I'm about to completely restructure this storyline and I'm really fucking excited.

XXXXXXXXX

"Nate's going to phase soon," I told Wyatt the next evening. We were hiking through the woods to the cliffs after dinner.

"How do you know?" he asked as he held my waist to help me over a fallen tree. His hands lingered for just a second before he let go and walked alongside me again.

"I heard his thoughts yesterday and he's burning up," I said before hesitating. "And I…had something like a vision last night."

Wyatt hummed, slipping his hands in his pocket. "A vision? That's new."

"Well, I don't know if it was a vision per se. But the whole pack was in the woods surrounding this wolf, a black wolf, and he was so scared. They were trying to get him to stand up and come with them, but he just lied in front of them. And then when they finally got him to calm down, it was Nate in fetal position." I shuddered a little at recounting my dream last night. "It was really weird. I mean, I had a feeling he would be the first one to phase after me, but to actually see it…"

"It could have just been a dream, Ace," he shrugged. I could tell he was little nervous at the idea of phasing. Wyatt wanted to be a wolf just as bad as his brother; that first phase was what made him most anxious though. I don't remember my first phase, but our parents were always honest about their experience. The first phase was the most painful, according to them. Mom said it's like feeling every single bone in your body snap one at a time. Your genetic makeup is literally changing for the first time. She said it got better over time, once you learn how to control it.

For me, it was different, Since I have more wolf in me than my friends and my family, not much had to change. Mom said I just burst into a little pup ball one day when I was a toddler and then phased back without a problem. That didn't mean that I didn't worry about the boys when it was their time.

"Did you tell Jacob and Leah?" he asked.

I shook my head, "Not yet. They're been a little preoccupied lately."

Some nomad found itself way too close to the border and it put Mom and Dad on edge. They doubled their own patrol shifts for the week and told me to be careful in case it was someone coming after me. Even though Wyatt hadn't shifted yet, I still felt most safe with him.

When we made it to the top of the cliff, the sound of the harsh waves crashing against the rock was so loud, it was almost melodic. The reflection of the rising moon was shining bright in the water; it was almost full. We sat next to each other on the edge, our hips connected. "What's it like?" Wyatt asked, leaning back on his palms.

I thought about it for a second. "I remember feeling Mom reminisce her first phase before Grandpa Harry died. I could feel the cracking of her bones and every piece of fur burst through her skin. Her heart was beating so fast because she was afraid; her ears were ringing from all of the voices," I told him, feeling the goosebumps rise one at a time up my arms. "It's unlike anything you'll ever experience in this life. Your wolf gene, for that second, overtakes every single part of you that's human."

He shuddered, drawing his brows together. "Wow, thanks Lee," he said, half playfully.

I shrugged. "You know I'll always be honest with you," I told him. "It's coming soon for you, I think. But I promise I'll be there to help you."

"I trust you, Ace," he bumped me. When I glanced up at him, he grinned and winked at me. "You'll be our boss ass Alpha."

I chuckled under my breath and shook my head, "Yeah, if they actually give it to me," I remarked a little smarmily. I had never stopped thinking about what the Council said. As usual, I wondered if they were just concerned about me because I was their grandchild or if they genuinely thought I couldn't do it. I've been trained by the best; I've worked my ass off. Why wouldn't they name me Alpha? Wyatt's eyes riddled in confusion at my statement. I sighed and pushed my hair out of my face. "At the last Council meeting, they decided that I need a man in order to run the pack."

"What the hell?" he quietly exclaimed. "Jacob and Leah agreed to that?"

"They're trying to fight it," I corrected. "Grandpa Billy, Grandma Sue, and Uncle Sam just have this idea in their head that the pack has traditionally been run by men and it should keep being run by men. Ephraim…my dad…hierarchically, it's supposed to be mine, but…they need me to be Bonded first."

Wyatt placed a tender hand on my shoulder. The heat of his hand slowly made his way through the thick material of my shirt. I hadn't noticed that he was running a bit warm too. "We both know you don't need to be Bonded to lead us."

"But that doesn't mean anything if the Council doesn't think I can do it."

He pondered that for a second. I could see his face go through a roller coaster of emotions. Uncertainty. Irritation. Curiosity. Hope. And then he grinned, the dimples in both of his cheeks showing themselves. "We'll just have to show them then."

Wyatt Cameron: my biggest cheerleader. As soon I figured out that boys were different than girls, Wyatt was always at the forefront of my mind and my heart. Cassie used to make the joke that we were meant to be together, but I always brushed it off. He meant so much to me, I didn't want to potentially ruin our friendship with the complications of pack life. What if, when he phased, he imprinted? Or what if I somehow imprinted or found my mate? It was too messy. I was too messy.

We sat on the cliff for hours, talking. "So what did you think of Travis and Reese?" I asked him. The wind blew through us, making the smell of saltwater so strong you could practically taste it.

"They seem cool," Wyatt answered a little unconvincingly. "Reese is a bit of a wild card."

I giggled, "Yeah, Cass is so smitten, though," I said. "Reese invited us to this party in Forks this weekend. Do you want to go?"

He shook his head, "Mom and Dad are going out of town. I gotta make sure the boys don't get up to trouble while they're gone." He reached up and ruffled my hair, playfully. I swatted at him, laughing. "I like seeing you stepping out of the bubble. A night off will be good for you."

I was about to say something when I noticed something. There was something moving in the water below us. I squinted my eyes to make out a black head of hair, pale skin, and bloodred eyes. One by one, I felt the tiny hairs on my body raise in alert. "We have to go," I said, grabbing Wyatt's hand.

"What?"

"We have to go! Now!" I scrambled up, practically dragging Wyatt. I couldn't take my eyes off of the vampire as it moved closer and closer to the bottom of the cliff. There was only one. My brain was signaling all kinds of danger in my head. It had been a while since a hunter had come for me.

I started to project out to the pack when we heard aggressive rustling in the woods behind us. I whipped around and felt myself lower into a defensive stance. It wasn't someone from the pack. The ground shook as it approached. Then it let out the most feral growl I'd ever heard. Wyatt cursed loudly as a large brown ball of fur flew above us into the water. I gasped as I fell backward, watching this thing practically in slow motion over our heads.

"What the hell is that?" Wyatt yelled.

Everyone knows what a wolf looks like. Our pack looks like wolves except huge; we're easily eight feet tall. But you can never mistake that we look like wolves. This thing was…I don't even know what. It was bigger than any of our pack by at least a foot or so. It moved in such an uncontrollable way leaning more on its forelegs than its hind, faster than what I'd ever seen before. Its fur stood up like needles and it was practically foaming at the mouth. I watched, frozen in place, as it shredded the vampire to pieces. It had these incredible claws at the end of its hands; it swiped at the vampire's torso. The vamp let out this blood curdling screech as the animal attacked it. It wasn't long before I heard the sick crack of the vampire's head being disconnected from its body.

"Holy shit…" I whispered in disbelief. The thing whirled around and looked up at us on the cliff as if it heard me. The vampire's body parts were floating in the water like debris. It let out that shrieky, savage growl again, the sound echoing through the trees, before it started to violently climb back up the cliff. My stomach dropped as I scrambled to grab Wyatt's hand as I started to run like hell. Wyatt was tripping over his feet, trying so hard to run and ask questions at the same time. The ground started to shake again with heavy, swift footfalls.

What's the quickest way to get home? I thought. We were now so far off the trail that I was trying to coordinate myself as fast as possible. If I was by myself, it would have been easier for me to get back to my house, back to civil lands. But with Wyatt, he was already struggling to keep up. We broke into a clearing and I skirted to a stop, my mind racing. I looked around as I caught my breath. "What do we do?" Wyatt asked, anxiously.

The animal's footsteps grew closer as I realized we were near the old Alpha house. "Come on," I told him, grabbing his hand again. We ran until the light grey house came into view. This was as close to the main road as we were going to get. Wyatt ran ahead of me as I turned to make sure that nothing was following us. It fell quiet for a second. Just a second. Then a deafening snarl rang out so loud, the birds in the trees hastily flew away. Then the ground began to shake again.

"Hadley!" Wyatt called. I turned around and ran up the porch and into the house, swiftly shutting the door behind us. Wyatt and I took a deep breath as I locked the door. "I'll check the windows," Wyatt said, moving away from me. The little clicks of the windows locking, and the shuffle of the shades being pulled down registered before I could bring myself to move.

"What the hell is going on?" I heard my aunt come down the stairs in a rush. "Hadley, Wyatt?"

"Bebe, there's something out there!" I told her, pressing my hands to the door. They were shaking a little. Wyatt pulled my aunt into the middle of the room, away from the windows. I heard the low rumble of a growl from the other side of the door. The animal's claws scraped menacingly against the door for a second. The entire house shook again, the light fixtures rattling violently as the creature jumped from the porch; the leaves aggressively rustled again as it made its way further into the woods, away from the main road.

I blew out a breath before turning around and leaning my back on the door. We all waited for a few moments to make sure it was really gone before any of us would speak. "Fuck…" Wyatt whispered.

"Watch your mouth," Aunt Bianca scolded him. She turned to look at me, her green eyes riddled with concern. "What's happening?"

"There was a vampire—," I started.

"That was a vampire?" Bebe asked, incredulously.

"No!" I answered. "We saw a vampire trying to get to us from the beach and then this big…thing came out of nowhere and killed it."

"And then it started to chase us," Wyatt finished, moving across the room to sit on the couch. I anxiously pushed the hair from my face. I took a minute to realize that my aunt had been gearing herself up to leave for the night. She liked to put in extra hours during the week to research more things to add to our archives. It had never been a problem before. The Quileute grounds were super secure. The only way a creature could have gotten on our grounds was if…

…if it was already here.

Bebe sighed before setting her bag down on the ground. "Are you guys alright?" she asked. She moved until she was in front of me, checking me for any injuries.

"Yeah, I'm alright," I told her, still a little shaky.

"Wyatt?" she called.

"All good," he called back.

Bianca nodded, "I'll call your dad. Go sit."

I dropped down next to Wyatt on the couch. He wrapped an arm around me and placed a kiss on my forehead to try to coax me into relaxing. He smelled a little of sweat, but I didn't mind it. My mind was still going a mile a minute, trying to comprehend what just happened. Bianca disappeared back upstairs to grab her cell phone, leaving us downstairs in the living room. I leaned on Wyatt's shoulder, feeling comforted by his presence. He was warmer than usual; I wasn't surprised. "I'm sorry for slowing you down," he said quietly. Wyatt reached over and linked our fingers, resting our joined hands on his leg.

I glanced up at him to see his disappointment. "You didn't slow me down."

He shook his head and scoffed a little, "I could barely keep up, Lee. One second slower and we could have been killed."

"We don't know that, for sure," I argued.

"You saw it just like I did, Hadley. It was out of control."

I couldn't even argue with that. Bianca's voice filled the silence as I didn't bother to try to justify what just happened. "Yes, they're both here. They're alright, just a little shaken up. Can you come pick them up?" she sighed, a little dramatically.

I felt a small chill breeze against my neck as Wyatt grabbed the remote to turn the TV on. I shivered a little at the sensation.

That creature—whatever it was—killed that nomad with such ease. As strong as our pack was, there was almost never a situation when just one of us could kill a vampire that quickly and effortlessly. In all of our history, there was only one time when that happened: when my dad saved my mom from Bella Swan. This thing was bigger, stronger, faster, fiercer than the strongest of us. It was terrifying.

Another breeze passed my neck. I ignored it and focused on the television, trying to distract myself. The TV was mounted on the wall and was surrounded by all of the books Bianca and Mama had collected over the years. All of Kaya's journals were here too. I remember Mom reading me passages from Kaya's journals as a kid. She always felt more real when her journals were in my hands than when Mama would tell me stories from when she came back to Earth.

"So…" Wyatt started. "Can I ask you something?"

"Sure, anything," I said, turning toward him.

I felt the small tug of my father as he approached in his truck. At that same time, out of the corner of my eye, I saw one of the many shelved books budge just a little. I sat up swiftly. "Did you see that?" I asked Wyatt.

"See what?"

It budged again, protruding out against the other books. "That, did you see that?"

Wyatt shook his head and shrugged right as Dad and Uncle Embry walked into the house. Daddy looked worried and relieved at the same time. "Thank God," he said, sighing. "Come on, I'm taking you both home."

"Daddy, we were being careful," I tried to explain, standing up with Wyatt.

"You're not in trouble, Hadley," Dad said as he pulled me into a protective hug. "I'm just glad you're both safe."

I relaxed into my father's arms, enveloped in his warmth. He pressed his cheek on top of my head, telling me he didn't hear anything until it was too late. "Paul and I ran the entire perimeter, but we didn't see anything," Uncle Embry said.

Bianca came down the stairs, smiling, excited to see her husband. "Well, it's a good thing we have big, strong men to protect us if anything else happens," she commented.

"We'll take Wyatt home, Jake," Embry offered. Dad finally let me go and nodded to my uncle.

Wyatt gave me a wry smile, reaching up to squeeze my shoulder. "See ya later, Ace," he said before following Bianca and Embry out the door.

"Lock the door behind you, please," Bianca called as they left.

Dad stood in front of me, his arms crossed. "You sure you're ok, sweetie?" he asked.

"It didn't touch us," I reassured him. "Can we just go home?"

He nodded, hanging an arm around my shoulders. Right as we were about to leave, we heard a resounding thud behind us. We whipped around at the same time to see that same book that had been inching its way forward was on the floor. Just as we realized that the book fell by itself, another breeze blew through me more insistently. Dad shuddered next to me. "Obviously, someone wants our attention," he said under his breath.

I followed up to the bookcase before bending over to pick it up. The Physiological History of Shapeshifters. Pretty spot on. "You felt that chill too?" I looked up at Dad. "What is that?"

"It's your pushy ancestors," he said, rolling his eyes sarcastically. Another book went flying, slamming on the ground. One of Kaya's journals. "Really pushy."

XXXXXXXXX

I spent days trying to comb through that 500-page book. Some professor in New England deemed himself the expert on all shapeshifters and incorporated his own illustrations in place of actual photographs. His research was thorough; somehow, he had a really good indication of how we start to phase and our legends. It wasn't all correct, of course. But whoever this guy was, he kind of knew what he was talking about.

We had seen many shifters over the years, but I never knew how different they were from us. People shift into wolves, hyenas, coyotes, bears. There were these things called skin-walkers, part of the Navajo culture. Most people believe that shapeshifters exist to be predators; they think we exist purely to deceive, hunt, and kill humans, but that was the furthest from the truth. Almost all of us existed to protect humans from the real predators out there, like vampires.

I yawned as I turned to a new chapter. The section on wolves was extensive and I was wearing down.

I felt my mom approach before she could even reach my door. "Come in," I said before she knocked.

She leaned in the doorway, watching quietly. I glanced over my shoulder at her; she had a small smirk on her face. "How's it going?"

"I'm so tired," I told her. I groaned as I flipped the book closed. It only took a half a second before it fluttered back open to the page I was just looking at. "I've been reading for three days and I don't think I'm any closer to identifying what that animal was at the cliff."

"I think you're missing something very obvious, baby girl," Mama said, sitting on my bed.

I knew what she was thinking. "I didn't miss it," I told her. "That thing was so vicious; I don't want to think it was Travis or Reese or Matthew. I don't think they would have come here if they knew they were capable of being that wild."

"It's not completely unrealistic though, Hadley," she said. "What do I always tell you?"

I pursed my lips before sighing out, "Consider every circumstance."

"That's right," she said, booping my nose. "This part is never easy. Jacob and I spent weeks reading and meditating before things moved forward."

"Weeks?" I repeated. "Does that mean you can just tell me what to look for then?"

She chuckled before shaking her head, "Sorry, sweetheart. Kaya and Ephraim think you need to handle this one on your own."

I groaned loudly and dropped my head. "So unfair…" I mumbled.

"They mean well, I promise." Mama kissed my hair before getting up to leave. Before she closed my bedroom door, she stopped and turned back. "I would start with the journal first," she advised. "Kaya's entries might give you a quicker answer."

"Thanks, mama," I said.

"You're welcome," she responded before turning to leave again. The door clicked behind her.

Kaya's journal sat on my nightstand for a couple of days, untouched. I pulled it into my lap and took a deep breath. Can I get some help, please? I thought.

Closing my eyes, I tried to focus myself. I wiggled my fingers and toes to loosen myself up. Mama and Dad taught me the importance of meditation and peace from an early age. Without those two things, nothing could really get done. I needed a clear mind to get the answers I was looking for. What am I looking for? I asked.

The flapping of pages made my eyes pop open. When it stopped, I saw the date in the top right corner, written in Kaya's perfect cursive writing:

"April 14, 1938

I had no idea that there might be other things out there besides vampires. How is it possible that there is something more dangerous than vampires just existing out in the world? And how didn't we know about it? It's a full moon outside and, much like those boring stereotypes always say, strange things happened when the moon was at its highest.

We were just outside of Canada when it happened. E was leading us toward the border when we were swiped by this vampire. When we started to chase it, the craziest thing happened. This thing started to run toward us like an ape. It was feral and unruly. If it wasn't targeting the vampire, I wasn't too sure we would have made it out alive. Even after it killed the vampire, it kept destroying it until it was unrecognizable.

The Children of the Moon. That's what QA called it. He said they can only change form at night and during the fullest phase of the moon. He said they are dangerous. He said they are nothing like us. He said we should never interact with them if we can help it.

He said, when they phase, they're no longer human. A vampire's worst fear."

I stopped reading and said, "Whoa."

I rolled over to look at the history book again, flipping to the index. Children of the Moon, page 321.

Children of the Moon were technically the 'real' werewolves of the supernatural world. Quileute wolves are deemed to be shapeshifters first and wolves second. According to my research, in their animal form, Children of the Moon have amplified strength and speed which gives them the ability to singlehandedly kill vampires, but also makes them incredibly difficult to kill. The only thing capable of killing a Child of the Moon was a silver bullet to the chest; not even vampire venom was enough to kill these werewolves.

No matter how much we tried to be elusive, humans are scrappy who work hard to find information on the supernatural. So, theoretically, everything we read is speculation. We knew better though. A lot of the research was valid, but without visual proof, it didn't mean much. It was almost like a well thought out fairy tale.

I hopped off of my bed and trotted down the hall to my brother's room. Will was sitting at his desk, music blasting as he played some video game on his computer. "Where the hell did that zombie come from?! I thought you were watching my 6!" he yelled into his headset. I rolled my eyes as I walked up behind him. "AFK," he said before I could even reach him. He whirled around in his desk chair to face me. Gotta love those supernatural senses. "What do you want?"

"I need a favor," I said, jumping on his bed.

"Why should I help you?" he crossed his arms over his chest.

"You're my brother."

"What's in it for me?"

"I'll give you 20 bucks."

Will smirked as he removed his headset. He held his palm out. I sighed heavily before reaching in my back pocket and producing two ten-dollar bills. I held them up before saying, "You'll get half now and half when the job gets done."

"Deal," he said, snatching a bill from my hand. "What's up?"

"You know how to work those internet message boards, right?" I started. "I think I might be onto something with that thing that chased us on the cliff, but I need some confirmation. I need you to see if anyone out there knows anything about the Children of the Moon."

Will furrowed his eyebrows. "Children of the Moon? I thought they were extinct."

I shrugged, "Only one way to find out. Someone knows something. Can you help or not?"

"Of course, I can," he chuckled lightly. Will was certain he could find answers to literally anything if he tried hard enough. He was a cocky little shit, but he was smarter than anyone I knew. Will picked up his headset again and swiveled back around in his chair. "Close the door behind you, please."

I rolled my eyes again as I left his room. "Thanks, bro," I said, letting the door close.

XXXXXXXXX

"What do you think?" Cass twirled around in a lowcut lace trimmed body suit and dark jeans.

"You look so cute," I told her, clipping in my earrings.

Cass sighed. "You know who's really cute?"

"Reese," I said, imitating Cassie's dream filled voice.

Cass stuck her tongue out at me before looking at herself in the mirror. "We've been talking all week, day and night, 24/7," she told me. She bit her lip to stop herself from smiling. "She's just so intense, you know? She says that she just stays up all hours of the night thinking about what our purpose is in this life, what's beyond the stars, how we can do better for the environment."

Cassie got attached to people pretty easily. Sometimes it worried me, but I couldn't really stop her. I mean, I could; most of these people were harmless though. When I feel like a guy or girl really is bad for her, I knew I could be straightforward with her. But sometimes, it was just easier to let her navigate her own love life. Let her kiss a few frogs. I was almost jealous that she could. "Is tonight like a date then? I can stay home if you guys want to be alooone," I wiggled my eyebrows at her as she applied her lip gloss.

She immediately stopped before looking at me, pointing the applicator right at me. "Don't even think about bailing on me, Hadley Sarah. You know they won't let me go if you don't go. You're practically my security blanket."

"Wow, thanks, Cassidy," I laughed.

"You know what I mean," she huffed, dramatically.

Her normally curly hair was ironed pin straight, hitting just above her small waist. I waited quietly until she was done primping; she took her precious time, humming to herself happily as she applied the finishing touches on her makeup. Her phone chimed in her hand. She checked it and squealed. "Ok, let's go," she said, bouncing a little.

We passed Uncle Embry and Bebe as we made our way outside. They were relaxing in the living room, watching a movie. "Hey, hey, hey," Bebe called. "Be careful tonight, girls."

"We will," Cass said, going to hug them goodbye.

"Before you go, what are the rules?" Embry asked.

Cass and I looked at each other. "No drinking…" she started.

"No drugs…" I continued.

"Don't go to the bathroom by yourself…"

"Don't bring people home…"

"Be back by 11:30. Can we go now?" Cass asked, looking impatient.

When we walked out of the house, Reese and Travis were waiting in the drive next to their pickup…next to Nathaniel, Cameron, Gabriel, and Wyatt.

Cass gasped, excitedly. "Are you guys coming with us?" she asked as she clapped her freshly painted nails.

"Yeah, we thought about it and decided it would be a fun time," Nate shrugged. He looked so uneasy.

Travis grinned and shrugged, "The more, the merrier."

"You said you were staying home tonight," I smirked at Wyatt.

He shrugged at me as he slipped his hands in his jean pockets. "Hunter can handle it tonight," he said.

"Can we get a move on?" Reese said, pushing herself off of the truck. "I need a drink. Immediately."

I rode in the front seat with Travis as Reese and Cass made themselves cozy in the back. Nate looked so uncomfortable with me riding to Forks with Travis. So did Wyatt, a little bit. Usually, between the two of them, Wyatt trusted me to make good decisions the most; it wasn't often he was giving me that look.

I wished I was more interested in being out that night. Will still hadn't found any answers yet about the Children of the Moon and Nate and Wyatt were both getting closer and closer to phasing, I could feel it. I was trying so hard to be present because Cass wanted me to. But I just couldn't get my brain to stop.

The trees zoomed past as we drove down the road. Reese had some hip hop song cranked up on the speakers; she lit her cigarette as she rolled the window down in the backseat. The truck reeked of cigarette smoke and the engine was just a touch too loud. I started to pick at my nails as I zoned out. I could hear Cass giggling in the backseat and Travis drumming his fingers on the steering wheel. "All good?" he asked. I turned to look at him to see him glancing at me every couple of seconds. I nodded, tucking my hair behind my ear. "Parties aren't your thing, huh?"

"How could you tell?" I said, lightheartedly.

"You look less excited than me," he joked. "I didn't even think that was possible."

When we pulled up to the party, it was already in full swing. Forks wasn't that big, but every year, it felt like more people were coming in and making it better. The house was pretty big and drunk high schoolers were already pouring out of it. I watched as a guy chugged a can of beer on the lawn and then crush it to his skull, cheering loudly with a few more guys. I cringed a little, shifting in my seat.

Travis sighed beside me. "This is actually pretty tame compared to some other disasters she's dragged me to," he mumbled.

"Oh, come on, brother. You know if you take that pole out of your ass and loosened your shoulders, you'd actually have fun." Reese said, leaning into the front seat. She flashed this brilliant, beautiful smile as she looked at me. "You too, princess."

We jumped out of the car; the music was shaking the ground we walked on. it was like being in another world almost. We hardly ever came out with the Forks townies; they knew us, we knew them, but we all just kind of kept on our separate lands. So, imagine the surprise to see a group of rez kids walking up to this house, ready to have a good night.

"Let's get a drink," Travis said, leaning down to my level. "Maybe that'll make this more bearable."

Suddenly, Wyatt appeared next to me. "Actually, can I steal Lee for a second?" he asked, draping an arm around my shoulders. He eyed Travis for a second, almost daring him to object.

I glanced between the two boys. "I'll find you inside," I suggested to Travis. He nodded, a flash of something like annoyance crossing his eyes. He turned around to head into the house and shook his head.

Wyatt took my hand and led me to Nate's car. We both jumped on the hood of the trunk, out where the music wasn't as loud, and people were less likely to wander. Wyatt rubbed his hands together anxiously as he watched the road. I was watching him fidget and shift uncomfortably. "What's up?" I chuckled, nudging his shoulder.

He took a deep breath and said, "How long have we known each other?"

"Is that a trick question?" I teased.

"No—I mean…duh…I…" Wyatt stuttered. He laughed nervously and tried to start over. "I keep thinking about what happened the other day and I feel like we haven't had a chance to talk since it went down."

I winced a little, "I'm sorry about that. The days got away from me." I'm the first one to admit that I can have a one-track mind. It can be a bit of a problem.

"No, it's fine," he reassured me. He squeezed my hand affectionately. "I've just been thinking…"

"Yeah?" I prodded.

"You said that I'm about to phase, right?" he said. He was clearly flustered and trying to hide it. but I knew him better than I knew myself sometimes. All of the signs were there: the fidgeting, the fast-beating heart, the slight tremors in his hands. "I-I know we agreed we would be friends, but…"

My heart skipped a little bit. But I didn't speak. I let him keep going.

"Once I phase, we'll be on the same playing field, ya know? Maybe we can try…at least for a bit, if you're down for that."

"Oh! I—,"

"Or not!" Wyatt rushed to say. "I mean…I know it's always been complicated, but it doesn't have to be. Once we're both phased, you won't have to worry about me getting hurt and I can protect you for once. But, if you don't think it's a good idea then that's fine too, you know? We can forget this conversation even happened. We can go back to being friends and—"

"Whoa," I laughed, putting a hand on his shoulder. "You're talking a million miles a minute. Slow down."

Wyatt turned to fully face me. The music from the party seemed to fade into the background as I looked into his brown eyes. I always loved his eyes. They were framed by these beautiful, long, dark lashes. As he pursed his lips, his dimples poked. He glanced down to take my hands in his. "I can see that Travis is into you and that's fine. I guess, I just need to know; do you think we could ever be…?"

It wasn't the first time we'd had this conversation. Every single time we talked about it, it was a little more serious, a little more definite. I always wanted to say 'yes, absolutely yes,' but nothing in my life could be that easy. We couldn't just be together without some kind of complication. "You know I want to…" I started.

"So do I. Let's just do it," he said.

"Wyatt…" I sighed. "All kinds of things could happen after you phase. It's not as simple as us deciding to be together. You could imprint. The Council could double down on wanting me to Bond. Things are too uncertain right now."

"When are you going to figure out that we have some say in our own destiny?" Wyatt said, his voice twinged in frustration. "Your parents had a choice; you have a choice, Hadley."

"Since when?" I asked, incredulously. "When have you ever seen me have a choice, Wyatt?"

Wyatt let go of one of my hands and rubbed it down his face roughly. "So, you won't even try?"

"That's not what I said," I argued. "Wyatt, come on. You know how hard this is on all of us. The Bond is complicated. It's not just a companion; it's an Alpha pairing. It's a blood ritual. It's—"

"I'm not talking about the Bond, Hadley," he interrupted me. "I'm asking you if you have feelings for me."

He already knew the answer to that question. I've always had feelings for Wyatt. Before Travis showed up, I hadn't even given it a thought to look at anyone else the way I've always looked at Wyatt. It would be so easy to just give into everything that I feel for Wyatt and pretend that I wasn't worried about him imprinting and leaving me. I've heard the stories. I've heard them for years. Mom was better off when Uncle Sam imprinted on Emily, but that doesn't mean it was easy.

Wyatt waited a beat before he leaned toward me and pressed a light kiss on my lips. I felt his tongue pass my lips as he buried both of his hands in my hair. I let out a small sigh as I kissed him back. It felt right…it always felt right with him. "Wait…" I said against his lips. Pulling away from him, I willed my heart to slow down. A hurt look crossed his face before he looked away from me. I gently placed a hand on his cheek and turned his face until he was looking at me again. "Please don't be mad at me."

He sighed. "I'm not mad, Lee. I just don't know what to do about this."

"Do we have to know right now?" I asked sheepishly. "We came here to have fun tonight."

"I didn't come here for fun, Hadley," he told me. "I came here for you."

"Then have fun with me," I pleaded. I clasped my fingers in front of me and poked my bottom lip out, pouting. Wyatt rolled his eyes, lightheartedly, and mumbled a 'fine.'

I had to all but drag him back into the house. There were two kinds of people at this party. There were the townies that were too drunk to be concerned with anyone but themselves. And then there were the others who were still so shocked to see kids from the reservation walking around. The girls were visibly lusting over the rapidly growing boys while the townie guys were desperately trying to puff their chests to make themselves look bigger. As we made our way through the crowd, I watched as a leggy, blonde girl undressed Wyatt with her eyes while she snuggled into her letterman jacket clad boyfriend.

Nate was watching Cam and Gabriel play beer pong with some high school kids. Travis was leaning against the wall, super cool, and Reese was taking a shot with Cass. When Cass turned her back for a slight second, Reese not-so-discretely took something that looked like a pill, glancing around. I pulled Wyatt to the drinks and made him take a cup. He looked uneasy but took the red solo cup anyway. I leaned up to say in his ear, "Just play nice. We can leave soon, I promise."

Wyatt was a lot like me; he didn't like parties. He told me he would find me later before going to watch Cam and Gabriel play beer pong. "Oh my gosh, it's about time!" Cass said, grabbing my hands. "If I knew you and Wyatt were going to bail on us, I would have told the boys to stay home."

After a while, we found our way outside on the back porch of this random person's house. The air was crisp but thick with cigarette smoke and weed. I sat next to Travis on the railing as he tipped his beer bottle up toward his mouth. He was being so quiet, like he had a lot on his mind. He bobbed his head to the music as he took everything in. "Why so serious?" I asked, teasingly.

"Ah…" he waved his hand, dismissively. "Drunken teenagers, loud music…I think Reese likes going to these things just because I don't."

"Sounds like a younger sibling," I chuckled lightly, swirling the ice in my cup. "They exist to drive you crazy."

"Trav used to be more fun," Reese stated, kicking her feet up on the porch railing. Her whole body seemed to be moving to the rhythm of the music so seamlessly, like she didn't even realize she was doing it. She smirked at her brother. "We used to get in all kinds of trouble back home."

"In Tennessee?" Cass asked.

Reese shook her head, still smirking at Travis. "Nope, in Atlanta."

Travis made a cutting motion with his hand, signaling her to stop talking. "Not anything crazy," he reassured.

"Yeah, just two orphans loose on a big city," Reese laughed. "If it wasn't for Matthew, we both might be dead."

She never seemed to think about how bold and startling her words were. Or maybe she did and she just didn't care. Or maybe she did care…she was just looking for a reaction. I think I understood why Cass was so starry eyed. A new girl comes out of nowhere into our protective bubble with this air of mystery and a tragic backstory. It's all so risqué and sexy. It's unlike anything we had ever experienced on the reservation.

My only issue was that she always seemed to look like she knew something that we didn't. Almost like she was having some secret conversation at all times and relishing in the fact that we didn't know.

"So what's the hot gossip in the snow globe? I know y'all don't just sit around, holding hands, and singing Kumbaya." Reese reached into her pocket and pulled out her lighter and what looked to be a joint. She lit up and took a long drag before she inhaled and blew out the rest. "What's the tea? What dumpsters are people smoking behind? Who's stealing from their parents' liquor cabinets?"

And while I completely could see why Cassie was so fascinated by this person, I was also getting more and more irritated with the way she saw our home. "Our parents do so much for us. We're already pretty free to do what we want; no need to sneak around," I said, crossing my arms in front of my chest.

"Ugh, that's so boring," Reese rolled her eyes. She turned to Cass. "Come on, honey. Tell me something juicy."

Cassie's eyes widened as she started to stutter. "Um, uh, Hadley's right, actually. Th-the Rez is pretty tame."

"Reese," Travis warned, sternly.

A spike of irritation ran through me. "Why are you so hellbent on finding something wrong with our home?" I asked her.

Reese locked eyes with me and smirked, "Because I don't believe you."

"You don't believe what? That we're happy?"

"There's just no way y'all live on Candy Cane Lane year-round. That's not the way the world works."

"Maybe not your world. Ours is a little different," I glared. A tremor started to form in my hands.

"God, you're such a good two-shoes, princess," Reese chuckled as she stood up. She took another drag from her joint and blew the smoke in my direction.

"Stop calling me that," I warned.

She raised an eyebrow, intrigued. "I see that little fire in you. It's not going to kill you to let go a little bit. Lighten up. Have some real fun."

I stood straight up until we were practically nose to nose. My fists were clenched at my side. When I saw her pupils were dilated huge, my brain flashed to watching her take that pill in the kitchen. "So you just don't get it, do you? Are you thick in the head, Reese? Or are you just going to keep bothering me because I don't live my life the way you've lived yours? What the hell is your problem?"

Reese laughed, "Oh, finally! The princess has some sass! I've been waiting for this." She held the joint out to me. "Here…take a walk on the wild side."

"No, thanks," I said, sternly. The corner of her mouth twitched up. Keep your cool, Hadley… I told myself. Reese placed the joint between her lips. The end crackled a little as she took a drag. Then, almost in slow motion, she parted one side of her mouth and let a puff of smoke hit my face as she whirled around to sit back down.

Before I could stop myself, I started to lunge at her; a pair of strong arms wrapped around my middle before I could reach her. Travis pulled me to the other corner of the porch, putting his hands on either side of the railing to keep me in place. I checked myself and realized my whole body was shaking. "Hey, it's ok," Travis said to me, lowly. When I looked at him, there was a look of shock that crossed his face. "Are your eyes glowing?"

"Let me go," I demanded.

"She loves to push people's buttons. Don't let her get to you," Travis tried to advise.

"She makes it so easy," Reese taunted from across the porch. "Should I mention the cutie with the dimples, or should I hold onto that for a different day?"

I growled and tried to lunge at her again. Travis's hands were dead locked on the metal railing; I couldn't move his solid body. "Don't talk about Wyatt," I warned her.

"Why not? He's cute. If you haven't jumped his bones yet, you should before someone else does," Reese smirked before winking at me.

"Reese, that's enough," Travis ordered, looking over his shoulder. The bravado in his voice shook through me a bit, which was startling. The only time that had ever happened was when my dad gave an Alpha order. The wolf inside me was pacing; I was used to her lying low unless I was ready to phase. But, right now, I was feeling so restless and riled up. Reese had hit all of the points. My home, my character, and Wyatt. "Go cool off," Travis told Reese.

Reese rolled her eyes before hopping up and sauntering into the house. She was clearly pleased with her work. Cass was standing frozen, staring at me with wide eyes. I let out a loud sigh as I ran a hand through my hair. I wasn't one to lose my temper. And knowing that Cassie wanted me to come to this party so we could all have a good time was starting to feel like a heavy weight of guilt on my shoulders. "Fuck…" I whispered. "Cass, I'm sorry…"

She blinked before frowning. "What the hell was that, Hadley?"

"It's not Hadley's fault," Travis tried to defend me.

Right then, Nate, Wyatt, and the rest of the boys came out of the house, drinks in hand. Cam looked at me and then looked at his sister, concerned. "What's going on?" he asked. "Cass, are you ok?"

Cassie's eyes welled up with tears. "You couldn't do this one thing for me," she accused me. "I just wanted one night out."

Wyatt shot me a silent question: what is she talking about? I shook my head…not now. He walked up and put a hand on Travis's shoulder. "You can let Hadley go. We can take it from here."

Travis glanced down at me. His eyes were soft before he nodded and stepped away from me. I watched as he looked Wyatt up and down before clenching his jaw.

Cassie threw her arms around Cameron, sniffling. My heart lurched as I tried to walk toward her. Wyatt stepped in front of me to stop me. "I-I didn't mean to," I said out loud to no one in particular.

"I want to go home," Cass cried.

I held onto Wyatt's shoulders as Cam consoled his sister. Wyatt wrapped an arm around my waist before he led me into the backyard away from my upset best friend. Nate gave me a sad look before reassuring me, "We'll go wait in the car."

Wyatt waited until we were alone before speaking, "What happened?"

"I…" I stopped before throwing my hands up in frustration. "I don't fucking know what just happened! Reese was saying all of these things to me and it just…it pissed me off."

"Lee, hey, it's ok to be mad," he said, rubbing my arms.

"I don't know why I couldn't handle it. I almost lost control of myself. That never happens…" I breathed, my eyes stinging with tears. "I almost lost control in front of Cassie. She could have gotten hurt."

"But she didn't," he reminded me.

I felt my breath shallowing; my wolf paced just a little bit faster and more anxiously. I shrugged his arms off of me before I, myself, started to pace back and forth. The urge to phase was starting to overwhelm me. "I need to run…" I whispered.

"What? Hadley, no," Wyatt pleaded.

I shook my head and repeated, "I need to run." Kicking off my shoes, I said to Wyatt, "Make sure Cass is alright. I'll be home later."

I turned to jog toward the woods, thanking Taha Aki for the wind to cool my skin. "Lee, wait!" I heard Wyatt call. As soon as I made it past the tree line, I ripped my dress over my head and welcomed every ripple as my body transformed from girl to wolf.

XXXXXXXXX

Am I dumb for thinking I could sneak into my house at 7 in the morning without being caught? Yup.

Mom and Dad were patiently waiting at the kitchen table when I walked in. Wyatt had left my shoes on the front porch the night before, bless him. I quietly set them at the front door as I didn't dare take my eyes off my parents. Dad looked more concerned than upset. Mom looked mildly amused, bouncing Melody on her knee. I ran a hand through my hair, pulling out a dried leaf. I smiled uncomfortably, "Good morning, sweet family."

"This is new for you," Mama spoke. "Did you have fun last night?"

"I wouldn't call it fun," I mumbled, rolling my eyes. "Can we just skip to the part where I'm in trouble for being out all night?"

Mama and Dad exchanged a look. Mom shook her head slightly. Dad raised his eyebrows before looking at me, "Just go get a shower, kiddo. It's alright."

I pursed my lips, glancing between the two of them. Either they knew everything or they knew nothing; they weren't giving me any indication either way which was frustrating. Instead of pressing it, I just nodded, deflating, and went upstairs.

It took a 45-minute shower, aggressive scrubbing, and sitting at the bottom of the tub before I could bring myself to some kind of happy medium. I sat on my bed in a towel and couldn't stop mentally scolding myself.

I can't believe I let her get to me like that. Years and years of meditation and learning to control myself, my temper, and my phasing was almost out the window in that few minutes. What if Cass had gotten hurt? Or worse…what if I had triggered for Reese to phase too? What if her phases were triggered by anger just like us? Cass could have really gotten hurt and we all could have been exposed. How could I have been so reckless?

Whenever you're done throwing yourself a pity party, you might want to come in here and see this, Will projected from the other room. I rolled my eyes at my brother. For how smart he was, he lacked a little in the sensitivity department. He was a thinker; he liked to rationalize and compartmentalize his feelings before he had a chance to fully feel them.

Throwing on some comfy clothes, I walked down the hall to Will's room, not even bothering to knock. He was sitting at his computer, as usual, hunched over to see the screen clearer, as if he didn't have perfect sight. Over-perfect. "I didn't say come in," he criticized.

"I wish I cared," I rebutted, moving until I was right behind him. My hair was still soaking wet, the droplets falling onto his t-shirt. "What do you want? Did you find something for me?"

He clicked around for a while until he brought up a dark screen with a bunch of messages on it. "So I couldn't find anything on the web, but I remembered a few years ago, I found this message board that's obsessed with the supernatural."

The screen was loaded with people just openly sharing information about what they knew about werewolves. I was skimming as Will talked. "Is this the same site you were on when Uncle Paul thought he had been caught phasing?" I asked.

"Yup, the very one. So I put out an all call for anyone that knew any information about the Children of the Moon and found this guy," he pointed at the screen. "WolfHunter007."

I cringed. "Are we really trusting a guy named Wolf Hunter?" I asked.

Will shook his head, "He's loyal to the site. He's not actually interested in hunting supernaturals; he 'hunts' so he can learn more about them."

"That still sounds sketchy, but ok," I murmured.

"So he told me all about how the Volturi tried to eradicate Children of the Moon from all of Europe and Asia like thousands of years ago."

"What about over here?"

"See, that's the thing. Children of the Moon didn't exist over here until the Revolutionary War. The rumor is that after the Volturi tried to kill them all, the few that survived started to lay low. Since the only way a new Child of the Moon is created is through the venom of a werewolf bite, they kept their existence a secret, even more of a secret than usual. Then when the colonizers came over here, one of the Children of the Moon was a passenger on the ship."

I nodded along, "So, because they never existed in North America, the Volturi had no reason to come here to destroy them."

"Exactly. So they started to grow in numbers again. But only targeting people without families and still killing vampires every time they came across them as to not raise suspicion." Will started clicking around and pulled up pictures. Dozens of sightings of these ape-like creatures, wild and untamed. Exactly like I'd seen earlier that week.

"Holy shit…" I whispered. "What else?"

"Well…" he started. "Wolf Hunter lives on the east coast, near the Kentucky/Tennessee border. He sent me a video and…I think you need to see this."

He scrolled until he found the video and enlarged it. When he hit play, there was no audio. It was just a camera pointed at the ground from a pretty high vantage point. The camera started to shake like how the ground did with every step the creature took toward us that day. But right as it came into view, it phased. A bare-naked woman stood in its place, stretching her arms above her head. Her face tilted toward the camera as she shook the leaves out of her hair, looking satisfied with herself. That looked familiar.

Really familiar.

She dressed herself quickly before glancing up toward the camera, almost directly at it. It was Reese. "Jesus fucking Christ," I said in disbelief.

In retrospect, I definitely should have seen that coming…