AN: Thank you as always to be reviewers; Guest, wolfgirl1973, April-Showers82, serenity1006, Anony, Ana Quinzel, and LittleMissImperfection, I love to hear your thoughts. I know this is a long story and is being drawn out, but I promise it's getting there. Thank you for sticking with this.
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Chapter Forty Five: Information Sharing.
Sam returned that night, I wouldn't have even know if I hadn't been analysing every single noise as I waited for him, and he left as the sun rose behind the rain clouds. He began to avoid me, coming and going at odd times. I didn't realise he had even been home some days, until I found several pairs of shorts in the laundry hamper.
Through curiosity, I researched werewolf myths and legends, filtering through the ridiculous to find clues of why this had happened. I knew a vampire's presence caused the change, but how could Sam phase from human to animal? It took me three days to realise it was genetic and I sought out documents about the Tribe, looking at the Tribe's ancestors and lineage lines. Using this information, I formulated a list of potential people who could phase too.
There are three families with extensive, ancestral links throughout the Tribe's history; the Atearas, the Blacks, and the Uleys. Using their family trees and what I knew of our Legends, I began compiling my list. Due to their links to the Uley family and gender, Sam, Paul Lahote, Seth Clearwater, and Brady Fuller were all potential werewolves. The Ateara family had potentially Quil Ateara V. The Black family had Collin Littlesea, Jared Cameron, and Jacob. My Jacob. No, not my Jacob. I have no right over him. He may be my best friend, but I have no right of possession over him. I scolded myself.
Sitting back at our dining table, I realised what this meant. Not only would many of the boys I went to school with suffer the same fate as Sam, but they would all hate the Cullens. Jacob would hate the Cullens, hate Edward, and hate me. I was going to lose Jacob, just as I had lost Sam. Tears welled in my eyes and I covered my face with my hands. Hiding from the information, I felt my hopelessness crumbling my stomach into nauseous pieces. Losing Jacob too would be too much; I couldn't lose my brother and my best friend, it just might kill me.
"Bella?" Sam's voice shocked me and I looked up, hastily hiccupping my tears back, "What's happened? Why are you still awake?" He hurried to my side and pulled me into his warm embrace. I wrapped my arms around his back and pressed my forehead to his bare chest, "You're freezing, Bella, what's going on?"
Pulling back to look at him properly, I realised night had fallen and so had the temperature. I shivered and rested my icy fingertips against his hot arms. He moved his hands quickly up and down my arms, trying to warm me, as concern painted his features bleak.
"I'm sorry." I sniffed and glanced at our table littered with odd papers and historical documents, "I didn't realise."
"What's all of this, Bella?" He peered at the mess and his eyebrows shot up, "Quileute Tribe history?"
"I've…Um, I've been researching…" Feeling oddly embarrassed about my research, I tried to tidy it away.
"The Tribe?" Sam placed his hand over mine, stopping my motions, "I should have known."
"I just wanted to make sense of it all. Why you became a werewolf, how the phasing is triggered, whether anyone else was going to change too." Picking out the list I had drawn up, I handed it over to him. He read it intently, nodding solemnly, "I hope you don't mind?" I asked timidly, unsure of his reaction.
"No, no, this is good." He smiled down at me, "We need this. The Elders and I have been trying to guess who else might change, but we didn't realise it could be so many."
"Wait, the Elders?" My mouth gaped in disbelief.
"Of course. It was old Quil Ateara who explained this all to me, convinced me I wasn't going crazy." Sam explained, "They know more than just what is contained in these papers." Old Quil Ateara, Billy Black, and Harry Clearwater were all senior Tribe Council members; Sam's dad would have been too if he was around. They all had connections to the Tribe dating back centuries and still believed in the legends. It made a strange kind of sense that they would be helping Sam, "But even they don't know how many could phase. The genes can lay dormant for generations. It explains why Ja-"
"Explains what, Sam?" I demanded. My heart beat an unnatural rhythm. Jacob had already phased and hated me now. My stomach roiled at the idea and I could feel the colour draining from my features.
"Jared phased." Sam admitted after several beats of anxious silence.
"Jared Cameron?" A tall, lean boy from Sam's younger soccer days played across my mind, juxtaposing the image of the huge wolf he had become, "He phased?"
"Yeah, a couple of weeks ago. We're keeping him off school for a while, just until we're sure he's not going to phase suddenly. It's hard in the beginning." He scratched the base of his neck, looking sheepish, "Sue 'diagnosed' him with flu to cover us."
"Sue? Sue Clearwater knows too?"
"She's Harry's wife." Sam shrugged, "She's been getting him sick notes and bringing him homework. We're lucky she's on our side. I don't know what we'd have done without her to handle Jared's situation."
"Can't you just tell his parents?" Furrowing my brow, I frowned. Surely, it would be easier?
"No." Sam replied sternly, "We need to protect people from the truth. Can you imagine what would happen if we told anyone?"
"They'd call you crazy." I pointed out helpfully. He sent me an unamused look.
"We can't tell anyone who isn't actively involved."
"Okay." I nodded in agreement. It was safer for everyone if people were oblivious. Supernatural creatures wouldn't be experimented on and humans wouldn't panic, "So, is everyone on that list going to suddenly come down with flu?" Yawning, I pointed to the paper still in his hand.
"It would depend. Phasing seems to be an age thing, according to the Elders. If vampires were suddenly to move away, it could stop anyone else phasing. With so many in the area, we're going to have too many people phasing. The Tribe normally has a pack of two or three to handle the odd rogue, but with a whole coven…" He shook his head and I saw his hand clench into a fist.
"Oh…" Others didn't deserve to go through what Sam had to go through. Families didn't deserve to suffer runaway children, who would continually lie to them. I felt guilt pierce my gut and I looked away from the pile of accusatory information before me.
"You should go to bed." Sam suddenly said and my head snapped up to frown at him, "You look tired."
"So do you." I snapped back. I wouldn't let him send me off to bed like a child; I wanted to be involved in this now. If I went to bed, he'd probably try to 'protect' me and take away my findings.
"I know." He rubbed a tired hand down his own face, "We should go to bed."
"What are you going to do with…?" Gesturing to the table vaguely, I turned to the stairs, feeling sleep beginning to seep into my mind.
"I'll ask the Elders tomorrow; they'll know what to do." Sam nodded to himself, before following me upstairs. We departed to our own rooms and I couldn't help but smile to myself as I settled into my bed. I didn't want avoidance, I wanted inclusion, and he was finally letting me in again. Perhaps, I could have both worlds after all.