Seth's POV

Day two of our new life saw us finally heading back to Forks, to our own little haven away from my sister. Daisy seemed stuck between wanting to be close with Leah, and having a subconscious knowledge that she was now her superior, and I could feel her slight discomfort as if it was my own.

I'd gotten in touch with her next door neighbor and let her know Daisy hadn't been feeling well, and she'd assured me Hugo and Juniper were welcome to stay with her for as long as we needed. I went to collect them as soon as Daisy had changed into her own clothes, complaining that her sweat pants were slightly too short for her now.

They were more than excited to see me, even Juniper standing on her hind legs to rest her paws on either side of my stomach. I didn't know she was sprightly enough to manage it before that moment, and I chuckled and rubbed her head affectionately.

"You want to go in and see mom?" I asked them excitedly as they followed me across the yard and up the steps to the front door, their noses trained on the ground as they moved. They hovered at the front door as I opened it, both seeming slightly on edge, and Daisy met us in the hallway, her voice high and excited as she greeted them and lowered herself onto her knees, waiting for them to barrel themselves into her arms.

But they continued to stand behind me, sinking into their legs as their hackles raised on the backs of their necks and over their tails, their eyes wary as they looked at her and took in her scent.

Daisy's expression fell to one of despair as she watched them, and her eyes slowly lifted to mine. "They're scared of me."

"They're probably just confused. It took them both a second to make sure I was okay before they accepted me, they'll be fine."

"Come here," Daisy said gently, holding out her hand. Juniper was the first to move, crossing the short space cautiously and sniffing at Daisy's fingers, and my imprint made no further move to touch her. Hugo followed his sister, but stayed far enough away so that he wasn't in reach.

Daisy's fingers trembled slightly as she twisted her lips, and I moved to pull her up so she was standing in front of me. "Give them time. They need to figure out you're still the same person, even if you smell different."

I distracted her enough to stop worrying by reminding her about work, and she seated herself on the couch with a project, starting and finishing it as I cooked us dinner when it usually would have taken her several hours. The dogs finally came around, and I met her with two full plates, smiling to see Hugo napping with his head rested in her lap as she set her sewing aside with a satisfied smile.

"I can get so many more orders finished now." She mused dreamily as I lowered myself onto the couch beside her.

"You won't have to worry about a certain amount at any time, you can churn them out and have them posted quicker than ever." I agreed happily, pausing when her startled eyes met mine at my words.

"Yeah…I was just thinking the same thing."

I wondered if she was still tired, and perhaps didn't know she'd spoken aloud, but I handed her the plate of food without saying anything else and put on a movie for us to watch.

Nessie arrived on our doorstep on the third morning after Daisy's change, and pulled her friend into a long hug.

"I was so worried about you," she sighed into my imprint's neck, the two girls now a very similar height. She breathed in deeply, and grinned, and I felt my unease at her closeness melt away at her obvious comfort. There'd always been a slight edge to Nessie's eyes, the way she held her shoulders back, as if she was constantly reigning herself in, before Daisy had phased. "You don't smell anywhere near as edible as you used to."

"Glad to hear it," Daisy giggled. "Though, I think I could fight you off if you tried to sink your teeth into me now."

"I don't know, Jake seems to enjoy it," I commented casually, causing a flush of pink to rise in Ness' cheeks.

"Just because you see things you shouldn't, it doesn't mean you need to bring them up." Ness scolded me.

We piled into Nessie's sleek black car, and she drove us to Quil's house. The pair hadn't been seen by anyone, except for when people had taken over meals and visited to share their condolences. With everything going on with my imprint, I hadn't made it over to see my brother, and I was anxious to make sure they were both doing okay.

Quil answered the door, dressed only in a pair of pajama pants. It seems he had been as out of touch as we had, and no one had wanted to share Daisy's news when something so important had happened in his own life, because his eyes widened as he met the three of us at the threshold, his nostrils flaring to take in Daisy's scent as he eyed her new height and the small sundress that hung off her lean frame, despite the chilly air.

"How are you going, man?" I asked, pulling him in for a hug before he could say anything.

"Been better," he replied, clearing his throat. His eyes fell back to Daisy, who twisted her lips awkwardly, before waiting for Nessie to release him from her gentle hug to do the same.

"Seth?" Claire's voice came from the couch, where she was resting under a huge pile of blankets, a movie paused on the television in front of her. "Hey guys," she managed a small smile as she saw the three of us, but her eyes stayed sad.

"Oh, Claire," Nessie was at her friend's side in a flash, and Daisy followed at a much more human pace, folding herself around Claire and wrapping her arms around her. Claire rested into my imprint's arms, then froze, her eyes wide at her friend's body temperature.

"Daisy –"

"We're not here to talk about me," Daisy said simply. Nessie sat herself on Claire's other side, and tugged on her until she let her head fall against her shoulder.

"We're here for girl time. We brought a box of tissues, and three tubs of ice cream. And Seth is here to distract Quil for as long as you want."

"You don't even eat ice cream," Claire sniffed with a small chuckle.

"One of them is for you, and two of them are for Daisy," Nessie smirked.

"I feel like discussing whatever has happened since I saw you last will be a welcome distraction." Claire's eyes fixed on my imprint, and I threw the girls a parting look as Quil led me into their wide back yard.

"Claire was happy to see the girls," was the first thing he said as we sat on the damp chairs around the deserted fire pit we'd built years ago.

"They were anxious to come around and see her," I told him. "We've all been so worried about you guys."

"I feel like we're starting to drive each other crazy. We need to start socializing again. Everyone's been too on guard while they're over visiting. It feels like we're living in another world."

"I know the feeling," I kicked at a rock embedded into the mud, and felt my brother's eyes on me.

"When did it happen?"

"The same night we found out about you guys," I told him. "She just started freaking out over nothing, and then exploded. It took me a second to figure out what was actually going on."

"Shit," he pushed his hair back from his face and stretched his arms over his head. "Another girl in the pack. It makes me glad Claire's not Quileute."

"I didn't think Daisy was either, to be fair,"

He watched me closely, for a long time. "Are you okay with this?"

"Yeah, she seems to be handling it well. I don't really want her out when there's any threats, but I keep being told I have to let her handle it. I don't think Jake's going to allow her to stay home just because I'm overprotective. She's as much a part of the pack as anyone else now."

"Shit…" he said again, shaking his head. "I heard we had three new additions, but no one said anything about Daisy."

"I think they're all a little rattled about it. It was a weird weekend."

"Tell me about it," he sighed. He lowered his head and picked at his fingernails.

"Are you okay?"

"No," he muttered. When he looked back at me, his eyes were wet. "I feel like I've failed her. I should have been around more, to make sure she was okay. I should have taken some time off work."

"You couldn't have known, Quil," I told him. "These things happen, and it's shit, but there wouldn't have been anything you could have done to prevent it."

"She hasn't even properly looked at me since Sunday." He cleared his throat, but his voice was still strained when he spoke again. "I don't know what I can do to make it better."

"Just be there for her," I told him. "It's going to get better with time."

"It was a girl," he said quietly. "She found out as soon as we could, but I told her I wanted it to be a surprise. I couldn't not know, when –" he choked on his words, and two thick tears rolled down his cheeks. "I don't want to touch her. She seems so breakable. We just sit on opposite ends of the couch, and don't talk."

"Claire is tough," I reminded him quietly. "She'll be okay. Keeping your distance isn't going to help anything."

"It's eating me alive, Seth." He groaned quietly and rubbed at his eyes. "Sam was so convinced the entire point of an imprint was to be able to reproduce healthy children, and I can't even get that right! I've let her down."

"Sam might not know everything," I reasoned gently. "Jake thinks it's just our way of finding who we're meant to be with. Look at him and Ness – they don't even know if she'll ever be able to get pregnant. And me and Daisy; our imprint is obviously set up to fail if Sam's theory's the case, when she's just phased. Claire is young, Quil. You've got plenty of time to try again. It's going to happen for you, man."

"But why couldn't it have been now?" he sighed.

I shrugged and sighed. "Because this world is a mess."

On day four we woke to Hugo scratching at the door, reminding us he and his sister needed to be fed. I frowned and rubbed at my face while Daisy rolled onto my chest and wrapped her hands around my shoulders.

"What's the matter?"

"Weird dream," I told her, wrapping my arm around her and giving her a small smile.

"Oh, yeah?" she questioned. "What was it?"

"I was with your sister, and we were watching some movie about a pirate, or something."

She opened her mouth, and her eyebrows rose slightly. "Was there a lady in a red dress?"

I frowned at her. "Yeah,"

"You were watching The Princess Bride," she told me. "I had the same dream."

"Weird…" there was a louder scratch on the door, followed by an expectant howl from Juniper, and she sighed and climbed over me, her small shorts giving me an excellent view of her newly toned legs.

"I've got to feed the babies. What do you want for breakfast?"

"I've got it," I pushed myself to my feet and followed her into the kitchen.

We were halfway through our meal, when she brought up our odd dream. "Do all the imprints share dreams?" she asked me quietly.

I shrugged and scraped up a fork of egg. "Not that I know of. But weirder things have happened. The imprint connection's just bizarre all over. Ness swears she can tell when Jake's upset about something, even if she hasn't seen him all day."

"I wouldn't know how that feels, because you're always in a good mood."

"Not always," I disagreed gently. "I was an absolute mess on Saturday night."

"I don't like that I stressed you out," she frowned and leaned toward me, running her hands through my hair. "I want you to be happy every single day."

"I'm happy every day I get to spend with you," I promised her. "And you couldn't have helped it. I'm sure you were ten times worse than I was."

"It was very weird," she agreed. "I was stuck between trying to tell myself exactly what was going on, and not being able to believe it. I'm going to try to figure out a way to retrace my family history and see where this all came from. Do you think there'll be anything documented from before my great-grandmother left for Australia?"

"I don't know," I told her honestly. "I doubt we kept records as detailed as most people would."

"I might ask around, I'm sure someone would know where I could start."

"Don't stress about it too much," I kissed the top of her head and finished off my breakfast, not even getting upset when she swiped the last piece of bacon from my plate. "If you can't figure it out, we know there's at least one ancestor you can be sure of."

"Who's that?"

"Taha Aki," I grinned, and she rolled her eyes, nudging me so hard I slid off my chair.

I decided to round out a full week off of work, and on Friday we made our way to our house to have a look at how it was coming along.

Cooper, Collin, Zeke and Isaac had their hands full when we showed up, and Collin grinned as we met them in what was going to be our living room.

"Little sister," he greeted my imprint, dropping an arm load of timber onto the floor and wrapping his arms around her. "Welcome to the pack,"

"Thanks," Daisy giggled. "It's looking good," she nodded at the open space, and Collin smiled widely.

"You might as well start giving us a hand, seeing as you'd be able to handle it now." Zeke muttered from the corner, where he was bent over an opening in the wall.

"Mind yourself," I warned him darkly.

"I should probably start getting used to his comments," Daisy rolled her eyes, and Zeke ignored her.

"How are you finding it, Daisy?" Cooper asked, stopping to stand in our small group. "Haven't torn anyone's heads off yet?"

"Seth's been keeping me locked up," she joked with an easy smile. "No close calls yet. He hasn't even let me try phasing on cue since I exploded on him the first night."

"Yeah, Jake said he was giving you some time." Collin nodded. "The pack's big enough now without having to worry about you getting your share of the work."

"Half your luck, though," Isaac chirped, not pausing as he measured the space out window was going to be. "I almost ripped my mom to shreds in my first few weeks after she screamed at me for sneaking out."

"At least I live with someone a little more durable." Daisy said grimly.

"I actually thought you guys would be out of here by now," I commented. "I was going to take her out the back and see how she went."

"We'll get out of your hair," Collin said immediately. "We just wanted to get back into it, we've been too busy everywhere else to do what we'd planned by the end of the week."

"Connor's coming in to plan out the electrical side of things over the weekend." Isaac smiled, satisfied with how everything was going. "You'll be in here before you know it."

"Just don't expect us to hang around and help you paint." Zeke sighed and stood to his feet, dropping his tools messily onto the floor. "I'm out, if we're done. I'm starving."

"Thanks, guys," I said genuinely, walking them to the space where our front door would eventually be.

"Bonfire tomorrow," Collin reminded us, mussing Daisy's hair playfully as he followed our brothers out. "My nephew, Nick, phased the day after you, Daisy. He's staying with me while he sorts himself out. He's keen to hear the legends again, now that he knows it's all true."

"We'll be there," I waved once, wrapping my other arm around my imprint as we watched them climb into their cars and leave.

Daisy's heart suddenly picked up beside me, and I looked down at her in question.

"You're going to let me try?" she asked nervously. "I don't know what I'm doing."

"That's why you have me," I told her with a comforting smile. "The quicker you can learn to control it, the sooner you'll feel comfortable with being back out in the world."

"What if I can't do it?" she asked worriedly. "It's been almost a week. The only time I felt close to coming undone was yesterday afternoon."

"Don't remind me," I twisted my lips at the thought.

She'd felt brave enough to let me take her out for a cup of tea in public, throwing on a little dress with thin straps that showed off her shoulders. I'd been so wrapped up in checking her out that I'd hardly noticed the barista being an absolute asshole when he spoke to me.

"How did someone with your attitude end up in a job focused on customer service?!" Daisy had snapped angrily. I was so used to her keeping quiet and hiding behind me whenever we went out, it had completely caught me off guard.

"My job's making coffee's, sweetheart," he'd crooned sarcastically, scratching our names on the paper cups in his hands. "And maybe if your boyfriend had been paying more attention when I called you up, I would have been doing that by now."

"Well maybe you should get to it before I snap you in half," she'd spat, her shoulders trembling violently. I wrapped both of my hands around her upper arms, making sure he had walked to the coffee machine behind the counter before I turned to stare down at her.

Her shaking had subsided immediately when our eyes met, and she sucked in a long, deep breath, closing her eyes. I was smiling when she opened them again.

"Good job. But maybe don't threaten the guy who's making our drinks."

"He was mean to you," her eyes flicked to him, and I saw her fingers shake the smallest of amounts. "You didn't deserve that."

"Imprint," I reminded her, tapping her chest lightly. "I can take care of myself. I don't need you to worry about protecting me."

The Daisy before me now was another story, her eyes wide with nerves and her hands clasped together, no sign of trembling in sight.

"I picked this land for a reason," I said, pulling her along with me as we wandered through the unfinished rooms of our future home. "Great access to private forests."

"Who's patrolling right now?" she asked as we entered the messy back yard. Pieces of timber and brick were piled randomly, and we had to side-step large areas of muddy ground with our bare feet.

"We'll find out when we phase," I said simply, stopping only when we were several yards into the trees, and out of sight of anyone who would be able to see us. My superior ears told me there was no one within distance to worry about, and I unbuttoned my shorts and let them hang loose on my hips. "I'll demonstrate first, okay? And then I'll phase back, and wait for you. I'll be ready incase anything happens."

"What if I can't do it?" she asked again.

"Then we'll try again tomorrow," I told her. "Don't beat yourself up over it, though. It's tricky to begin with. Most of the guys figured it out through accidents, and you're too caught up in our imprint to have had any super close calls."

"I'm the weakest wolf in the world!" she cried dramatically, flinging out her arms.

I chuckled and walked toward her to kiss her forehead. "You're going to be fine," I assured her. "Now take five steps back, and stay there til I'm finished."

She did as I told her, and I talked her through what I focused on as I felt the warmth and tremors spread themselves down my arms, across my chest, my hands blurring until my words fell away and I landed on four paws in front of her.

I hadn't seen her through my wolf eyes since the day I told her my secret, and this time it was like looking at a different person. There was no fear in her eyes as she studied me, and she wandered toward me slowly, a delicate smile on her face.

"You're so beautiful, Seth," she told me gently, reaching up to cradle my face with both of her small hands. "I bet I'm not as pretty as you,"

I huffed in disagreement into her face, and she grinned, leaning forward to rest her forehead between my eyes.

"I love you," she sighed, her breath brushing against the fur on my face.

I made a low, gentle rumbling sound in answer, and Brady made himself present in my mind.

For God's sake, phase back before you make her follow you. I don't want you ripping my legs off for seeing anything I shouldn't.

You'll keep your eyes off her, I warned him, my eyes focused on my imprint as she stepped back and ran her hands down my neck, into the long fur on my chest.

Get over it, Seth, he chuckled. You're just going to have to get used to it. Part of pack life, remember? You're all desensitized over seeing Leah naked. It'll be the same for Daisy in no time.

I rolled my eyes, and she tilted her head in front of me in question. I managed to nod for her to get back, and she took a few steps out of my way before I phased back to human.

"Hey, sexy," she grinned. I snorted and moved toward her, pulling her into my arms and kissing her gently.

"What do you think? Ready to give it a go?"

"I suppose now is as good a time as any," she sighed. "Who was annoying you, by the way?"

"Brady," I told her. "He's about as good as it will get, I'm afraid."

"Leah might have been more comforting," she mused. "It's a shame she has a day job."

"Brady will take care of you if anything happens. And I'm right here, so get my attention if you need anything."

"Okay," she pulled her dress over her head in one fluid movement, dropping it to the ground at her feet, and pushed her underwear down her legs, stepping out of them and eyeing me nervously.

I hadn't had her since she'd phased for the first time, not wanting to push her when she was still coming to terms with it all for my own need, and I swallowed as I studied her, not wanting to get myself riled up when something so important was about to happen. I felt myself react to the sight of her, and covered myself with my hands despite the fact she'd seen me in such a state a hundred times before.

I nodded supportively, and she closed her eyes, a small crease appearing between her eyebrows as she concentrated.

There was a slight vibrating in her hands and knees, but it didn't make it past anything too violent, and she held her breath as she tried to channel it, finally sighing and slumping her shoulders. I felt frustration flood through me, and was puzzled for a moment that I could react so negatively to anything she would do. It was only when she spoke I was hit with the realization I was channeling her emotions, which caused me to frown. I wondered if being connected to her while we were both out here, so close to being in our wolf forms if I was somehow in her head a little. "I can't do it,"

"You can," I insisted calmly. "It takes some time, don't give up on it so soon."

She shook her head in an effort to clear it and flexed her fingers, frowning harder as I watched her take on the surge of warmth that flooded when we encouraged the change. Her trembling started again, and travelled into her upper arms, but her body clenched against it, and she sighed in aggravation.

"I can't do it!" she cried, her hands flying to her collarbone and clutching at nothing. She raised them higher to tug on the ends of her hair, as she'd done so many times when she got overwhelmed with smaller issues.

"You're okay!" I told her immediately, taking a step toward her against my better judgement. "I couldn't get it straight away either –"

"I'm going to be the laughing stock of the entire pack!" she screeched. Her shoulders trembled with her emotion, and I held my hand up to bring her attention to it.

"You've got it! Feel that? Go with it."

She paused, looked at me with determination, and her body flooded with tremors as she watched me from yards away. I nodded in encouragement, and watched her stretch and fall onto four clean, cream paws in front of me.

"Yes!" I phased immediately, and she shifted uncomfortably.

I did it! Her voice rang through my mind, somewhat terrified, but proud of herself, and I cheered her on happily.

Go, Daisy! Brady's voice echoed in encouragement.

Hi, Brady, her mental voice was timid, and her green eyes were focused on me. I felt her giggle, a little hysterically, and I couldn't help but huff a laugh. I can see myself through you! This is so weird!

Your accent in my head is weird, Brady acknowledged. Seth! Doesn't it feel weird to have an Australian accent in your head?

Shut up, Brady.

Jeez, fine, he did his best to ignore us after that, and I stared back at my imprint, wandering to her and nudging her face with my nose.

I love you, she said quietly, her nerves subsiding slightly at my touch.

I'm proud of you, I told her. Want to run for a bit? Stretch your legs?

How far can we go?

As far as you want. Just don't stray from me, okay? Stay with me.

Will there be vampires? Her voice was worried at the thought.

Haven't smelled any that haven't been invited for weeks. Brady chimed in, and then silenced himself again.

She followed my lead, keeping pace with me as I started out slow, and pushing herself when I quickened my pace. She couldn't go quite as fast as I could, so I slowed myself down and stuck with her as we tore through the forest. She commented on things I'd taken for granted since having the wolf be a part of my every day life, and I watched through her eyes as she took in the sights around us, appreciating the damp ground and the green trees, and the various creatures that scurried out of our way when we got too close.

We made our way back to the clothes we'd left behind, and I talked her through gripping onto her human side enough to phase back. She'd done this part before, with Leah and Jake, and she managed it easier than her other transformation.

She grinned at me shyly as she bent to pick up her dress, pulling it on as I did the same with my pants.

"That went a little better than I was expecting," she commented breezily, sounding on edge, but slightly pleased.

I straightened and looked up at her with a proud grin. "It did! I'm impressed. You should be very proud of yourself."

She frowned, and cocked her head to the side. "I didn't say anything, Seth."