Chapter Nineteen: Congratulations; You're a Werewolf, Mrs. Cullen!

Bella's POV:

"Bella, dear, is that you under there?" Carlisle said, his eyes wide. He looked like a kid on Christmas, honestly. Did he have to look at me like that? "How did you manage it?"

It quickly became apparent to all present that I was stuck in wolf form for the time being. I turned to Edward.

'I, uh, phased when Edward's arm was ripped off,' I told him, and he narrated for me. I can feel the fury at the vampires who had permitted this black crime by just saying the words, and it takes another effort to calm myself down. 'I guess I just got so mad—'

'Edward's arm was ripped off?' Embry and Quil thought in the pack-mind, cutting in.

'Yes, Edward lost an arm, Carlisle is gonna stitch it back up,' I thought. Turning back to the expectant Carlisle and Jacob, I continued, 'Then I felt sort of an electric pulse run through me, and… voila. Here I am, covered in fur.'

I dipped my head in a mock-curtsey; And to think, they still hadn't even seen my biggest secret yet.

"You look much bigger than Jacob," Carlisle noted. He turned to Jacob. "Jacob, would you just stand next to her and phase please?"

Jacob shrugged. "Sure, doc."

He went to my left, and with a light shimmering sound he was a wolf.

'Hey Jake,' I thought, glancing down at him out of the corner of my eye.

Jacob's wolfish eyes widened.

'Bella?! You're in the pack-mind?' Jacob thought back to me. I could hear Embry and Quil laughing in the background as Seth rejoined them. 'When did this happen—'

'Shortly after I phased,' I thought back, as Carlisle began visually studying us both. 'I phased into this beast of a wolf.'

Jacob nodded. 'Yeah, you're HUGE!'

I barked a small laugh. 'Woooow, thanks Jake really needed that confidence boost.'

'Shut up, you know what I meant!' Jacob said, barking a laugh of his own.

I knew that since I was a part of the pack-mind, my secret wouldn't be secret much longer to Jacob. The others already knew it.

'Jake, there's something different about this form that's different than yours,' I began, looking at my front paws/hands.

'Aside from being way bigger than me again-in-a-good-way?' Jacob thought back.

'Yeah. Wanna see?' I thought, surprising myself with being somewhat eager. Normally I don't like showing off. I was a wallflower, and I knew it. But this was too exciting for me to see everyone's faces.

There were six vampire gasps of shock and Jacob's surprised yelp as I slowly stood up. If I hadn't already been taller than everyone in the clearing, I was towering over them now.

'Hiiiiii—' I said, waving my hand.

Jacob's thoughts were all in a snarl, but I managed to pick up some bits and pieces.

'How did you manage—so tall—wonder if she—but why—' were the prominent thoughts of the night evidently.

'I don't know how or why, I just know that this is what I phased into,' I thought to Jacob.

I heard a car door slam with my wolf-ears, and heard the sounds of someone muttering as they walked over towards our little gathering.

"Hey, do you guys know where Bella is? I'm supposed to go see her about somethi—" Leah said, stepping into view. It took her nearly five whole seconds to register me, something that felt like an eternity now that I was a vampire.

The first thing Leah did was phase, she moved fluidly as she approached me and Jacob.

'Bella?' came Leah's shocked gasp. 'Can you hear me?'

'Yeah, I can hear you,' I nodded, sheepishly. 'Thanks for coming.'

'…' Leah did not respond verbally, but I could sense her emotions. She was confused, and I could also sense that something had not gone too well for her back at her house, before she shoved that feeling away. She would help, but she didn't feel quite decided on whether or not to be happy about it. Well, even this seemed an upgrade from her normal personality towards me.

'I'm stuck,' I explained. 'I don't know how to phase back.'

'Well, the heat… can you feel the heat?' Leah asked. 'I assume you can, since you're… well a wolf.'

'Yeah, for me it's an electric tingle,' I thought back to her, 'But yeah I can feel it.'

'Well, it's really pretty simple. Just pull it back into your center and 'tie it down' there. It takes some practice to keep it in all the time, but you should be able to get the hang of it.'

'Thanks Leah!' I thought eagerly to her, before turning and prancing off a ways through the trees. I wanted privacy to do this.

I reached out, feeling the electricity running rampant over my body and up the hairs of my fur. It was wild and free in its roaming, and it was my job to herd it all back up into my center.

I wondered how to best approach this. But it hit me almost as soon as I started thinking of it. It was no different than pulling in my shield. I just had to trade lifting my shield to pulling in the electric feeling.

I felt it begin to drain from the six ends of my body; both feet, both hands, my snout, and my tail. I felt a slow shifting and changing come over me as I roped in the electricity. Leah was right, this was pretty hard!

I felt myself shrinking down, back to a human size.

Edward suddenly appeared at my side, his arm already stitched back on (ah, the perks of vampire-speed), though it hung listlessly at his side for the time being. He needed to 'heal', something I didn't as of yet know how to do as a vampire.

But his appearance was my downfall. I was immediately distracted, and with a popping sensation, my wolf form shimmered back into place.

"I didn't mean to surprise you, love," Edward laughed as I glared playfully at him. "Just thought you might like some clothes when you're finished."

He laid a white shirt and dark pants on the snow as he waited for me to phase back.

I began to phase back again, going through the long process. I didn't know if I would continually have to keep a portion of my brain dedicated to keeping track of my newfound inner wolf, but I imagined I probably could do it, with my expanded vampire brain.

My body shimmered, and I felt the electricity snap back into place, like a light switch. I reached over and grabbed the clothes, throwing them on within the timespan of at most two seconds.

"Alright, let's go," I said, relieved to be back in human form. My wolf form wasn't bad, it just felt somewhat unnatural to me, since I had spent most of my life not even knowing I was part-wolf.

It only took us a second or two to appear before everyone again. Leah was staring at me thoughtfully, though in her human form I couldn't hear her hidden thoughts any longer.

Jacob was grinning widely as he held Renesmee's feet as she sat on his shoulders. Carlisle looked even more eager somehow to be able to study me, probably because I could actually answer his questions directly now.

I smiled back awkwardly at the rest of my family and friends, as they returned the gazes.

"Um, hi everyone. It's still just me," I said, automatically hiding behind a curtain of my hair. I feel Edward's hand on my shoulder course through me like lightning, striking the heart of electricity inside me. I gasp a little as I feel my whole physical frame react to his touch as I suddenly grow about two inches, before gaining control over the lightning inside of me and shrinking back down to normal. I don't need to look at anyone to hear the thoughts in the air around me. "Well, more or less," I add, feeling an embarrassed burn on my cheeks.

I glance up, and the first thing I notice about everyone's new expressions is that they all seem to be wearing the same understanding, yet somehow all still proud, expression on their face. That is, except Emmett. Emmett is grinning evilly as though he's planning a prank. Uh oh.

I lock eyes with him. "Whatever you do, not the house."

Emmett shrugs, conceding this point to me.

Leah is the first to speak up, surprising me a little.

"So, you're going to need to learn how to phase correctly, and you should probably ask your mom about that technique of hers, for shifting without breaking your clothes—"

"Seth and I—" Jacob began to volunteer, but Leah cut him off with a glare.

"—are not female? Trust me, there are going to be a few fails at least, and we're going to try to keep Bella's sense of dignity intact while she undergoes this. I wish I had known about this technique earlier, trust me."

A small portion of me is stunned that Leah is suddenly standing up for me. I know that she and I had had our differences, and recently she's even begun to give me the benefit of the doubt. But actively standing up for me was a new experience for me.

But mainly, I feel a sense of right-ness. Like if the situation arose, I would defend Leah from a threat as well. More than that, I feel an attachment to Leah I hadn't before. Not any sort of relationship-level attachment, but a string that tied the two of us together. It must be a pack-thing.

Leah glanced behind her. "Uh, Bella and Jacob, can I borrow you two for a sec?"

Jacob nodded, and I followed them. After we were out of range of everyone else, who was graciously not listening specifically to us, Leah turned to face the two of us.

"So, Jacob, what are we going to do about the treaty now?" she asked. "Given that Bella is part of the pack, and a vampire? If we allow her into La Push, we'll most likely get chewed out by our parents, but—"

Jacob looked somewhat deep in thought. "Hm. Well, Renee has good connections with your mom. If we tell Sue that Bella's phased, she might be receptive of the idea. As for Billy…"

There was a silence for a moment. Billy was the real obstacle in the way. Old Quil was barely active in the La Push council anymore, last I had heard. Sue would most likely agree with Renee that all members of the pack could be welcome in La Push. But Billy… Billy had never trusted the Cullens. He was still rather adamant about the treaty, and I was pretty sure he felt that the Quileutes had already given too much ground to the Cullens in rewriting the treaty to allow me into the Cullen family.

"Well, if you guys think it would help, maybe I could only be allowed on the reservation in wolf form? I don't know if thirst still works the way it does in human form, but—" I began, but Jacob shook his head.

"If I had to stop yourself from doing something you'd regret later, I'd much rather try to stop you, instead of your wolf."

"Yeah, that form is massive," Leah whistled. "I guess we'll just have to… introduce the topic to the elders and hope for the best. I mean, worst case scenario?"

"Billy goes on the warpath, theoretically," Jacob says, contemplatively. "But I feel like if he didn't when he found out I was imprinted to Bella's half-vampire daughter, he should be fine to learn that Bella is a part of the pack."

"Hm. Best-case?"

"Volturi are scared away by the thought of one more wolf in the pack, and leave us alone for eternity," Jacob immediately shoots back. I automatically wonder how much of his brain was preoccupied with this dilemma that he could immediately answer a best-case scenario.

"Let's shoot for best-case," Leah agreed.

The mere thought of the threat that the Volturi posed to my recently-discovered immortal life suddenly kicks up all survival instincts within me. It also fills me with a territorial urge to defend what is mine from the threat presented before me. The thought almost automatically makes me snarl, which I reign in before the others think I'm crazy for seeming to want the Volturi to advance.

We head back to the rest of the group. It doesn't surprise me as much as I would have thought to see my mother there. Eager looks are on everyone's faces, and based on the confusion I see on Renee's face she hasn't been told yet. She glances towards me, and her confusion only seems to grow on her expression.

"Carlisle, you said something had happened to Bella? She's right there, are you sure she was—"

I don an abashed expression as I step forward, feeling very showed-off tonight, though it's my own fault. "Actually, mom, something did happen—" I begin.

I fully seemed to expect Edward or someone else to begin telling her what had happened. When nobody else speaks, I glance up, seeing in their eyes that they're waiting for me to tell the story to Renee. This was my birthright to my mother, and they had no business telling the story for me.

Immediately I feel anxiety as I feel every set of eyes on me, something that I've never appreciated. Even my perfect-vampire voice can't hide the slight quiver of nervousness from the detection of the immortals and shapeshifters alike in the vicinity.

"Well, Edward and I got attacked earlier by a group of vampires, and I… um…" I said, trying to think of the best way I wanted to tell her. I knew I'd have to speak fast, before she figured it out on her own. "Edward's arm got ripped off, and I just got so mad that I—I phased."

Renee's eyes light up, growing wide as saucers as she looks like a kid in a candy store on steroids. She reminds me of Alice, the expression of excitement on her face.

"You phased?" Renee said, walking forward eagerly, grasping one of my hands. "Let me see, honey!"

I felt the burn in my cheeks, present ever since the vampires had attacked, as I looked down. This felt too much like bragging or showing off to sit right with me. But I knew deep down that they were all just excited for me, and proud I had been able to claim an inheritance I hadn't known about.

The electricity inside of me hummed, eager to be let out again. I could feel the wolf inside me, almost purring at the idea of getting a chance to be let out again, or whatever it was called when dogs and wolves purred.

I let it out, enveloping me as I heard the shimmering sound flow over my skin. I felt my structure swell with muscle and size, before opening my eyes.

Renee's mouth was slack as she stared up at me, though her expression looked as excited as it had before. As I stood, showing her my humanoid hands and somewhat anthropomorphic body, her expression of surprise only seemed to grow, and not once did the excited glint in her eye die away in shock.

It warmed me to my core as I was studied carefully by my mother, who immediately shifted.

I could hear her thoughts, but they were faint. Much fainter than any of the rest in the pack-mind.

'Sweetie, can you hear me? Are you in the pack-mind?' Renee thought as she stared up at the much larger brown wolf before her.

'I can hear you, mom, but you sound really quiet to me,' I thought.

'We're linked by blood, but I am not a part of Jacob's pack. I'm from an older generation, so you shouldn't hear me as loudly. I'm somewhat surprised you can hear me at all, honestly,' Renee explained. 'How are you feeling? Anything uncomfortable?'

'No, and it feels strange that that's true. I am a wolf, but it feels as natural as ever,' I thought back to her.

'Well, that's simple honey. It's because you've always been the wolf. The wolf wasn't prominent, and it laid dormant inside of you all this time, but it's always been you. Did you hear about the Quileute legends about our origins?'

I nodded, and she continued.

'I'm sure Billy would have mentioned how our ancestor took the form of the wolf for the first time, and it turned into a man? Well, he was still the wolf's body, but it was a wolf like no other, from that point on. By nature, these is our natural forms.'

Wow, that was a bit to take in. I remained silent, and Renee read my thoughts and emotions. Her tongue lolled out of her mouth as she grinned at me.

'I know, sweetie, it's a lot to take in. But you'll get used to it. You'll learn how to tame the wolf inside of you, and you'll know how to let it out when it's necessary. You'll become a greater wolf than any I have ever known, I just know it. You don't need to be frightened, it has always been you.'

I nodded, letting her know I understood, as she phased back into human form. I realized that now would've been a perfect opportunity to ask her about how to perform her technique about fluidly shifting in and out of her clothes, but I also realized that at the time, we were surrounded by people. It would have to wait.

Edward handed me more clothes as though he'd prepared for this beforehand. Again I went into the forest and phased back, changing into the new clothes Edward had given me, and walking back.

I knew that the moon did not empower shapeshifters like it did for Children of the Moon, but I felt rejuvenated as the bright moonlight shone down on my back. Regardless of if anything physically did happen to me in the full moon or if it was simply a cool breeze that I mistook for the moonlight, night was the domain of wolves. This was their prime-time, and this was the time when the forest was ruled by the claw and fang of wolves.

Edward met me halfway, looking at me proudly for a moment. It took me a moment to realize that his arm was functioning normally again, or at least somewhat normally. It looked a little stiff, but otherwise I couldn't even see the cut in his skin.

Leah's POV:

I walked through the doors of my home, waiting for the barrage to assault me for leaving my mother like that in the café.

It was even more terrifying when all that greeted me was my mother's calm voice.

"So," she began, sounding strangely like some sort of villain who may be found stroking a cat. She was sitting on the couch beside the door, "What was all that earlier today?"

I swallowed deeply. I both wished that Rye was here, and that he was as far away from this as was necessary to be safe from my mother's wrath.

"Uhm," I said. Always a good place to start. "So, first, I'd like to say that I'm REALLY sorr—"

"I didn't ask if you were sorry, Leah, I want to know what happened." My mother said.

Uuuuuugh, I don't want to do thiiisss. Not like this.

"Well, you see, a few days ago I met Rye in the forest, after I had talked to Renee for a little while. I was confused, and I followed him into a cave. He seemed scared of me, and he had a scent I couldn't put my finger on—"

I launched into the whole story, trying to leave out the part where I mentioned I had imprinted on him until the last. My mother patiently and terrifyingly waited, listening to the story I told her as she sat there with her arms crossed.

"—and so Seth didn't want to tell you himself, but mom—" I said, wrapping up. I took a deep breath to calm myself. Please let her have a good reaction, please please please… "I'm—"

"If you say 'pregnant', I'm going to strangle you, then this 'Rye' kid, then you again," my mother says, speaking for the first time in nearly ten minutes. Her even voice and her angry stare give me no doubt she'd probably do it, too.

Fortunately for both my mother and myself, this is not the case. "No, mother I'm not pregnant."

Sue grudgingly acknowledges that this is at least not as bad as her mind had come up immediately. She's still furious, I can tell.

"Um, I'm actually really happy right now, even though I know that you're angry with me," I answered her honestly. "I've been wanting to tell you for so long, but the timing wasn't right… mom, I've imprinted. With Rye."

My mother was silent. Nothing about her expression had changed as she watched me.

"That's why I accidentally said those things in the café. I didn't mean to, I swear. It just came right out, and I tried to stop myself but I was too late, and—"

My mother stood up from the couch, and walked over to me. She stood over me as I fell silent, waiting for some kind of reaction.

"I don't want you to lie to me, Leah," she began, "And I will punish you for misbehaving the way you did today… but—" she added, seeing my expression fall. She waited a moment, then sat down next to me on the chair I sat on. She wrapped her arms around me. "I also understand, honey. And I'm proud and happy for you."

Hope fluttered in my ribcage as I sat there and hugged her back. Maybe she would go easy on me?

"How? How did you know?"

"Oh honey, Billy used to be an imprinted wolf, too," Sue said. "Renee told me how he couldn't stop fawning over his wife, and eventually he even gave up his wolf for her. I saw firsthand the effects of imprinting. I know it can be weird. I know that you don't, and can't, always dictate your actions better than your imprint can, because you know that they will look out for your best interests as well.

"That doesn't change the fact, however, that you publicly accused me, and quite blatantly," Sue says, pulling away to look me in the eyes. "While I'm happy you've found your other half, I know that there are consequences to be had. Starting tomorrow morning, you are grounded. I don't want to see your wolf form either outside or in this house for two weeks."

I sighed. I would miss Alice's birthday, something that I had begun to look forward to as incentive to visit the Cullens and ultimately Rye became apparent. I knew that even the wolves were on it, and Seth most of all, in the planning and execution of the party, in order to try and surprise Alice. But I knew that this was a fair compromise.

"And so now we arrive at the issue regarding Rye," my mother said, and immediately my attention was diverted, and all my nervous energy was back. What was wrong regarding Rye?

My stomach dropped as I thought of the very real possibility that my mother would forbid contact with him for two weeks; something I wasn't sure I could make. I had been away from him for a maximum of two hours at a time, and even then I had been about to go crazy. I knew that Jacob practically lived with the Cullens as he watched over Renesmee protectively. Quil and Claire were hardly even separated, since old Quil had seen imprinting and knew that Quil wouldn't even dream of hurting Claire. Could I really go without seeing an imprint for two weeks? As ineffective that sounded to any uninterested third-party, that sounded like absolute torture to my brain.

But my mother lived in a tribe with multiple werewolves; she knew what was going on better than any third-party. "As much as I would love to say that being grounded includes staying away from Rye, I know what that will do to you, and I know that that wouldn't be fair. But I'm not about to allow him to come waltzing in whenever he wants to. For this, I will allow a maximum of four hours a day in which Rye can come to see you, either out here in the living room or outside. Being alone with him is not allowed during your two weeks, and you can't go into any bedrooms. Also, I want you to stay within our yard if you go outside."

Even this couldn't bring down the relief I felt after hearing that I wasn't being shipped away from Rye, and he would be able to see me. The next two weeks would be living torture, but I would have to make it through them.

Something suddenly came to me, however.

"Mother, the Volturi," I reminded her. "If they come while I'm still grounded—"

"If saving the lives of the pack, the Quileutes, and the Cullens is at stake, then you may be exempt from being grounded," Sue laughed. "I mean, no you have to stay in your room as I watch everyone else get slaughtered. They're going to need you out there, sweetie. I know better than to try and keep you here."

But the way she said it was sad, because deep down we both knew that without a humongous advantage on our side, the fight was going to be short and sweet in favor of the attacking Volturi.

"We're going to win, mom," I said, hugging her again. "We've got to."

Suddenly the door slammed open, startling me and my mother so much we nearly fell off of the couch we were on. Seth strode in, searching the room until he found me.

"Hey Leah, we need your help with something real quick," Seth began. He turned to our mother, putting the pieces together. "Um, can I borrow Leah?"

"Is it pack-related? Is someone in trouble?" Sue asked.

"Oh, well yes it's pack-related. Bella needs Leah's help with something, and yes, I'll say again that it is pack-related. That's all I can say, really."

I looked at our mother.

"You can go, but be back before midnight. Remember, starting tomorrow you're still grounded," Sue said.

I jumped up, and began to run towards the door to phase, when Seth blocked me.

"Leah, you can't phase right now," he said, stopping me before I went 'wolf'.

"Why not?" I asked.

"Just please trust me. You can't go wolf. You're gonna have to take the car to the Cullens' house."

I grumbled. What could be so important that I don't even phase? I would trust my brother though, annoying as he may have been, and I would take the car.

Ugh, this might take a while.

Rye's POV:

Leah had walked inside of her house, and I decided that I should probably go. I didn't want Leah to get in any more trouble because of me, and I also didn't want Mrs. Clearwater to get mad at me either for loitering about her property. I spread my wings and took off, unsure of where I honestly wanted to go.

My stomach quickly answered the question, and I knew I had to eat something. I hadn't eaten since… probably last night. I wondered where I could get an actual human meal, since the Cullens probably didn't have much human food to spare for their charade, if visitors came.

But at the same time, I couldn't just waltz right into town and grab a burger or something. Though for once in my life my wings seemed responsive to controlling when or if I wanted them to appear, I still had my skin changing color everywhere, creating a moving marbled effect on my flesh.

I battled within myself; ask the Cullens if they could spare more food for me, or just go into town in some disguise or other? I was already shady enough, in Sue's and the police Chief's eyes, I didn't want to act any more suspicious than I had to.

And so it was decided for me. I would go and see if the Cullens had any leftovers left for me to eat. I felt pretty sure that the Cullens surely had enough money to buy more food, anyways, since y'know, they didn't actually eat anything on the market.

So I changed course and started flapping towards the Cullen residence, which was quickly becoming a popular haunt of mine. I hoped I wasn't getting on the Cullen's nerves. I would have to figure out some form of living situation for myself soon, so I wasn't hanging on to the Cullens and hindering them.

I smiled a little as the thought flew through my head that I'd been making this trip quite a bit recently; from La Push to the Cullens' house. The family of vampires had really grown on me in a way I hadn't thought was possible until recently.

I hoped Leah was doing alright with her mother. She seemed quite afraid of what would happen when we had been standing outside her house, and I wanted to comfort her, but I knew I just didn't have enough time before she would have to face the music with her mother.

I landed on the front lawn, before turning to head into the main house.

Just before I hit the steps of the porch, I heard a loud clang from the garage. I glanced in the garage and saw a pair of oil-and-grease-stained jeans sticking out from under one of the various cars in the Cullens' extensive garage. Based on the shape of the pair of legs, whoever it was under the car was definitely a woman. Bella? Didn't strike me as the type of person interested in cars.

"Hey, you all good under there?" I asked, though subconsciously I knew it would take a lot more than one car to even make a dent in one of these vampires.

"Yeah, just the stupid hammer fell through the piping I was working on," the woman says, rolling out from under the car. "Can I help you with—"

Our eyes meet, and I feel all the blood rush from my face. Her body stiffens and her eyes widen.

Both of us are silent for the passing moments as we stare with wonder and shock at each other.

"Mom?!" I gasp, a delayed reaction.

The blonde vampire before me, beautiful even with the stains of grease and oil all over herself, can't seem to react for a few moments more, before slowly she reaches up and touches my cheek.

Three days passed, but the fever did not leave Rye's body. He didn't even know the name of the mystery woman who steadfastly stayed at his side. He didn't know when she ate, or when she slept, but she was always there when he woke up, ready and waiting with more water or food for him.

Little by little Rye began to gain his strength back. The fever burned through his energy, and it only grew in heat. But because of gradual process, Rye was able to take more heat, little by little. It still hurt, like the sensation of burning his hand, but he didn't scream when the pain flared through him, though there was plenty of pained whimpers.

The woman barely spoke to him, until about the third day of making sure Rye would survive. The fever had been brought on to new heights, but his physical condition was much better. He had meat on his bones again, and his heart was pumping normally.

The woman seemed concerned as he told her about the fire in his body, how it burned him. The longer the burning went on, the more concerned she began to become.

Rye felt extreme loyalty and affection for this woman. While, to the best of his knowledge, his birth-mother hadn't even sent out a single person to search for him since his disappearance, this woman had saved him from the brink of death and was giving him so much of her time and patience and effort. It would've been abnormal at least for any stranger to show a strange young child this much care.

For this reason, Rye began calling her 'Mom' in his head. It was the automatic evaluation of a young child that this transition took place. This woman was more of a mother to his mind than his real birth-mother had been, ever since the first revelation of his reptilian pupils.

And one day, as she carefully bent over him to administer water to cool him, he found his voice, long enough to speak a few words out.

"Thank you, 'Mom'," he said, partway delirious from fever, and partway because it felt right to call her by this title. She had earned it with her acts of kindness. That other woman who had given birth to him was a stranger to him in comparison. She was nobody to him anymore.

The effect was instantaneous. Rye had never seen his caretaker drop anything, nor make one clumsy move. She was fluid in everything she did, seeming to be more than half-ghost, rather than a mortal woman. But as soon as she heard the term of endearment, the cold cloth she was holding fell right out of her hand, falling against the cold stone floor. She quickly picked it back up, and applied it where it was wanted in earnest.

"What was that?" she asked, her voice kind and quiet as a breath of wind as she worked, but the barest edges of her words were laced with a shaky vibrato of shock.

Rye's brain immediately repeated the message, and his mouth moved to verbalize.

"Thank you Mom," he sighed, the fever painfully ripping through him again.

The woman was silent for a moment, but even the darkest cave couldn't hide the radiant smile that had formed on the woman's mouth. She bent down, and gave Rye a gentle cooling hug, despite how hot his feverish skin must have felt to her.

"You're welcome, Rye," the woman said softly, before gently laying him back down against the stone.

If her eyes had been able to pour forth tears as they had in life, Rosalie would have cried happily as she took care of the small boy before her. Something inside of her cold and stony chest expressed its warm joy at his expression of gratitude, though the sensation was muted; as though her heart was sleepily beating once again, for only a moment, at her assessment by the child.