" Naomi grimaced, not expecting her shrill tone. If she wasn't concerned before, Allison definitely was now.

"I didn't—"

"What happened to your car?" Allison pulled out the seat closest to Naomi. Her eyes scanned her face. "Were you hurt?"

Naomi leaned back and sighed. She rubbed the back of her neck as she stared down at the table. "I was driving back to La Push and a...bear...jumped out into the road."

She had no idea how she was going to continue this. Allison was hanging on her every word.

"Well...I don't know if it was a bear. It was a huge animal or something, and I swerved, and… I don't know. I crashed. I called Sam and he went and got me."

"Why didn't you call me?" Allison asked, placing a hand on Naomi's chin. She met the older woman's eyes and felt a pang of guilt for lying to her when she cared so much.

"I didn't want to worry you," Naomi said. "I'm sorry. I'm not hurt. I was more scared than anything else."

"Are you sure?" Allison brought an arm around her shoulders, then pressed a hand to Naomi's forehead. "Are you sick? You're burning up!"

"I'm sure." Naomi leaned into Allison, closing her eyes. Her lips trembled. "Though, I did lose my phone. And missed a final. And I don't know how I'm going to get back to school to get my stuff from my dorm before they kick us out for the semester."

She was trying not to cry, but she couldn't help but sniffle. Her eyes watered, even though she was squeezing them shut as tightly as she could. Allison ran a hand over Naomi's hair, making comforting sounds. Despite her best efforts, she felt a tear slip down to the tip of her nose.

When she went to wipe her nose, she noticed the smell of coal, effectively snapping her attention back to the world around her. Naomi opened her eyes and darted up out of her seat, startling Allison.

"The roast! It's burning!" Naomi said, just before the smoke alarm went off.

Before she could even think about it, Naomi bolted to the kitchen, flung open the oven door, and grabbed the pan with the charred meat. She immediately pulled it out of the oven and set it atop the stove. She hissed as the metal burned her bare hands. Allison grabbed a dishtowel and started waving it in the direction of the smoke detector as Naomi ran her hands under the faucet.

"Are you okay?!" Allison exclaimed. "Naomi, did you grab the tray with your bare hands?!"

"Um, maybe! But only for a second." Once the smoke detector stopped screaming, Allison came over to Naomi and grabbed her hands out of the sink, inspecting them carefully. She furrowed her brows and ran her thumb over Naomi's palms.

"It doesn't seem like you got burned at all…" Allison trailed off. "That...was very lucky."

Naomi smiled weakly. "Yeah...some adrenaline, right?"

Allison hummed, looking at her thoughtfully. "...right."


Hello friends! Updating a little sooner because I'm anticipating a busy/rough week up ahead. I'd rather update sooner than wait a little longer. Expect to see more of the pack next time. :)