"Nerissa!"

"Reese!"

"Nerissa!"

"Reese!"

Tyler and Mike had been combing through the woods to no avail. The forest was too big, there were too many trails, and it was impossible to know where the girl had gone. Mike and Jess had been the last to see her at almost two in the morning and they'd all heard her return to her tent. The group of friends had all awakened between eight and ten and no one saw her or suspected that anything was amiss until almost eleven when Eric went to rouse her only to find an empty tent.

Living in Forks, they knew how to form a search party and quickly. Mike and Tyler took the trails while their girlfriends asked people on the beach if they'd seen her. Austin and Ben walked along the coast, looking for any sights or signs of the missing girl.

It had been almost two hours.

"Maybe we should just head back and call your mom?"

"I can't."

"Here, I still have a signal," Mike extended his cell phone, but Tyler shook his head.

"That's not it."

"What is it then?" Mike knew that it was too soon to call in a missing person report, so he hadn't suggested it, but he did find it odd that Tyler still hadn't called Beth. "You think she's gonna be mad? She might be, but at least she'll know-"

"Aargh!" Tyler punched his fist into a tree, bloodying his knuckles.

"Ty, talk to me."

"This is pointless," Tyler looked like he'd aged a decade when he turned around. "I'm going back to the beach."

"I'll be right behind you," Mike was confused, but he could tell his oldest friend needed space. And, anyway, he needed to take a leak.

Mike whistled to himself as he urinated. When he was finished, he stopped whistling and readjusted his clothing. A bird trilled its imitation of his tune. Mike looked over his shoulder intrigued and repeated the tune. Again the bird echoed him, this time beginning a new melody at the end.

The birdsong changed to something fuller, like the voice of a woman.

"Hello?" Mike called as he began to follow the sound. "Nerissa is that you?"

Mike caught a glimpse of a girl in white. She twirled around and raised her hands to cover her laughing smile as she shook her head "no." She began to sing again as she danced away.

Mike followed.

-EQUINOX-

Nerissa and Collin had spent the night in the cave. They'd done plenty of talking and exploring of the electricity between them before eventually falling asleep. Before they left the cave, Collin assured Nerissa that he'd be whatever she needed him to be, but she still hadn't made up her mind about the imprint.

When they emerged from the underwater cave, they both returned to their human forms and Collin gave Nerissa an apologetic look.

"I didn't realize how much time had passed… the Pack is saying your brothers are looking for you."

"I was supposed to be back before first light. They probably think I-" Nerissa gripped at her pelt.

Collin eyed his imprint carefully. It was clear that there was something she wasn't saying. He wondered what she had left to hide since she already had shared her shifting secret. He would let her keep her secret for now.

Collin's attention shifted. His head cocked to the side as he scented the wind.

"We'd better get our story together. Your brother's coming… with another male and our clothes are kind of inaccessible."

"We aren't doing anything. You stay here and I will handle it."

Nerissa threw on her pelt and hobbled down the beach, meeting Ben and Austin before they could round Teahwhit and lay eyes on the naked wolfman.

"Hey, look, a seal!" Austin quickly grabbed his camera phone and snapped a picture as it approached.

All the tension melted from Ben's body as the seal sidled right up to him and wrapped a flipper around his leg.

"Oh my gosh! Is this really happening? Ben squat down so I can get a closer shot. Better yet? Selfie time!"

"Be nice," Ben warned his little sister as his boyfriend rushed to get a good angle with the three of them in it.

"Say seeeal!"

Nerissa sat dutifully still for the montage of selfies… until Austin kissed her on the head. Naturally, she barked at him, making sure he got a good look at all her teeth.

"Careful!" Ben yelled as Austin fell back into the sand in fright.

Ben stood and helped Austin to his feet.

"Hey, Ben. Seals are Rissy's favorite animal, right? We can show her the pictures as soon as we find her."

"You know what? I think that seal was a good omen. Let's head back."

The seal took advantage of the opportunity to slink off into the water. They watched her swim away before starting their journey back to the camp.

Nerissa swam over to the place where she'd stashed her things. She slipped out of her pelt and into her clothes. As she stuffed the pelt in her bag, she felt Collin walk up behind her. When she turned around, there was lightning in his eyes.

The imprint drew them together like magnets. They collided with a biting kiss. It was aggressive, almost punishing. Their lips were swollen when they came up for air.

"I don't like it when you walk away. I never know if I'm going to see you again."

"Don't be so dramatic. I know you can feel where I am."

"It physically hurts when we're not together because you haven't accepted the imprint-"

"I haven't rejected it either."

"What is holding you back? I know you feel everything I do when we're together."

"I'm sorry," Nerissa backed away with a shake of her head and darted across the sand, knowing he wouldn't follow. He said he'd be whatever she needed him to be and right now she needed him to be as far away as possible.

-EQUINOX-

"Have you seen this girl? Her name is Nerissa and we were all camping out here yesterday. She was last seen-"

"Oh my gosh, Jess, look!" Lauren dragged Jessica away from the family she was showing Nerissa's Facebook profile picture to.

"Where were you? We we were worried sick!" Jessica smacked Nerissa on the arm goodnaturedly.

"I'm sorry. I took a walk earlier and then I guess I fell asleep."

Austin and Ben joined the group then.

"Just work the puppydog eyes, Rissy-pooh," Austin whispered, reaching them first and giving Nerissa a quick squeeze.

"I'm sorry, Benny."

He nodded and embraced her but didn't say anything. Austin made a face and rubbed his boyfriend's arm. Maybe she should have taken his advice.

Ben released Nerissa into Tyler's crushing hug.

"Look who I found," Lauren tried to insert herself into the sibling's embrace, but Jess pulled her away.

"Give them a minute."

"Don't you ever- you can't do that, Reese," Tyler's voice broke and Nerissa felt him shake with silent sobs. "I thought- "

"Not yet," she promised as she rubbed a soothing hand up and down his back, "I'm sorry."

Tyler made a wet breathy sound and pulled away, rubbing at his face. The group began to drift back to their camping site.

"Hey, Ty, where's Mike?"

Tyler looked down at Jessica and over to the treeline.

"He was right behind me… I think he stopped to pee."

"Let's start packing up," Austin suggested with a worried look at Ben, "I don't know about you guys, but I'm ready to get out of here."

"I'm hungry," Lauren sidled up to Tyler and tried to hold his hand.

He hissed and held it to his chest. Everyone looked at his raw and bloodied knuckles.

"Oh my gosh, Tyler!"

"What happened?"

"I punched a tree."

"Why?"

"I was looking for you and it started to seem like you just disappeared…"

"I'll grab the first aid kit," Nerissa couldn't meet her brother's red-rimmed eyes. She scurried away as everyone started to pack up their things.

Nerissa cleaned and bandaged Tyler's wound in silence.

"Thank you," he flexed his hand. "Should be good to go in no time."

Nerissa nodded but still refused to speak or meet his gaze.

Tyler sighed. This was his siblings' most annoying trait. Both Nerissa and Ben would shut down when they got upset. He was the emotional action-oriented one.

"Look, Reese, I'm not mad at you, okay? I was just worried. I'm not ready to-"

"Hey, hey, Tyler," Jessica ran out of her tent and over to where they were sitting. Her face was red and her eyes were flashing frantically. "Tyler where were you guys? You and Mike? Where did you go when you were looking for Nerissa? I tried calling and he's not picking up."

"We kept to the trails," Tyler stood with growing apprehension as he watched Jessica's panic rise.

"He probably just lost service, right? Nerissa's fine and there's no reason Mike won't be, too. I'm just worrying over nothing, right?"

"Right," Nerissa took Jessica's hand comfortingly.

"You know what, why don't we just take a look? He'll probably meet us coming down, but hey, the embarrassment is worth the peace of mind."

Jessica nodded gratefully at Tyler's suggestion.

"Hey, we're gonna go check on Mike," Tyler called to the other three.

"I'm going, too," Nerissa added, not that she had much of a choice: Jessica had a vice grip on her hand and she was consumed by her own fear and guilt.

Collin had said that he turned into a wolf to protect the tribe from vampires. What if Mike had encountered one? What state would they find him in if they found him at all? Nerissa cast a glance toward the beach, thinking about the wolf who said he'd be anything she needed. Could he be a search dog?

-EQUINOX-

"Gah!" Jessica jumped.

"Holy shit! Where the fuck did you come from?" Tyler raised his fists defensively.

Nerissa was the only one in her little search party who wasn't surprised to see the bronze Quileute man appear from the foliage. She'd felt him getting closer, though she did wonder how he'd known to come to her rescue. Had he simply heard them yelling for Mike or was it the imprint connection?

"Sorry, didn't mean to scare you, I'm Collin. It sounded like you were looking for someone. Do you want some help?"

"Oh my gosh, yes please!" Jessica rushed over to show Collin the latest pictures she had of Mike. "This is my boyfriend Mike."

Collin nodded and surreptitiously sniffed Jessica. Nerissa rolled her eyes. She knew he was probably just scenting the other girl to aid in his search, but she was feeling more jealous than she'd like to admit, though, judging by Collin's smirk, she didn't need to admit anything. That must've been the emotional connection of the imprint he'd mentioned. From what Collin had said, the connection would remain one-sided until she accepted it. "Until," he'd said like he was just so sure it would happen.

Nerissa tempered her irritation with the imprint and returned her focus to Mike. Jessica had finished giving Collin his description and now Tyler was trying to explain where the route they'd taken.

"Okay," Collin nodded as he relayed Jessica's scent to the Pack and let them pick up the rest of the info via his mind link, "Lead the way."

Hey, Coll, I got the scent! Collin was able to decipher Judah's voice.

Why are you running like that? Judah was moving in zigzags and circles and it was dizzying to witness, especially telepathically.

His path keeps crossing over on itself. It's really weird… The scent is getting stronger though.

Collin felt Judah phase as he picked up speed. Judah howled and the search party froze. Collin's hackles rose and he fought the urge to phase. That particular howl meant vampire. Nerissa glanced between him and the direction of the howl.

"Did you guys hear that?" Tyler's head was tilted like he was waiting to see if it would repeat.

"Yeah," Collin nodded slowly.

"Oh no, the killer wolves!" Jessica's hysteria went full throttle as she tore through the brush in the direction of the howl. "Mike! MIKE!"

"Stay on the path," Collin caught up with her easily and dragged her back to the rest of the group. "The last thing you wanna do is run into one of those things."

"But Mike-" Jess protested.

"We're not leaving him, Jess, I swear," Tyler pulled her into a restraining hug as she broke down. "We just have to be smart about it."

"You guys stay put," Collin couldn't just not do anything, especially not when his imprint was out in the middle of the forest and he had no idea of the magnitude of the threat. "I'm gonna go check it out."

"What? No, it's not safe!" Nerissa's heartbeat raised and Collin smiled at her concern for him.

"My ancestors will guide and protect me."

Please tell me you did not just go for the magical Indian trope.

He's not really wrong though.

The moment he was sure he was out of the line of vision, Collin phased and ran as fast as he could toward Judah and Mike. As he approached, he was overwhelmed by the scent of blood and something else that almost blended in with the scent of the forest, but stood out for how well it tried to blend. There was something unnatural and wrong about it. It was like an olfactory version of the uncanny valley.

Judah: It smells like a trucker with a bad diet took a dump in a compost pile.

Collin: What do you think it is?

Judah: Your guess is as good as mine.

Leah: I'm almost there. You two focus on the rescue and I'll track whatever made the smell. Collin you can carry him out since you already know his friends. Judah, stay wolf and cover him. We have no idea what we're dealing with.

Collin and Leah arrived on the scene at the same time. They joined Judah at the top of the hill where Mike appeared to have fallen from. His body lay in a mangled mess below; his heartbeat was faint.

Judah: Do you think he's gonna die?

Collin: Let's just focus on getting him some help.

Leah took off chasing the scent. More of the wolves had phased in and they joined her on the hunt. Collin phased human and yanked on his shorts while Judah shadowed him from the cover of the overgrown brush. Collin scooped Mike up in his arms and ran with him until he reached his friends' line of vision.

"Mike!"

"What happened?"

"Oh my gosh, babe!"

"Somebody call 911!"

The jostling and yelling roused Mike's consciousness and he woke with a start. At the same moment, a strange birdsong reached the little search party. Collin's eyes met Judah's. Was that the birdsong Danny heard earlier? The one Tim couldn't figure out?

Judah nodded his big lupine head emphatically.

"It's a girl, not a bird," Mike slurred ominously before his eyes rolled back in his head and he slumped lifelessly into Collin's arms.