what do you want from me?

why don't you run from me?

why aren't you scared of me?

why do you care for me?

when we all fall asleep, where do we go?

'So, just to recap, you're shapeshifter who can turn into a wolf, but not a werewolf?' Alina's tone was devoid of any alarm, her features free of expression and therefor setting Sam on edge.

'Correct.' He said steadily from his seat across the table from her, Emily stood behind him with her arms wrapped around herself. Expression worrying, maternal, as she looked at Alina. It unsettled the teenager, because she couldn't grasp why this woman cared so much.

'And I'm actually a werewolf, a 'lycanthrope', according to that creepy doctor? Who you say is a vampire?'

Sam nodded, one eyebrow risen questioningly. 'You're taking this unnaturally well.'

Alina was quite for several moments, pressing her lips together as she mulled over the entirety of the morning. Embarrassingly, she had been afraid of the yellow eyed doctor who had visited, and instinctively had grabbed the back of Sam's elbow - like a child clinging to a parent on their first day of school - when he had introduced himself.

Dr Cullen was as polite as most doctors were, if not annoyingly so, but something deep within her stirred in discomfort and hostility. Not in the usual way which was her natural distrust for people who worked in the systems that had consistently failed her all her life; this hostility was primitive, and unfamiliar to her, something that screamed she was in danger around him and that there was something deeply wrong with him.

It wasn't until Sam gripped her wrist patiently, tugging her in the direction of the Doctor that she eased up. Sam's dark gaze was one of reassurance, a silent promise that she was safe, and against her age old instincts she believed him.

'It would explain what I keep seeing in my nightmares a little ... and why I can't remember anything that happened to me, and the scars, I guess.'

Alina tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, inhaling a deep breath. 'It also didn't make sense to me that strangers would just bring me into their home after finding me at a crime scene, and not even checking me into a hospital.'

'But..?' Emily pressed, and Sam's shoulders lessened in tenseness, thankful that at least one of them knew how a teenager's thought process worked.

'But, we don't know for certain, right? It's all just speculation based on how you found me? So I might not be a werewolf.'

'It's possible, but currently all signs lead to that conclusion.' Said Sam. 'We won't know until the full moon, which is in a month.'

'Is..' she hesitated, wincing at the ridiculousness of the words, 'is there symptoms? Like will I start growing hairs out of my ears and shit?'

'Watch your mouth.' Sam chastised, but the amusement at her questions was present in the lightness of his tone. 'But, we're going off of what Cullen knows from his own experience, and it's possible to show increased aggression and irritability around that time.'

Alina slumped into her seat, deflated but scarily resigned, Sam mused. He was unsure of Alina's life experiences had simply numbed her to so much that she would encounter in her life, or if for some - like Bella Swan - they were just good at processing the abnormal. He supposed that it was positive, as now he could have the pack members return to their home and resume using his home as their main point of base. Until they had uncovered some of the mystery surrounding Alina, and with Emily believing the girl would need a stress free environment to recover and adjust to everything, they had been redirected to the Clearwater's. Sue was more than willing to oblige, and accommodate almost ten oversized young men - the tribe was family, after all.

'Can I see you change?'

He heard Emily chuckle softly, returning to the kitchen across from them to resume her baking. The curiosity was only slightly hinted at in Alina's tone, and she only looked at Sam in the corner of eye. A corner of his lip twitched upwards in a smirk, trust a sixteen year old to pretend they don't find something interesting. Of course her immediate question would be to see him as a wolf, he suspected that only then would she fully believe this to be all true.

'Later,' he finalised, standing from his seat and pulling off his shirt. He folding it delicately, and placed it on the back of the chair. 'I have to speak to the pack, they'll be back this afternoon.'

'Well I'm taking Alina to Port Angeles today-'

'What?' Alina's interruption went ignored by the couple, she didn't recall agreeing to going anywhere with Emily.

"-I need to get her some clothes that fit her, and some groceries. Don't let the boys eat all the muffins.'

Sam nodded, walking towards Emily. He bent down and placed a gentle kiss on her lips, one that lingered a few seconds too long, and Alina most definitely shouldn't have been outright staring at them. When the couple looked back to her, her face was once again devoid of any embarrassment. When Sam fixed her with a stare, one that he usually reserved for when chastising the younger members, she did nothing but roll her eyes.

'Don't stay until dark.'

His word held an air of caution to them, and Emily nodded in understanding, before he left out the back door. Taking off at a slow jog into the woods.

'What's wrong with staying in town until dark?' Alina said curiously, and Emily shrugged softly.

'It's just a precaution, a lot of women from indigenous tribes have been going missing over the states and in Canada. He just wants to make sure we're safe.'

Alina nodded in understanding, though her response was slightly bitter. 'They should teach their boys not to fucking assault and murder women, not teach us to take precautions.'

'What did we say about your language?' Emily bypassed the rest of her statement to focus on one thing, and it caused Alina to snort.

'You know I'm right.'

Port Angeles was smaller than Alina had anticipated, in fact, both La Push and Forks were small from what she had seen so far. Though, she had rarely ever left Seattle, it had been her home since birth. Before she'd lost her parents, they'd take day trips out to Rainer Park during the weekends during the warmer seasons, her mother organised picnics. Today didn't reflect her memories of warmth and sunshine, Emily's hoody was tight around her shoulders and torso, and the hood was damp from protecting her hair from the drizzle. She wasn't complaining, though. The woman had been nice enough to not only lend her clothes, but buy her new ones. Even if it was from a thrift store.

'How about this?'

Emily pulled off a sweater from the rack, it was a faded maroon and knitted. 'I feel like it's your colour.'

She extended her arm as she took a step closer to Alina, placing it against her chest to provide a better image of whether it would suit her.

'I guess,' Alina shrugged, 'you know you don't have to do this?'

'Do what?' Emily's voice was distant as she draped the sweater over he shoulder, along with some shirts and a pair of jeans.

'This,' Alina gestured with her hands, waving about the racks of clothing in the store. It was boxed sized, and currently silent, the cashier was an old woman who was currently reading a withered and frayed novel. 'The buying me clothes, giving me a place to stay. This isn't a movie; you don't have to feel responsible for me. I'm not gonna' start calling you guys mom and dad. I can take of myself.'

Emily's nimble fingers continued their skimming of the clothing rack, not faltering as Alina's tone dropped in the slightest signs of defensiveness.

'You're quiet cynical.' She laughed, before sighing. 'I guess you've had to be, but don't write us off so quick. You may think you'll be just fine out there, dealing with this on your own, but you won't. Let us look after you.'

Alina said nothing, and Emily noticed how she folded her arms across her chest, hunching her shoulders slightly. The hood cloaked the top of her head, making her eyes appear darker than they were. Her body screamed 'back off', evidently a position that she had perfected, it only made Emily soften.

'Besides, I'm way too young for you to be calling me 'mom'.' She said lightly, the friendliness in her tone never fading. 'How about this?'

Alina's eyes pulled away from Emily to focus on the faded band tee that she held out, and let her shoulders relax.

'I like Fleetwood Mac.'

Emily's smile widened enough to show her teeth, but said nothing as she nodded and held it out for Alina to take. That was a good enough victory to her.

The rest of their trip passed without a defensive comment from the teen, and Emily found her silence to be a successful step in getting her comfortable around her. Her grin became a bit too unbearable for Alina to bear when she regretfully muttered that she liked apple pie, which then prompted the woman to stack up on apples with the promise of making it that evening. Alina followed behind Emily, carrying a pair of paper bags filled with groceries as they headed to the pick up truck parked outside. The rain had ceased, and the skies cleared up slightly, but the wind whipped at the strands of her black hair.

She trailed after Emily, ignoring the sets of eyes that lingered on them both as they walked towards the truck.

'White people really love to stare here, huh?'

Emily laughed, not needing to look back at Alina to know she was scowling. 'Forks and Port Angeles aren't as ... multicultural as Seattle, they're used to seeing Quileute tribe members, but not so much ... other races.'

'But still, why stare? This isn't their land either.'

Emily hummed in agreement as she began loading their shopping, Alina stood behind her passing her bags from the shopping cart Emily had pushed out. Their actions were synched, and silent, it felt almost normal to Alina to be doing something so domestic. A feeling she hadn't been graced with in years.

Feeling the hairs stand on the back of her neck, Alina's shoulders tensed, and the sense that she was being watched by someone became a heated feeling in the pit of her stomach. She looked up, eyes casting over the busy street and people coming out of stores. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary of what she had already experienced, but something felt off. Her body felt on the precipice of reacting to something, her heart rate sped up, an hostility rising in her.

'Everything okay?' Emily's tender voice snapped her out of her daze, and Alina's eyes refocused on her new guardian.

'Yeah, fine.' She brushed off the feeling, ignoring the notion that what she had experienced was the symptom of being a werewolf.

There was no one watching her, she was being paranoid.

Other than Brady, who turned out to only be fourteen - which threw Alina off - she was next introduced to Paul and Leah. According to Brady, both Leah and Paul were assholes, and Emily remarked that she reminded her of a young Paul. It set the stage for an awkward yet amusing meeting.

Leah and Alina engaged in a stare off where neither said a word after Sam introduced both by name, neither one particularly eager to wave or shake the others hand. Paul had laughed, and upon Leah realising Alina's gaze would not waver she shrugged, moving back into the kitchen for food. Alina surmised that was as good of a greeting as she was probably going to get, and so she decided that she liked Leah.

Paul had taken a more hands on approach, over familiarising himself in a way that teenagers - like Alina - found corny.

'You're trying too hard.' She deadpanned. 'Calm down.'

Paul's brows creased in annoyance, his eyes narrowing as Brady barked out a laugh and Leah snorted.

'Fuck you, kid.'

Alina flipped him off, and the action earned her name being called out in warning from Sam.

'Why is he allowed to swear and not me?!'

'Because I'm twenty years old, you little shit.'

Alina ignored his taunting statement, and the smug grin that graced his lips as he folded his arms. He was definitely the type of asshole in school that new he was attractive, she surmised, that was the only way you could continue emitting the childish smugness that he did in that moment. She chose not to react to his comment, which irked him. Instead, she flipped around to head to the bathroom.

'I'm going for a shower.'

Brady continued sniggering at the table until Paul whirled his head at him, eyes narrowing, and effectively silencing the fourteen year old. Paul stalked over to the island that held the tray of muffins, grabbing two.

'She's gonna' be a pain in your ass, you know?' He took a large bite, and Emily rolled her eyes at him as she began making dinner.

'I have enough experience to handle it.' Sam said curtly.

She emerged a little while later when other pack members had joined, along with Kim and Rachel, as they began to set the tables for dinner. Adding extra chairs for whomever was joining.

Alina remembered Emily explaining how the boys, plus Leah, would come and go at random times of the day and night depending on who was starting and finishing their patrol shifts. She hadn't realised that they had established such a sufficient system to ensure the safety of people, and their home. Then again, Alina hadn't expected any of the things that she had been told by Sam and Emily that day.

When she slowed her mind, and allowed the hot water to filter through the strands of her hair and cascade down her skin, Alina was forced to confront how much she had gone through in a matter of days. Her mind was overloaded with new information and inevitable trauma that she was still unable to remember in full. Through it, she had been taken in by two people who had no obligation to do so, even if Emily insisted they did.

It warmed her inside the pit of her stomach, but she dashed it away quickly enough. Alina knew better than to become attached to people who made promises like Emily and Sam had. Whenever they had discovered who was doing those things in the woods, she was sure that they'd be rid of her.

She dressed back into the pyjama's that Emily had given her, seeing as the clothing she had gotten had all been put in the wash by Emily first.

When she walked into the hallway, hair still wet, there wasn't even a silence upon her entering. The noise level only came down an octave for Sam to be able to introduce her to a few more members.

Alina took in the physique's and feature of every single boy that sat at the table, all varying in wide shoulders and built muscles. She quickly realised that it may have been a trait linked to their ... werewolvness ... though she struggled to still believe that it was even true. One of them, with bright brown eyes and a smile that she knew would make most people weak at the knees introduced himself as Seth. He wore a red plaid shirt, buttoned up, and waved enthusiastically at her. He proudly stated they were the only people that were the same age.

It didn't bring her the comfort she was sure he expected it did. She gave him a nod regardless, and took a step further at Emily's beckoning.

'This is Quil and Embry,' Sam said, taking a seat.

The former, Quil, was slightly lighter in tone, gave a nod of his head with the slightest of smiles. He seemed more preoccupied with what was being laid at the table. The other, Embry, hadn't even bothered looking up until Seth nudged him in the arm, and the formal smile he had plastered on fell quickly as his eyes found Alina's. For a flicker of a moment, she felt a jolt in her stomach, one that elicited a feeling of nervousness.

He seemed slimmer than the rest of the group, though his biceps were no less defined. High cheekbones complimented his chocolate brown eyes, and Alina could almost gag at how much his current expression ruined how attractive he was.

Embry stood abruptly out of his chair, but remained rooted to the spot as he continued to openly stare at her. His mouth opened and closed for a few seconds before he decided on silence.

Alina's eyes narrowed in hostility, 'what the fuck are you looking at?'

The only response that came was a bark of laughter from Paul.

Heyyyyy guys, so this chapter was a little longer than my other ones! I wanted to get the plot going a little and this ultimately sets up the entirety of the story now.

I hope you like the chapter, and how things went. Honestly, because I've spent some time moulding Alina in my head I tried out different ways she would react to the truth, and this felt like the one most true to her character.

Thank you, Kyr for reading!

Ohmicrofilm thank you! I really love developing them as a mini family, even though Alina doesn't fully trust them just yet. It'll also be a short fic so it'll all unravel soon.

Writhing, thank you! Your review made me really happy to read. I've never found one either - I'd be really excited to see more, I always thought the world could be expanded more as I'm SURE there was more out there. All of it will become clear soon, I don't want this fic to be longer than 20 chapters so hopefully it shouldn't take too long!

As always, please favourite, follow and review if you can!