It's been a hot second since I've done a real update for this story, but here's a good sized chapter (finally)! For those of you that are America, happy 4th of July!

{Collin POV}

I knew the pack was right. The longer I wait to tell Onyx, the more upset she's going to be that I kept this from her. I just have to come out and tell her exactly what I am and I'm sure it'll be fine, she's my imprint and everything always works out perfectly with the imprints, right?

If only…

I walked Onyx home from school the next day, and tried to steer the conversation in the direction of the legends, which she had heard many times before.

"Yeah, I've always believed in the legends, ever since I was a kid. Legends start from somewhere, right?" I tell her, trying to get a feel for what she knows and how on board she is with the ideas.

"I guess, but by now, they've been so overblown and dramatized that I doubt you'd even recognize the characters if you met them. I mean, people turning into wolves?" Onyx shook her head. My palms were sweating and I bit my lip.

"But like… how else would they have defeated the cold ones? Like it had to be something supernatural." I argued.

"Collin, I'm not sure that the cold ones were even vampires. We don't really know anything about what happened, and if there were vampires then, why don't we see any now? For all we know, they could just be anemic."

"What if… I have seen vampires?" I suggested in a whisper, half hoping she wouldn't hear me. Onyx stopped.

"Are you serious? Why should I believe that? If you'd been near vampires, why didn't they snap your neck or suck you dry?"

"I've been… Well, I've been trying to tell you this for awhile but by now it's long overdue. Onyx, I am one of those wolves in the legends." I spit the words out as fast as I could, like ripping a band aid off. Onyx stared at me like I'm insane.

"What?"

"I'm a shapeshifter. I can shapeshift into a giant wolf at will." I tell her, fiddling nervously with my backpack. She blinks.

"I've heard of shapeshifters in other places, but have always just kinda believed it was an overblown story. You know, like Dracula."

"I sometimes wish that it was a myth, but no. I don't know about other shifters but the Quileute wolf shapeshifters and vampires are both very real. I wouldn't be surprised if most other supernatural creatures were too."

"You've seen vampires? In person?"

"Yeah, I mean you have too, you know Nessie's parents? They're vampires, but they don't drink human blood, they hunt animals and drink that blood. We don't love them but they're fine."

"Can you… prove it?" She asked, curious. This is going a lot better than I thought it would, and I nod, handing her my backpack.

"I have to… get naked… sorry." I tell her, peeling my shirt off. Onyx just shrugged, still watching me intently. Once I was naked, I took a few steps back from her and phased.

It took a second for me to adjust to being in wolf form again, as it had been awhile. Since there are no major things happening right now, us younger wolves are sort of off duty.

When I realized what was happening, I panicked. Onyx looked terrified, which I don't blame her for. I freaked out and didn't know what to do, so I phased back immediately.

"Hey hey hey, it's still me, I'm not gonna hurt you." I tell her, holding my hands up. Onyx didn't say anything, so I sat down – still naked, ow – on a fallen tree to give her more information.

"The wolves are the protectors of the Quileute people, and that protection sometimes extends to outside the res. We only hunt vampires, and we keep the tribe safe from them. That's my job."

"You KILL vampires?" She finally spoke. I nodded. I can't tell if she's in shock or in awe.

"That's our job, to keep people like you and the rest of the tribe safe." I explain, but she drops my backpack and runs away in the direction of her house. For a second, I debate whether or not I should chase her. I could easily catch her, but I don't want to freak her out even more than she already is.

I put my clothes back on and grab my stuff, heading up the stairs to her house. She must already be inside because I don't see her anywhere. I run up to her back door and sit down outside it.

"I know this whole thing comes off as really creepy and stalkerish, but I'm going to leave in like ten minutes. I just wanna tell you some stuff, and if you feel like opening the door… Well, that would be really great." I rest my head against the glass and close my eyes. I can hear her walking around inside, and her heart is racing. "Okay, so the wolves protect the tribe and surrounding area from vampires that wander in. I kinda already told you about that. So then comes this whole separate thing… imprinting."

I sigh. Imprinting screwed up Onyx's perfectly happy life and now I'm stuck here and I can't live without her, so whether or not she likes me, she'll have to put up with me at least a little bit.

"Some shapeshifters in our tribe will… imprint… on another person, and it feels like if anything were to happen to that person, you'd just… lose your will to live. The center of gravity isn't the earth anymore but the person you imprinted on." Onyx has stopped walking around and is now sitting down near the door. I smile to myself.

"When you imprint, nothing else is as important as protecting that person. If you haven't guessed by now, I imprinted on you. If you're afraid of me hurting you… you're the last person on earth that I could ever hurt in any way." I tell her, not even able to imagine how much it would hurt me if I caused any harm at all to come to her.

I take a deep breath. She still hasn't opened the door, and I decide that it's time for me to leave. Sitting here will only scare her and make her hate me.

"Onyx? I'm really sorry I didn't tell you sooner. Please call me if you wanna talk or… anything. I really care about you and I want to talk to you about this. I'm gonna leave you alone now. Give me a call." I tell her door, knowing she can hear me and hoping she'll open the door before I leave. My heart stops as I hear her get up, but she only walks in the direction of her bedroom. I sigh again, walking away. My heart gets heavier with every step.

{Onyx POV}

The phone rang on the table beside me. I let it ring four times, then the answering machine picks it up and plays instructions. It beeped.

"Onyx? It's Collin. Um… I don't know what to say other than I love you and I miss you. I hope you can accept me. Please call me back. Bye."

I don't know what to do. It seemed like he loved me. It seemed like he cared about me, not because he was forced to, but because of who I am. I guess I was wrong, if he's telling the truth about imprinting. He didn't pick me, he didn't fall in love with me. It was all orchestrated by "the fates."

I got up, putting on some water and tidying up the kitchen as I waited. I couldn't keep myself focused on anything in particular, the word wolf pulsing through my mind. It had already been two days since he'd told me, but it hadn't gotten any less horrifying. It was quite a bit later when I jumped at the sound of the phone ringing again, and went to voicemail again. I sat down with my steaming cup of tea to listen to it.

"Nyxie, please let me tell you what werewolves really do, what their job is, I'm not a murderer, if that's what you think. I miss you so much. Onyx. Please give me a chance. Please."

I'm not sure what he means by "I'm not a murderer." I heard about the benevolent vampires, the Cullens, who drink animal blood instead of human, and if real life vampires drink animal blood, what makes them the bad guys? Collin's job is literally to kill the vampires, who aren't bothering anyone.

"Onyx, I know you're there, sitting on the couch with your green tea, next to the table. You're probably topless and wrapped up in your white fuzzy blanket. I love you. So much."

I pull my blanket tighter around me, ignoring the way it made me feel when he guessed exactly right about my position.

"Give me a chance. Please. I literally can't live without you, and it's killing me to try. I know you're listening, Nyxie. Pick up the phone. Pick it up and talk to me. Please." His voice trailed off to a whisper as he choked out the words.

"Pick up the phone. I'm begging you. Pick it up and talk to me. Please, Onyx." We were both crying.

"Nyxie. Please." He waited for a long time.

"Okay. I love you." He hung up.

Stay tuned for an update on Dae and Paul, I have some fun ideas for them coming up soon, so follow this story to get an email when I post an update! Don't forget to leave me a review on this chapter (or previous ones) and let me know what you think of Onyx and Dae - they're a little tough to get to know but once you do, you'll be glad you did. Thanks for reading!