"Henry!"

I was so startled to be greeted by a teenage-girl-ish squeal that my body froze up for a few fractions of a second, long enough for Leah to catch me in a surprise hug. "Um, hi," I managed, blinking at her.

"How was your night?"

This Leah was still new to me. "Pretty good. Carlisle and I are comparing the DNA on the extra chromosomes—" We'd already talked about how vampires had two more pairs of chromosomes than humans (werewolves had one extra pair) and my theories on how they worked. "—for each of our families, plus Alice and Jasper, since their bites came from different sources. And we've been looking at how Nessie's affect her." Carlisle had originally told me she had an extra pair compared to humans, but that wasn't entirely true—she had two extra chromosomes, but one from each of the vampire pairs.

She laughed and took my hand to lead me into her house; she'd gotten much braver about physical contact, obviously. "What did you find?"

"Mine are exactly the same as the rest of my family's as far as I can tell," I said, getting excited again as I remembered. "Even though the two in each pair are slightly different from each other. That makes sense, because each vampire gets all four of those chromosomes from the same 'parent', if you can call it that. So I got all of mine from Josh, who got them from some random vampire who bit him by accident, and the rest of my family got theirs from me—"

Apparently I hadn't mentioned that yet, because she was giving me The Look.

"—but genetically, it's exactly the same as if the vampire who bit Josh had bitten all of us. The Cullens, except Alice and Jasper, are all the exact same as each other's, too." I grinned widely, waiting to see if she figure it out.

She did. "But... they're not the same as yours."

"Right! There are a handful of differences. None of them seem important, but do you know what this means?"

She tipped her head. We'd gotten stuck right outside the kitchen, and Mrs. Clearwater was listening with amusement as she pretended to read the newspaper.

"If vampires only have one 'parent', there must have been one original vampire all the others are descended from," I prompted. "Plus, the chromosomes are still way more similar than they should be if they came from different sources; each one of mine obviously corresponds to one of Carlisle's. But they're not exactly the same, so..."

"They mutated?" Leah said slowly.

"Exactly!" She didn't seem to know why this was so interesting, so I elaborated. "Vampire genes can mutate! They're clearly much better controlled than with human genes, but still, they can change over the generations! That opens so many possibilities! We could trace lineages! There could be variations in how our traits manifest! Maybe there could even be incomplete transformations, if the human could survive..." Even before Nessie, I'd always wondered about the possibility, and now I knew a creature could survive with only one copy of each chromosome. In theory, it should be possible for some cells to only receive three of the chromosomes... That wouldn't make much difference for that vampire, but in theory, because of how the venom reproduced in the body, it might be possible for a tiny section of the body to miss out on a chromosome, and if that section had to do with the right part of the venom-making process, then in the next generation...

Leah was laughing again. "I don't know why that's so important, but you're so cute, Henry."

"Hey," I huffed jokingly.

Now that we'd hit a break in the conversation, Mrs. Clearwater looked up and waved for us to come. When we did, I saw a hint of both anticipation and concern in her expression. "Henry, we've decided to invite you to the council meeting tonight."

My jaw dropped and so did Leah's, though probably for different reasons. For my part, I was amazed the Quileute elders—I assumed that was who she meant by "we", since Leah said Mrs. Clearwater was one of them—would invite a vampire to their most important gathering, much less a vampire only one of them had ever met.

Leah, yes, was worried there would be danger for me. "Mom," she asked in a hushed tone, "will he be safe?"

Mrs. Clearwater considered me for a long moment. "There will be people who do not want you there," she told me. "Including some of the pack."

Leah shuddered.

"Do you think it's appropriate?" I had to ask.

Leah's mother held my gaze. "A very important member of the tribe specifically told me he'd like you to come."

A very important member? And why was Leah's mouth hanging even further open now, like she knew something I didn't? "Well," I began cautiously, "if you think it's a good idea, I'd like to go."

Leah closed her mouth in order to bite her lip. "Mom."

"It will be fine, Leah, I promise." Mrs. Clearwater took Leah's hand and smiled reassuringly at her.

"But Paul..."

Paul? I'd have to remember that name and keep an eye out for him. Plus... oh dear, the leader of the other pack would be there, wouldn't he? This brought a whole new meaning to the word "awkward".

The door opened just then, and in came Charlie a moment later, with Seth close on his heels; I wondered if they'd been off bonding somewhere. "Hey there," said the police chief when he saw me. "How's the job-hunting going?"

I groaned.

"Charlie," Leah scolded, but Mrs. Clearwater got a twinkle in her eye.

"Henry," she said to me with mischief saturating her voice, "what were your degrees in, again?"

"Criminology and psychology," I answered immediately. I actually had a lot (though most were a decade or two old), but I had renewed my psychology degree a few years ago, and I stayed updated on everything else related to my line of work as much as I could, so it counted.

Charlie had been in the act of sitting down next to Mrs. Clearwater, but he straightened back up when he heard my answer and gave me an incredulous look. "You said you weren't in college!"

"I did, and I'm not in college," I agreed dryly. He'd been giving me a terrible time for almost two weeks.

Charlie turned to Mrs. Clearwater, who winked at me, then back to me. I could see him doing the math. "Oh," he said weakly. "Well. That changes things."

I allowed myself a tiny smug smirk. "Mhm."

Charlie shook his head in amazement and made to leave the room, probably fleeing his embarrassment, but he was too slow; Mrs. Clearwater continued, "I heard you say you wanted to do detective work, right, Henry?"

"Right...?"

"And it just happened to come up last night that we don't have many people qualified for that sort of thing. We have our own law enforcement, you know, and I'm afraid we haven't been paying as much attention as we should. It could be a good opportunity to gain experience."

"Are you... offering me a job?" That implied a lot of things, not least of which was that she had a lot more trust in me than I'd thought.

And Charlie... I wished I had a feather to knock him over with.

"Oh, no," she assured me with a devious smile. "You'll have to apply with the elders. You have a resumé, don't you?"

"Of course." I'd have to update that thing. Or... heh, this could be the first time I showed a potential employer my full resumé...

Charlie shook himself out of his daze and walked out, muttering to himself, and I leaned forward. "Are you serious?" I whispered to Mrs. Clearwater.

"Let's see how tonight goes," she replied. "And how that resumé looks."

. . . . . .

My parents were reading out on the porch when I came back—waiting for me? "How did your visit go?" my mom asked.

"Hmm? Fine, why?"

They both got the looks I knew very well, the ones that meant a serious talk was coming. I decided to try diversionary tactics. "Mrs. Clearwater invited me to the Quileute council meeting tonight," I announced cheerfully.

My mom gave a small sigh, and my dad frowned. "That's nice, but don't try to change the—"

"It sounds like the other pack will be there," I continued, moving quickly for the door. "Anyway, I'd better go get ready, so..."

"Henry, your father and I want to talk to you about Leah," my mother insisted, while my father started to object to my plan to expose myself to more werewolves.

I ducked inside and hid myself from them well enough they wouldn't be able to find me, though I could hear them yelling for me. "Not now, thanks," I muttered under my breath.

David looked up from his book as I passed. "Did you just brush off Mom and Dad?"

"Yeah. Yes, I did." That wasn't normally my style—usually I was very respectful to my parents, even if we disagreed—but I wasn't in the mood for a lecture.

"Good luck," my brother said dryly, shaking his head.

The door opened and my dad came in and started straight toward me. He shouldn't have been able to see me even with his limited version of the talent; he had to be straining pretty hard to push himself down far enough. "Please, Henry, we just want to talk."

I ran up the stairs to my temporary room and prepared to jump out the window, not planning to come back until after the council meeting; yeah, I was going to be in big trouble later, but too bad. I hadn't expected, though, that Edward and Bella would be waiting for me in the middle of the room, plus Josh and Cari. There was a circle of chairs around the perimeter of the room, and all the vampires were looking right at me, completely immune to my talent thanks to Bella's influence. I had not seen this coming at all.

"You should know better," David told me as he followed my parents in.

"Sit down, Henry," my dad requested, taking a seat on the couch and patting the spot next to him. The others all took their own spots.

I glowered at Bella. Traitor.

But I could imagine how she'd respond to that; she was an emotional person. Feeling, in Myers-Briggs speak. Henry, you can't hide from your emotions.

Watch me.

"Henry," my dad repeated, exasperated. "You're not in trouble. We're not going to make you stay away from Leah. We just want to talk."

I folded my arms and glared at the ground.

I heard scribbling, and after a second, a little penciled-in gray butterfly landed on my arm. I looked up at Cari.

"You're a hundred and six, you moody teenager," my sister-in-law told me fondly. "As the kids say, chill."

Ugh. She had a point. I slunk to the couch and sat in the place of shame between my parents.

I braced myself for the feelings talk, but my dad gave me a friendly smile and a side-hug. "Hey, kiddo. We haven't talked for a while."

Are you kidding, Dad?

He chuckled. "Don't give me that look. We just want to check in with you; you've been avoiding us anytime Leah isn't around."

"You can see how we might think this was an unhealthy relationship," my mom added gently.

Hmph.

"So," my dad continued, ignoring my skepticism, "how's life?"

I had to bite back a sarcastic answer. "It's all right."

"Yeah? What's the most fun thing you've done in the last few days?"

I had to tell the truth; my dad always knew when people were lying. "Studying genetics with Carlisle." Though... that time with Leah, in the rain... I could still see her smile.

"Okay. Tell me about Leah."

"She's..." How did one describe Leah? "Brave." I didn't know why that popped into my mind first. "And passionate about things she cares about. Really fierce, and kind of scary sometimes. She's very loyal, not just to me, but to Jacob and her family, too." That was clear whenever she talked about them. "She's very tough, I think. Er... ESFJ. She likes romance movies—" Which she kept trying to tell me I didn't have to watch with her, even though I thought her reactions to them were hilarious. Plus, it was a good way to learn what she thought was romantic. "—and historical fiction." Or was that a new thing? "She played soccer and volleyball in high school. She doesn't like being a werewolf because she thinks it means there's something wrong with her, and she doesn't like that there's no privacy as a wolf. She used to be with the leader of the other pack—Sam—but he imprinted on her second cousin, and I don't think she misses him anymore, but I can still tell how much he hurt her. She sings well." I wished I knew what she thought of Sam; I was likely to meet him tonight.

People were trading looks all over the place—what were they reacting to, the Sam thing? Had no one told them that? Hmm, my parents hadn't met Sue Clearwater, either. We'd have to fix that.

"Okay," my dad said again. "And how are you feeling?"

Sheesh. "It varies."

"In general."

Annoyed when I was with my family. Frustrated when I was alone. And when I was with Leah... It depended so much on her mood.

All right, so I could see why they were worried.

Edward decided to speak for me. "He's annoyed and frustrated most of the time, and Leah's moods are so unpredictable he never knows what to expect."

That was not what I'd thought. I gave a warning growl in his direction.

"It's what I heard."

You always think you know everything, don't you? "You should mind your own business," I warned him.

"I just want to help. I don't mean it like that."

Yes, you do.

"That's what we want to talk about," my mom said gently, interrupting my fixed stare at my nosey cousin. "Her effect on you."

Right. "That's not really what's important, is it?

She sat back. "What do you mean?"

I remembered Leah's excitement when she realized I'd inadvertently healed her broken heart, and then the look in her eyes when she believed it was doomed to be shattered again—when she thought I'd leave her. "I—mom—she doesn't get a choice here. I can't just abandon her."

"We're not asking you to," my dad repeated patiently. "But, really, this romance can't be so important that you have to break yourself to pieces to make it work. Take it slow."

"It's not just a romance," I argued. When had I started to understand this? "You wanted me to try. You approved."

"We wanted you to try," he emphasized. "Not force yourself."

I sent a despairing glance at the others. Josh looked worried; Cari had her hands folded in her lap and her lips pursed; Bella offered me an encouraging smile; Edward was watching me with a slight frown. David didn't even seem to be paying attention. "I have to," I insisted. "Don't you see? She literally can't be happy without me."

My mom sighed softly, and moved to kneel in front of me. Her hand cupped my cheek, and I didn't pull away. "Sweetheart, when will you learn that you can't sacrifice yourself for everyone?"

"I can't abandon her," I told her. "I can't." Something had changed in the past few days, and I couldn't even imagine it anymore.

"We're not asking you to," she reminded me soothingly.

Josh spoke up for the first time. "Just think of yourself a little."

I... couldn't... When had this wall grown in my head? I couldn't hurt her like that. I wouldn't... No.

"She wants you to think of yourself," Edward put in. "She wants whatever's best for you."

Bella added, "This should be good for both of you."

But she was already giving so much; how could I ever match that?

And yet, Bella wasn't done. "It's okay to not be sure sometimes, Henry."

It's okay to not be sure. But was it? When Leah was so certain, when she didn't get a choice? I stood up.

"One more question, Henry," my dad began.

David spoke. "Let him go. He'll think about it."

My dad hesitated. "Will you?"

I nodded. They had some good points... I just didn't know what to do with them.

With that, my intervention was over. Josh and Cari ran downstairs, my parents wandered out into the hall, and David opened his book again. Only Edward and Bella approached me.

"I hope you'll remember you have a choice," my cousin reminded me.

Ha.

"Don't laugh. Nessie has a choice, doesn't she?"

My first response was to say that was different, Jacob hadn't gone through what Leah had, but really... "And you don't think I should choose Leah."

He looked me in the eye. "I don't."

"Why not?"

Edward shook his head. "It's like I've said before. You're such an extraordinary person, so brilliant and honest and self-sacrificing. She's bitter and self-centered."

That wasn't true. I thought you'd been in her mind, Edward?

"I've known her longer than you have," he reminded me, and I wanted to leave vampire-tooth marks in his skin for that. "Trust me—you deserve better."

I punched him. Hard. As hard as I could without sending him flying through the window. As it was, the heavy THUD as he hit the floor and the scraaape as he slid backward was enough to bring my parents into the room, and then my oldest brother and several Cullens. I didn't notice. "Don't ever say that again," I snarled, stalking forward, and I growled—a much deeper and more menacing sound compared to my usual warning or play growls.

Edward seemed surprised by the intensity of my reaction, but so was I; apparently neither of us could hear my subconscious mind. Either way, I was ready to fight him if he didn't say he was sorry right now.

Luckily for him, my dad and Josh held me back, though David only watched nonchalantly. I straightened up immediately, trying not to show how surprised I was at my own behavior. "I am not apologizing for that," I told everyone in attendance.

"Henry," my dad sighed, turning me and guiding me (without much choice on my part) to a part of the house where Edward wasn't. Apparently he knew better than to try and get us to make up right then.

"I would've hit you, too," I heard David say to Edward as we left.

. . . . . .

"Are you sure this is a good idea?" Sure, I had no right to be worried after everything I'd done in the past few weeks—entering werewolf territory without permission, hugging an about-to-explode werewolf, dating the werewolf Alpha's ex—not to mention over the rest of my life, but it didn't feel right to be here on this windy cliff, about to walk into the important official council meeting of a traditionally anti-vampire tribe.

"It'll be okay," Leah promised, even though she didn't seem so sure herself. Her hand was hot in mine; I wasn't sure the fire-and-ice comparison described me—her, yes—but it sure got some parts of our relationship right. I caught myself rubbing my thumb against her smooth skin for comfort, and she led me forward.

I had to wonder what the council meetings were normally like; surely they weren't this solemn, with so many young werewolves, all male (except Leah, of course), and only a few elders. There were a few girls, too, including a toddler—imprints? Oh, and Nessie, who'd promised me she'd be there. I think she'd known I was nervous.

Yikes, there were a lot more werewolves than I'd realized. Jacob's pack must be the smaller one by far... and pretty much all the others looked hostile. Most were pretty young, sure—they were probably adorable in their wolf form—but still.

Speaking of Jacob's pack, they were standing a little out from the others, so that they were the first ones we reached. "Hey, man!" Seth greeted me enthusiastically, with a punch to the shoulder.

That thawed me a little, and I cracked a smile, which made me aware of how wary I must look. Better to smile; a scared vampire was an unpredictable vampire, and I wanted to seem as harmless as possible. "Hi, Seth." I loved that kid.

"Told you," said Quil, with a meaningful glance at Leah. I remembered what he was talking about; sure enough, Leah hadn't looked away from me yet. It was good to remember I'd done something to make her life better, anyway; no matter how I did as a boyfriend, I was probably better than what she'd had before. I nodded to show I understood.

Embry gave me a grin and a thumbs-up. "First vampire ever! Congrats!"

"Thanks," I laughed. I hadn't had much time with him and Quil, but maybe Jacob and especially Seth's opinion of me had rubbed off, not to mention my influence on their packmate. Hmm—had Leah been phasing? I couldn't think of a time when she might have.

Jacob and Nessie were last, and my cousin's daughter placed her hand against my cheek as Jacob held her up to my level, showing me visions of me shaking hands with smiling tribe elders. "They'll like you, Uncle Henry," she assured me confidently.

Awwww. "Thanks, kiddo."

"Just don't eat anyone, and it'll be all cool," Jacob joked.

I gave him a withering look.

"Hey, cheer up, the chief wanted you here. You're the guest of honor."

I thought they didn't have a chief?

The familiar pack stepped aside, and we went on. The other wolves parted before us, with no shortage of threatening glares—I tried to look friendly—until we reached the three humans in folding chairs by the fire (well, two of them were in chairs) bundled up against the chilly late-November air. It occurred to me that the season would make my skin extra-cold tonight. And would the darkness make me seem more threatening? I hoped not.

"Hello, Mrs. Clearwater," I greeted the elder I already knew, who was smiling encouragingly.

"I told you to call me Sue," she scolded, before turning to the two men. "Henry, I'd like you to meet Billy Black and Quil Ateara the Third."

I let go of Leah's hand and stepped—cautiously—closer to the middle-aged human in the wheelchair, Jacob's father, and offered my hand. To my mild surprise, he took it, and I was careful not to squeeze too hard. "It's an honor to meet you, sir," I said submissively.

He chuckled. "Jacob and—" I couldn't read the way he looked at Mrs. Clearwater. "—Sue here have told me a lot about you. Nessie, too."

It hit me that, as often as Nessie visited Jacob's house, this wouldn't be the first time he'd seen my face. "Good things?" I confirmed sheepishly.

"Very good things," he agreed, raising his eyebrows.

All right, then. I moved on to the other, much older and far more guarded-looking man. He did not take my hand, and I dropped it back to my side without comment. "It was very kind of you to let me come."

He pursed his lips; apparently this hadn't exactly been his idea.

Okay. Um. I was going to return to Leah, who was waiting a few steps back, but her mom cleared her throat and nodded over my shoulder. I turned.

Oh. So this would be Sam, then.

I wasn't short by any means—a bit taller than average, in fact—and had a decent build for an eighteen-year-old who hadn't quite had time to fill out, but I felt tiny suddenly. This guy looked like an alpha wolf. He wasn't just a head or so taller than me and pure muscle; he had that sort of look about him, like he was used to being in control even though he was surrounded by a bunch of volatile shapeshifters. I was intimidated for sure.

Still, my training from all those times when I got into things way over my head kicked in. "Sam?" I checked.

He looked me up and down, taking in every inch of me, and nodded as an afterthought.

Okay, time for the moment of truth. I looked him in the eye and held out my hand. "Henry Taylor."

A beat.

And then he stepped forward—that space would have taken most people here more than one step to cover—and grasped my hand, speaking in a deep voice. "Sam Uley."

Yikes. Right. I glanced over my shoulder at Leah—she was tense, shifting back and forth and twisting something around in her hands—and said to Sam, "I'm not completely sure how I'm supposed to feel about you...?"

He let out a booming laugh. (Seriously, this guy was scaring me.) "I wouldn't worry." His face turned serious again, and he looked past me. "What do you think, Leah?" His voice was gentle now, and suddenly I was sure: he hadn't wanted to hurt her. Not at all.

I turned. Her eyes were flickering between us, and I had an unexpected second of panic. What if...?

But my fears were unfounded, and her face lit up with a radiant joy. "I understand now," she said simply. "I thought I did before, but..."

Sam's smile was almost as delighted. "I think," he decided, "that everything is as it should be."

I was distracted, though—in the split second after everyone else looked away from Leah, a flicker of uncertainty had crossed her face, though she'd quickly buried it. That wasn't allowed. Don't be sad, Leah. Please.

I shook myself mentally. It was fine; I'd prove to her that I wasn't going to give up. "You're okay with this, then?" I asked Sam, a little incredulous. According to my history lessons from Edward, this guy wasn't supposed to be much of a vampire-lover.

His only response was a mysterious smile. "This is Jared, my Second," he announced, beckoning one of his packmates forward; this boy was closer to my height and didn't resemble a football player quite so much. He watched me alertly, but I didn't see any sign of hostility.

"Second?" I asked.

"Like a Beta," Jacob told me wryly, knowing I was familiar with normal wolf terminology.

It made sense that they'd have that designation, but why hadn't Leah explained that part? "Who's yours?"

He chuckled and nodded toward Leah, who blushed.

"Huh." I hadn't realized she and Jacob were that close. And Leah had kept that a secret from me? I returned my attention to Sam, still turning that over in my head.

"This is Paul," the Alpha continued, indicating a less amiable-looking werewolf—Paul curled his lip at me, showing his teeth like in a vampire's snarl, and I noticed his hands shaking just a little. This was the one Leah had been worried about, wasn't he? "And you know Brady and—"

I coughed and reminded him with my eyes that Leah was within hearing range.

My action seemed to interest him, but it was already too late for one of his packmates. Leah marched forward, death glare fixed on Brady. "You."

He shook his head furiously and tried to hide behind his friends.

"Leah," Sam and Jacob warned her at the same time, with absolutely no effect. Leah sped up and started to shake, and the younger werewolves scattered, leaving Brady exposed. He tried to scramble away, but everyone could tell there was about to be blood.

I intervened. "It's really no big deal," I said casually, appearing in front of my murderous girlfriend.

She tried to duck around me, but I took her firmly by the shoulders, making her look at me instead. "He tried to kill you!" she reminded me, like that was supposed to make me want revenge. Er... it probably was, but... still. The turn-the-other-cheek mentality was too ingrained in me.

"Which is nothing compared to the number of times I've almost gotten myself killed," I pointed out. "Plus, if I'd been a human-killer, he would've been doing the right thing."

My calmness didn't work; she trembled even harder and tried to push me away. "Stay away, Henry!" she warned me, just like she had after that encounter with Brady and the wolf-who-must-not-be-named.

My eyes just happened to land on the young woman who'd moved at some point to stand beside Sam, whom he was shielding protectively with one arm in case Leah phased. This was Emily, clearly, but what was more interesting to me was the network of scarring across one side of her face. My brain made the connection immediately—this was why Leah was so worried about phasing near me. "I don't think you could hurt me," I told my girlfriend. "Even a deliberate bite barely scratched me, remember?"

That was absolutely the worst thing I could've said. Leah snarled viciously, and everyone else took a step back; her form even shimmered for an instant, feeling like an electric current under my hands.

Being the foolish vampire I was, I didn't move. Instead, just like last time, I did what felt right instead of trying to logic her out of it. Remembering what my mom had done with me earlier, I placed my hand against her cheek so she would look at me. "Hey," I said soothingly. "It's okay. You're not going to hurt me."

"But—"

"Shh. You won't hurt me." I shifted to further block her view of Brady, who was safely in a herd—ahem, pack—of his peers, anyway. "It's all right, I promise."

Gradually, her breathing slowed, though she still glared murderously in Brady's general direction. "Who's the other one?"

"Hmm, I still don't think I'm telling you that."

She pulled free of my grip. "Who was it?" she demanded of the other werewolves. One of the wolves—it had to be poor Collin—turned green, but luckily he was at the very back, so she didn't seem to notice.

I stepped in front of her again and steered her in the opposite direction, back toward Sam. "Murder is bad, Leah."

A growl rumbled in her throat. "I don't care. If they ever touch you again, I'll—"

I couldn't help it; I started laughing.

Her mouth dropped open.

With an effort, I smothered my giggles almost as soon as they began. "Sorry. Sorry." I covered my mouth to muffle any other signs of mirth that slipped out. Ah, dear Leah.

Her mouth twitched a little.

I cleared my throat and forced my face into a neutral expression.

She scowled at me.

And then we both broke into hysterics, to the point where we were doubled over, gasping. It took us the better part of thirty seconds to mostly get control of ourselves. "Henry!" Leah scolded in exasperation.

"What?" I noted that the others, who'd been staring at us first with trepidation and then bewilderment, were now astonished, even Jacob's pack—all but Seth, Mrs. Clearwater, and Nessie. Sam and Emily looked thrilled.

"You rascal," Leah accused fondly, smacking my arm. I took that as a compliment.

Now that the murder attempt was thwarted, Sam brought his imprint forward. "This is Emily, my wife."

I gave her the smile specifically designed to make humans like me. "It's very nice to meet you," I told her. So they were married already, I should've guessed.

She blushed a little, taken aback; like Leah's mom, she apparently hadn't expected this from a vampire. "Aren't you a sweet one."

"Watch yourself," Sam joked, and we all laughed.

The other werewolves, who for a few minutes now had been eating hot dogs like popcorn as they watched us, were starting to talk about other things. Emily embraced Leah, and I knew a friendship was being healed right before my eyes. "I'm so happy for you," she murmured.

I liked her.

Sam caught my eye. "Impressive."

I assumed he meant my handling of Leah. "Well, I am literally bulletproof, so..."

He shook his head. "You made her laugh." He considered her. "It's been a while."

Before I could react to that, Leah was pulling me into the circle around the fire. Most of the wolves flinched away, and Paul and Jared held their imprints closer protectively—Paul's looked suspiciously like a female version of Jacob, which was very interesting—but Jacob and Seth cleared a space for us between them. The fire was big enough that we had to squeeze, and with Quil and Embry on one side and the elders on the other, the other wolves seemed somewhat okay with their proximity to me. Quil had the toddler in his lap; he'd told me he had an imprint, but it hadn't occurred to me to wonder how old she was.

Seth elbowed me. "Watch," he requested, and proceeded to stuff a whole hot dog in his mouth.

I snorted. "I bet you can't do two."

"Don't do that, Seth, you could choke," Leah warned him.

"I know CPR," I said innocently.

She flicked my arm.

I poked her.

"'m mphng," Seth complained.

"Oh, sorry." I obediently folded my hands in my lap. "He's eating," I translated for Leah. "No PDA allowed, I guess."

"How can you understand that?"

"I've spent a lot of time with teenage boys."

"That wasn't even real PDA," Embry complained. "Get to kissing already."

If I'd been eating, I would've choked. Leah eyed me speculatively, or would have if we hadn't made eye contact and both looked away very quickly.

"Ooooo," went Embry and Seth.

Kissing. Not something I'd thought about yet. Although...

ARGH. HORMONE OVERLOAD. ABORT THOUGHT DIRECTION. ABORT. ABORT.

Okay. Breathe. Calm down. Don't think about that again until you're alone. Apparently vampires were way more hormonal than I'd ever realized... why hadn't that ever happened before?

This explained some of Edward's behavior.

While I was furtively trying to determine if anyone had noticed my little moment there—luckily Leah was trying to get someone to toss her the hot dog buns—a new friend came to visit me. "Lookit what I found!" the little girl demanded, thrusting a leaf into my hands. She was much younger-looking than Nessie, maybe four at the oldest.

I cast a glance at Quil to make sure he was okay with this—he looked like he was having a panic attack, but somehow he didn't move to snatch her back. "What's this?" I pretended to inspect the leaf closely. "Is it... a magic feather?"

"Nooo! Itsa pretty leaf! Look!" She traced its lines, showing no fear at all of me as she practically climbed into my lap—no fear of strangers, this one. A little voice in my head said that was a dangerous quality in a little girl, but I pushed it away, refusing to go down that memory path right now; with Quil to protect her, she'd be safe. Instead, I made eye contact with Quil, trying to send the message that I would never in a million years let any harm come to his imprint.

"It is pretty," I told the girl; if only she could see the range of colors and details I saw in that little leaf. "What's your name?"

"Claire," she said shyly.

"Hi, Claire. I'm Henry."

Leah was giving me The Look, which I pretended not to notice. "You like kids?"

I shrugged and nodded. "Yeah." I didn't spend that much time with them, really—not little ones—but they had a special place in my heart.

There was something a little bit off about her smile... and then she burst into tears.

Oh. No, no, no, not okay at all, I didn't like this. "Leah!" I cried in alarm. "What's wrong, what did I do?" I was having a different kind of emotional crisis this time, but I didn't have time to think about that.

"It's nothing," she choked out.

That was obviously false. I tried to think—hug? Ask again what was wrong, find out what atrocious thing had caused this and destroy it? Why am I reacting so strongly tonight?

A hug had worked in the past. I tried that, and she melted into my arms, but the tears didn't stop. I looked up for help, but no one was paying attention to us—oh, I'd hidden us again, accidentally. Should I get Mrs. Clearwater's attention...? But she was discussing something with Sam. "What's wrong?" I asked again, squeezing my werewolf as tightly as I knew it was safe to hug humans. Werewolves were more durable, weren't they? But I didn't want to risk hurting her.

She looked up at my face for the first time, and her forehead wrinkled. "You're sad. I'm sorry—" And just like that, she stopped crying; her tears stopped, and her smile returned.

How did...? But this wasn't a real smile, and that comforted me, oddly enough. Her feelings were still real, even if she hid them, and I could tell the difference now-not that she'd ever been good at disguising them, I thought, remembering our first day together. "Please tell me?"

She shook her head. "It's not important, please don't worry."

Seriously? I thought we'd moved past this. "Leah," I started, but I was interrupted by the oldest council member, the other Quil—younger Quil's grandfather, probably—beginning the story of the tribe's first wolves.

I didn't get much from the stories this time, mostly because I was still worried about my girlfriend. Besides, Leah was a good storyteller, so even when I was pretty sure whatever was bothering her had passed, I instead turned my attention to the other wolves and their imprints. They all gave their girls The Look, too, and even when their attention was somewhere else, they still responded naturally to every move their imprints made. I wondered if they, too, would suppress their true feelings to keep from bothering...

Suppress their feelings? Downplay how much things bothered them and say it was fine when it wasn't?

Well now, wasn't I a hypocrite.

I wanted to take Leah to the side and get her to tell me what had happened, but her mom called her, and before I could follow, Collin snuck up to me. "Thanks, man."

I shushed him and looked around us to make sure no one was listening; the fewer people who knew about his role in the incident, the better. "You'd better keep your mouth shut. She might actually kill you."

He chuckled nervously. "I'm really sorry."

"It's all cool. You're not the first person to bite me." My hand went to my neck as I remembered a bite much more painful than his, and I swatted the memory away before it could overwhelm me. "Obviously."

Brady came up next to him and held out his hand for me to shake. "You're not so bad."

This was a huge improvement over our last meeting. "I try not to be. Sorry about Leah, Seth and I tried to keep it a secret..."

"I know Leah," he told me seriously. Collin shuddered.

Interesting. Hey, here was the girl who looked like Jacob. "Hi," I said to her, holding out my hand; she shrunk away, and I stepped back quickly. "Sorry. Sorry." I'm a friendly vampire, I swear! As Mrs. Clearwater.

"GET AWAY FROM HER, LEECH!"

Uh-oh. Actually, that wasn't a descriptive enough sentiment. I'd forgotten this girl was Paul's imprint, and he was coming toward me now, shaking violently. "You're too close—"

A vampire's reflexes made the blink of a human eye seem like several drawn-out seconds when we needed to react quickly; our eyes could see more than fifty times as many frames per second as a human's could, and whatever counted as a nervous system for us, it let us think entire sentences in the time it took for an impulse to travel from a human's eyes to their brain. Not that I needed that extended reaction time now. It was an easy calculation: little Claire, and Emily, and some of the others were all much too close to the werewolf who was about to explode into his alternate form.

I slammed into him just as he phased, and—for just the tiniest instant—there was nothing under my hands before I was launched backward, thankfully into the ground instead of the humans and other wolves. Then I was scrambling for my life as Paul, now covered in grizzled gray fur and with fangs longer than my hand, flipped over in midair and barreled toward me. I dodged by inches and shoved myself out of his awareness as I slid under his body and dashed away.

"PAUL!" I'd barely registered the shout before there was a massive jet-black wolf between me and the gray one—not as big as Jacob, but close—but the danger was already past; Paul had slid to a stop, looking confused. No sooner had his ears started to flatten as he realized what he'd almost done, than another gray form smashed into him with a roar.

Oh no. Oh no. FOR GOODNESS' SAKE, HENRY, DO SOMETHING!

So, I did. I did the stupidest thing I'd ever done. Stupider than getting myself kicked in the head by a horse, or trying to help that guy in the alley, or wandering through pack territory without paying attention. I jumped into a werewolf fight.

As Paul twisted away with a startled snarl and gathered his legs to lunge back into the fight, I leapt between them, holding out my hands to stop Leah's charge. I had time to see the rage in her eyes turn to alarm before I was knocked to the ground for the second time in ten seconds. I braced for I-didn't-know-what as the snarling above me tripled.

After a few seconds, I realized no one was about to die and opened my eyes. Leah was standing over me, her hackles standing straight up and all her teeth bared, tail bushed out and rigid, a deep growl grating out of her throat. The black wolf—Sam—had Paul by the scruff of his neck and was shaking him violently. Of course—Emily had been in danger too.

I tried to relax and let out the breath I'd been holding in a whoosh. That got Leah's attention, and her fur went down all at once as she whined and lowered her head to sniff me.

My laugh sounded a little crazy. "I'm still alive."

She made an agonized sound and touched her nose to my collar, where a strip had been ripped from my shirt. If I were human, I probably wouldn't have a head anymore. Her ears looked really soft, and I found myself reaching up to stroke them. Okay, maybe I was in shock... but, so fluffy...

People—and wolves—were surrounding us. "Henry, are you all right?" Mrs. Clearwater demanded. Seth barked.

The non-survival part of my brain started up again, and I scooted out from Leah's front legs and got up, brushing myself off. "I'm okay—is everyone else?"

Leah gave a resounding howl, an emphatic NO. Everyone was not all right, someone's imprint had almost died.

. . . . . .

"There you—Henry!" Josh zipped over to me from the door. "What happened to you?"

"Werewolf fight. I was stupid and I made Leah cry twice. I don't want to talk about it." I was exhausted; I'd spent the last four hours trying to calm Leah down after my understandably hysteria-inducing near-death experience earlier.

Now a lot of vampires were outside. "Werewolf what?" my dad demanded.

"I got too close to Paul's imprint. Paul tried to kill me. Leah tried to kill Paul. I tried to stop Leah from killing Paul. I'll explain tomorrow. Please."

"Someone tried to kill you?!" My dad's voice went up two octaves. David growled.

I dialed a number on my phone and tossed it to him. "Talk to Mrs. Clearwater, she'll explain." I pushed past him while he was distracted. I needed a non-ripped shirt and then I was going to go try to process my memories from tonight.

I ran up to my room and grabbed an intact shirt, but as I started to pull my current one off, I was distracted by the bracelet on my wrist, something Leah had all but forgotten to give me until someone found it on the ground where she'd phased. I wasn't entirely clear on its meaning, but I'd gotten a general impression from the pack's reactions to it. Oh yeah, and I might be informally engaged, sort of.

At that point, I gave up and fell facedown on the floor, where I stayed for the better part of two hours.

Had not realized this story had more followers than my other (and more-often-updated) main story. Maybe I ought to actually finish this one, hmm...