AN: Hi All!

Sorry this took so long! It required a lot of research that I wasn't anticipating. It's also a huge chapter so I hope that makes up for the wait!

Thanks muchly to all who read, follow, fave, and review! Special thanks to reviewers for last chapter, catgrl, MaidensTouchOfMadness, and twi nana! You make me so happy with your comments!

Quite a bit of housekeeping now before we begin:

Just to clarify since you might find yourselves wondering, later on, Charlie is a couple of years older in this story than he was in canon since I thought a 5 or 6 year age gap was a little much for him and Billy to have been besties growing up. I figure it's okay since Charlie in this has a different dad than in canon anyway. So Billy is still older, but only by 2 or 3 years.

Also, if anyone is wondering what June looks like, I picture her as Grace VanderWaal. Feel free to picture her however you want, but June is based on a girl I used to know who was basically a wild animal, and she kinda looked like GraceVanderWaal, so that's why.

Last but not least...there are a lot of tribal "customs" depicted in this chapter. Most are fictional, though I did try to base aspects of them on real history. The problem is, there is very little information available about the Quileute tribe online.

I used what I could but I did combine it with other tribes and even other cultures from around the world. And some of it is just 100% made up, of course. The clothing is pretty accurate, I did my best with that since I found more detailed information about it than about a lot of the other things. Anyway, I hope no one is offended in any way.

**I'm also gonna put a couple of warnings on this one. First, there is a non-consensual incident described at the very beginning of the chapter. It happens to Harry and June is the aggressor, but it doesn't go into much detail.**

**The second warning is about the bedding ceremony. Many cultures throughout history have observed this practice, but I know it tends to bother some people. So, if the idea of public marriage consummation triggers you...please look away at the end of the wedding ceremony**

And now, I give you Chapter 10!

Chapter Ten: History Meets Destiny

Once all of Renée's extended family had returned south from whence they'd come, we finally had a bit of downtime, which was nice.

And since June had moved in with Harry and Sue, he'd been offering to take extra shifts patrolling. Partly so Sue and June would have the time and space to learn to coexist and a chance to bond, but also in part because he was trying to put off having sex with June. I couldn't really say I blamed him, I mean, for a guy in his early twenties, you just don't expect that your soulmate is gonna be a precocious fourteen-year-old.

We knew eventually he would give in to the pull of the imprint and feel extremely guilty about it. So it wasn't a huge surprise when Harry showed up for patrol one evening and showed me his memories of exactly that. It was all June, Harry hadn't initiated anything. He'd been napping in the afternoon, having been on night patrols the past few days. She'd snuck quietly into the bedroom, locked the door, undressed, crawled on top of him, and took advantage of his unconscious state.

He'd woken up part-way through and by then his instincts had taken over. She might be a sneaky little vixen but she was still his Imprint.

Of course, he was upset afterwards. Thankfully, Sue had been at the grocery store at the time. He told her about it that evening when June was out with some friends. Sue said if she'd been there, she would have slapped her across her pretty face and that what June did was basically rape.

Harry had laughed and told her she was being overly dramatic about it but given how traumatised he was about the incident, I personally didn't think Suzie's assessment was all that inaccurate. I mean, if a strange man had broken into a sleeping girl's bedroom and done the exact same thing, he'd be criminally charged.

Instead, Harry, being the male and the adult in the situation, felt like he had taken advantage of her, even though she had actually been the one in the wrong. I felt bad for him. And because of the imprint, he wouldn't even confront her about it, for fear of making her feel bad.

Sue suggested he start locking the bedroom door whenever he was alone in the house with June. He'd told her in no uncertain terms that he wasn't about to start treating his Imprint like the big bad wolf. So Sue resigned herself to bringing June with her every time she had to leave to go anywhere, even going so far as to get June a job answering phones at the clinic so that she could keep an eye on her.

She played it off like she was just taking the girl under her wing and trying to be a friend to her, but really she was just protecting Harry.

Harry's solution was to start wearing double-knotted drawstring pants to bed. It wasn't that he didn't want to have sex with June, he did. He just wanted to build a real connection with her first, which was proving to be a tricky thing, given the fact that June's idea of a conversation was asking someone to pass the milk at breakfast. She preferred to communicate with her actions.

Slamming doors meant she was angry. Yelling meant she was annoyed. Crying meant she was frustrated. Breaking Sue's things meant she was jealous. Breaking Harry's things meant she wasn't getting her own way. Storming out meant she had lost an argument. Hugs meant she was feeling joyful or appreciative. Passionate kisses meant she was feeling amorous. Ruffling Lee Lee's hair meant she was in a good mood. Humming and dancing around the house meant she was in a great mood.

June was proving to be a study in extremes. She was hot one moment and cold the next. She could go from laughing to screaming to sobbing and back again, all before lunchtime. Poor Harry was gonna have grey hair before any of us at this rate.

In spite of all the drama, it was easy to see that Harry loved June from the start. For Sue, bonding with June was more like going to the dentist. Unpleasant, but necessary in order to be healthy in the long term. Suzie would later describe June as having "grown on her like a fungus" which I find hilariously appropriate.

And baby Leah was fascinated by her. June was entertaining. She would toss Leah gently in the air to make her giggle, or tickle her, or sing a funny song and Leah would stare at her waiting to see what she would do next.

I was pretty sure that even if things were crazy and hectic and intense for the Clearwaters for the time being, things would eventually calm down.

And, of course, I had my own stuff to focus on.

Billy and I and our girls had our tribal wedding coming up.

Planning for that was proving to be way less stressful than preparing for the elaborate circus Renée and I had.

Billy and I were sitting on the living room sofa and we had Springsteen blasting on the boombox. Our Imprints were snuggled up in our laps and we were discussing wedding plans.

"So what do we have figured out so far?" I asked, wanting to gauge exactly what we still needed to do since there were only four days until the wedding.

"We have our officiant, that's Old Quil, as the oldest of the elders. All our guests are bringing a potluck item, so that solves the issue of food. We're having the ceremony on First Beach, and the reception party in the tribal hall with a bonfire after." Sarah began.

"Great, so what do we still need to decide?" I asked.

"Will there be a bedding ceremony?" Renée asked, to my surprise.

"How do you even know about that custom?" I puzzled. Billy and Sarah hadn't had one at their wedding, and the only reason I even knew about the practice was that Harry and Suzie had one.

"I read about it in the same book I learned about the wolves from, Charlie. But many other cultures throughout history have had bedding ceremonies, they aren't historically uncommon." She smiled. "And I think we should."

"You want the whole community to watch us consummate our marriage?" I frowned, unsure how to feel about that.

"It can be done without that part if it makes anyone uncomfortable. Sometimes the newlyweds are just carried into their bedroom and placed in the marital bed with songs and a blessing is given. Nowadays, it's entirely up to the people getting married if they want everyone to stay to witness the consummation or not," she clarified.

"Harry and Sue had everyone stay. I asked Sue how it didn't make her uncomfortable," Sarah began. "She told me that it actually had the opposite effect. For one thing, Sue was still a virgin when she married Harry, and she was very proud of that because these days, it takes a lot of self-control to wait until marriage and she wanted everyone to know that she had waited and be proud of her.

"For another thing, she was a little terrified at the prospect of sex because growing up, she'd known that her mothers didn't always have the option to say no. She said that she trusted Harry for the most part but she'd seen how quickly men who were otherwise gentle could snap and turn into monsters, especially when drinking. She wanted there to be someone around to help her if something went wrong.

"And also, she said that the idea of having an audience for something so intimate was very arousing. She said that having everyone see her body like that made her feel beautiful." Sarah concluded.

"I can see why. Sue does have a great body." Renée nodded. "So, does anyone object to the bedding ceremony itself? We can discuss whether or not we want the consummation part to be public, but as far as the part leading up to that, I think we should do it.

"The book said, the main reason for a bedding ceremony is to symbolize that we have the support of the community and their involvement in our marriage. Given how much help and advice I think we will end up needing throughout our lives due to our chosen lifestyle, I'd say it's important to make that connection."

"I agree." Sarah smiled. "When Billy and I got married, we had a church wedding, because my father insisted. And since we didn't do a tribal wedding, so it wasn't an option to have a bedding ceremony. So yes, I feel like it would be a nice way to honor the traditions of our ancestors."

"Okay, cool. Billy, you're okay with that?" I confirmed.

"Hey, Man. Whatever our girls want, I am okay with it. Even if that's a pink unicorn, you trust me, I'll find a way to get them one," Billy grinned, finishing his beer.

Renée instinctively tried to get up and go grab another one, but he told her he had to use the washroom anyway. Mostly, I think he just didn't want her waiting on him while she was pregnant. But when he came back, he had a tray with tall glasses of milk for the girls, beers for us and some sandwiches.

The girls had started leaving cooked bacon in the fridge along with sliced tomatoes, leaf lettuce, and sliced cheese so that if Billy or I want a BLT sandwich, all we have to do is assemble it.

"Thanks, Bro." I nodded, snagging one off the tray and taking a big bite.

Renée grabbed one too once she'd gotten settled back into Billy's lap and asked, "So, do we have any interest in the public consummation part? I mean, I think it's sexy, but I'm only one opinion."

Sarah blushed before quietly admitting, "I think it's sexy too."

"Well, I guess that settles it because you know we're just gonna give these angels whatever they want, Char-lie." Billy laughed, emphasizing my name as two syllables to draw attention to another time when we just gave them what they wanted. "But for the record, I do think it will be pretty hot. I mean, ever since we got the big bed, I've learned that I like having an audience."

"That's certainly true for me too," I admitted. "So let's do the whole thing then. I think the elders will be happy."

"I think everyone will be happy. I remember when Harry and Sue had theirs. It was surprisingly...arousing, for everyone watching, too," Sarah admitted.

"Okay, that settles it." Renée nodded, writing something in the wedding notebook.

It went silent for a few minutes while we all finished eating and I know we were probably all fantasizing about the bedding ceremony. At least, I know I certainly was.

"Any other wedding details we want to work out right now, or would we rather go work out our sexual appetites in the bedroom?" Renée asked, saying what we were all thinking once we were finished scarfing down sandwiches.

"Let's go!" I agreed eagerly, scooping Sarah up and carrying her to the bedroom. Billy did the same with Renée.

The days (and nights) flew by as we continued getting things ready for our tribal wedding. It was going to be a very traditional ceremony because we wanted to honor our ancestors.

Instead of having the bridesmaids and groomsmen standing separately, our close friends (along with the elders) would form a ring around us during the ceremony. All of our other friends and our family and extended family would form a bigger middle ring around them. Then the rest of the community would form the large outer ring.

Old Quil would stand in the center with us to speak the blessings. He would smudge us with sage and cedar and then burn sweetgrass. He would also call on the ancestors and charge them to support and uplift our union. Then the female elders would come forward to offer a fertility blessing and present us with gifts to bring prosperity and happiness.

After that, the drums would signal the beginning of the round dance which would, after a time, flow into the beginning of the bedding ceremony as the music changed and the women began to sing a song called The Hart and The Hind, about a male deer who finds a female he wants and chases her all over the peninsula, never catching her. Then, when he finally gives up, she comes to him willingly.

Old Quil told us it symbolizes that patience and trust are required in addition to love for a marriage to work.

We were opting to have our first time as a married unit on the beach since we'd already Christened the house. So the dancing was going to take us from the part of First Beach we had chosen for the ceremony, to the secluded cove we had chosen for the bedding ceremony.

Now, before you worry about us getting sand in places we wouldn't want sand...thankfully, one of the many things stored in the tribal archives turned out to be a collection of assorted animal pelts which had been used for traditional bedding ceremonies dating waaay back. It was believed that the blessings of all those who'd used them before us would rub off on us as we lay on the furs.

You might think the idea of lying on something that other people have had sex on would be a turn-off. But hey, if you think that way, you've obviously never slept in a hotel before. Shine a black light on those beds and then come talk to me, sheesh!

Anyway, after the bedding ceremony, we would all be heading to the tribal hall for the potluck and reception. The elders had suggested doing it in that order because we would work up an appetite making love to our brides, but also because they said traditionally a marriage only truly began once it was consummated and so that way we'd really have cause for celebration.

Frankly, I couldn't wait to make things official with our girls and I knew Billy felt the same. We were excited to be taking the Blackswan family name. And we knew that once we were all married, it would also feel more like a family unit, rather than just couple-swapping.

"Charlie? You seem very distracted, is everything alright?" Sarah asked me the night before our wedding. This was finally happening. I was so excited I could almost taste it.

"Just really excited about tomorrow, Sweetheart." I beamed, running my fingers through her hair. The house only has one bathroom downstairs, so usually, we all took turns getting ready for bed in that one. But I could tell from the sound of things, Billy and Renée had gotten a little...distracted, in there, so Sarah and I were cuddling and exchanging soft kisses while we waited for them.

"Oh good! So am I." She smiled brightly. "I can't wait to be Sarah Blackswan. And then when the twins are born, they will automatically be Blackswans too."

I kissed her belly, resting my hands on it lovingly. "And just how are our girls doing today?" I asked.

"Rachel has been kicking me all day. I'm just glad it hasn't been Rebecca. She kicks like an athlete." Sarah giggled as Billy and Renée finally emerged from the bathroom.

"Ugh, I know what you mean. When Willie finally started kicking, I was relieved, but my bladder certainly wasn't. At least he kicks gently though. And seriously, I can't imagine having two of them in there. Sarah, you must be so exhausted." Renée chimed in, climbing into bed beside us.

The four of us had chosen names for all three of the babies together. Rachel Sarah Blackswan and Rebecca Judith Blackswan were being named to honor their mother and paternal grandmother. William René was being named to honor Billy and Renée but also our father, William.

"I am. In fact, I hope you three won't mind if I go straight to sleep? This bride needs her beauty rest," Sarah asked hopefully.

"Actually, that sounds like a good idea." Renée nodded. "Do you boys mind if we all get some shut-eye?"

"No, that's fine, you girls sleep. I think I might run a patrol. I know Harry's out there, but you never can be too careful and I want to know everything is totally secure for our big day," I suggested.

"Sounds good, just howl when you want me to come relieve you," Billy offered.

"Will do, Man. Will do." I nodded kissing each of our girls goodnight before jumping out the window and phasing on the fly.

The next morning, I woke feeling surprisingly well-rested for such a short amount of sleep. I had run the first patrol shift, and then Billy had relieved me. Harry took a nap in wolf form while Billy and I were patrolling so that he could still hear us if we needed him. Apparently dealing with June's emotional drama was taking a lot out of him. He was grateful to get some real shut-eye.

Anyway, speaking of sleep, by the time Billy had spelled me off, it'd been around four in the morning. We had to be up at eight to get ready for the wedding. I woke to the smell of bacon just as Billy got out of the shower. He'd come back from patrol just in time to eat and get ready.

The girls had made a quick easy breakfast of bacon and toast. The four of us ate together and then Sue and June arrived to start getting Sarah and Renée ready in our guest room. Harry was running a final patrol for us to make sure there would be no interruptions. He would be back at the last minute to get ready as well.

Getting ready for this wedding was a lot different than it had been for my wedding to Renée. It was summer, and traditionally, in the warmer months, our male ancestors did not wear clothing.

Or when they did, they might wear only a breechclout. For fancy occasions, sometimes a breechclout would be accompanied by an apron panel. And the women would wear skirts and cloaks made of shredded cedar bark. Basketry hats were often worn and sometimes still are, especially by the elders. Our tribe never had those feathered headdresses like you would see Native American people wear in a movie.

Thankfully, we had some traditional clothing items stored in the tribal archives building out on James Island. The original 26 houses of the old La Push village were burned in 1889 by a villager who thought he'd had a claim on the land, so most of our historical items that were specific to each family were lost. But the tribal archives contained a lot of the more generic items which were stored there along with the tribal records.

So, for traditional-style tribal weddings like ours, we were fortunate to be able to borrow what we needed from archival storage. I was in the process of trying to figure out how to wear the breechclout when Billy came up to me and started helping adjust the fabric. His hands ended up preciously close to my junk as he tugged on the fabric and I raised an eyebrow at him.

He just shrugged. "I'm almost three years older than you, Chu...Charlie. You can surely bet that I helped change your diapers a time or two."

I could tell he was mostly teasing, but I gave him a nice slug on the shoulder anyway. "You may be older, but I'm sexier. Admit it."

"Sure, sure, Charles. You just keep telling yourself that." He winked, ruffling my hair as we finished getting ready.

Soon, Harry arrived and quickly got dressed as well. The girls all emerged from the guest room looking particularly lovely. All four of them were stunning, of course, but Sarah and Renée looked so perfect in their bridal regalia that my breath caught upon seeing them and I noticed Billy react too as he shed a tear.

"You girls, I, wow, I can't even...there are no words." I gasped in awe of their beauty.

"Yep. Yeah, what he said." Billy nodded, his eyes slightly bugging out of his head.

"Yeah, yeah. You boys have got some hot ladies. So do I. Can we start heading to the beach now?" Harry asked, reminding us we had a wedding to get to.

"Oh yes, I suppose we'd better." Sarah nodded, blushing under all the compliments.

Renée gathered up their purses and Sue bustled about putting all of the hair and makeup tools into a bag in case they would be needed. Meanwhile, June stood by the door examining her nails looking extremely bored.

When we arrived at First Beach, it looked absolutely perfect. The elders had performed a cleansing ritual the night before and had enlisted some of the children from the tribal school to clear a section of the beach, getting rid of rocks and driftwood and other debris. They had done a marvelous job.

It was always a beautiful spot. But after they cleared it, it looked like something you'd see on one of those "Wish you were here!" postcards. It was spectacular.

I looked at my brother and I looked at our brides, as we joined Old Quil in the spot he had prepared to be the center of the circle. The rest of the elders and the Clearwaters all made a small circle around us, just like we had discussed. Quil began a chant that we knew was a blessing of welcome as our friends and family arrived.

We had staggered everyone's arrival times so that the inner ring arrived fifteen minutes before the middle ring and the outer ring would arrive last so that there wouldn't be chaos as everyone tried to find their places.

Nora's rich husband offered to have his driver pick Mom and Dad up from the nursing home and we'd gratefully accepted. The school kids had made cedar beach chairs for everyone who had a hard time standing for long periods, which was very nice of them, even if it was a project meant to keep the kids out of trouble over the summer break.

Speaking of Nora...Billy had told his sisters the news about our family a few weeks after he'd told us. The girls all wanted to take the paternity test too. Last I had heard, they were just waiting for their results. That meant they should have gotten them already. There was a very good chance we might even find out after the wedding since it seemed like something they'd want to tell us in person. And getting the girls all together didn't happen very often.

Nora and her husband lived on a big ranch in Montana. They had met while he was in the area purchasing lumber. She was working as a receptionist for the lumber office and they'd hit it off instantly. He'd swept her off to Montana and she'd only been back a few times a year ever since.

Jennie and Connie were living in Forks in a house they'd purchased together close to the hospital where they were both working as nurses. They wanted to stay on the Rez after nursing school, but the La Push clinic couldn't afford to hire them, so they had to get jobs in town. They'd bought a house close to work, within walking distance, so they wouldn't have to drive after a grueling night shift which they tended to get a lot of.

That was why we hardly ever saw them. They didn't have seniority so they got a lot of night shifts. I could relate since I'd experienced the same when I was with the Forks PD.

And as for Emmie, she took off travelling as soon as she turned eighteen and had hardly been back since. She was a free spirit, even more so than Renée, though not as far out there as June.

When she first took off, she had a boyfriend she did a lot of her travelling with. Joshua Uley, Suzie's half-brother. He and Emmie were inseparable for the longest time.

Then, at Christmas, she'd come home without him and gotten mad whenever anyone tried to bring him up. In other words, he was persona non grata around her now. I doubted we would ever learn why. But Emmie was always the baby of the family and neither Billy nor I were too thrilled with the guy for breaking her little heart.

Anyway, I was glad the girls were here for the wedding, and hopefully, they could stay for at least a few days after. There was a very good chance that we would find out at least a few of them were biologically my sisters. And really, they were my sisters either way. I didn't want to pretend anymore. We planned after the wedding to confront Mom and Dad and tell them we knew everything and see if they would be honest with us.

When I had told them about our tribal wedding, they seemed excited but they didn't reveal anything. It had almost seemed as if they weren't sure what we knew and were being careful not to say too much.

I had a hard time understanding why they would want to keep it a secret still. William and Judith had passed away. Helen and Geoffrey weren't even living on the Rez. Their nursing home was in town. It wasn't as if there'd be any gossip at this point.

Maybe they were just afraid we'd be upset about being lied to. But Billy and I understood why they hadn't disclosed their lifestyle to us. And from what he told me about his conversations with the girls, none of them had been all that upset either. So it was certainly time to let them know they could speak freely with us if they wanted to.

As I looked around the circle, I realized something. In Grandpa Ephraim's time, the inner circle and middle circle used to be the only ones invited to tribal weddings whenever there were more than two people getting married. It was not public knowledge in those days. But one of the last things that William, our dad, had done while he was Acting Chief, was to request that the elders be more forthcoming within the community about that aspect of our culture.

He suggested that they gradually explain the new tribal law to people so that eventually, families like ours didn't have to hide. And as the outer ring of our ceremonial circle filled up, I realized that over the past several months since they had told us...the elders had been doing exactly that. Because there were so many people here to support us. By the time they finished arriving, the outer ring was huge.

I could see our parents' eyes were filled with happy tears as they looked around to see how many people had come to support their sons. They were clearly in awe and I knew they had to be thinking the same thing I was. That William and Judith would have been so proud to see it too. And I knew they were probably looking down on us watching from the spirit world. I could tell that Billy was equally moved, as Old Quil began to speak.

He spoke in the Quileute language, which I am ashamed to say I know very little of. But I am not alone in my ignorance. Our language is on the verge of extinction. I think Old Quil might be the only one who is completely fluent. There are approximately eight elders who know enough to carry on a long conversation. The elders have been trying to bring it back though and at our last tribal council meeting, we voted and decided to start teaching it in the tribal school.

I've been learning as much as I can by listening to old recordings that I found in the tribal archives. I transferred them onto cassette tapes then made copies of them and distributed them to the school teachers to learn from. They needed to learn it first and learn it well if they were going to teach it. As did the rest of us Baby Boomers and Gen Xers so that we could help our children to learn it.

In the meantime, I could pretty much gather what Quil was saying based on the context. He began smudging the four of us one by one and then allowing the smoke to waft around us more broadly, uniting us. The scents of sage and cedar filled the air, followed by the sweetgrass. He spoke to the ancestors, asking that our union be blessed.

Then the female elders stepped forward and spoke their blessings for fertility and happiness. They lay their handmade gifts at our feet as the drums began. Then they resumed their places in the circle as everyone began to move their feet to the beat of the drums.

The sound of the drums echoed from each ring of the circle into the trees and back. As everyone began to move in time to the beat, the ground shook slightly. It felt, to me, as if the ancestors were answering our call. I felt as if my heart began to match its rhythm to the music.

As the elders sang the traditional Quileute words, those who didn't know them would hum and/or chant along.

Soon the rhythm changed and the women began to sing The Hart and The Hind as the circle became a line of people moving us slowly toward the little cove where our bedding ceremony would take place.

Once we arrived, it was easy to see that the place had been decorated. There were flowers and shells and rocks placed strategically all over in beautiful patterns on the sand. The pelts made a bed in the middle of the area and a curved rock wall behind them gave the illusion of privacy, even though everyone would be standing in front on the open side in order to see.

The women were supposed to help Sarah and Renée disrobe while Old Quil gave a special tea to Billy and me which was supposed to increase our virility and stamina.

Because the girls were pregnant and preferred to be on top, Billy and I were instructed to remove our breechclouts and lie down first. The song was still playing and had reached the climactic point in the story, where the female deer approaches the male deer. As the song played, our girls took their positions, lowering themselves to straddle our laps.

I thought surely they would be self-conscious about this part, but there was no hesitation from either Sarah or Renée as they impaled themselves on our erect appendages. We began by making love to our Imprints. It didn't take any of us very long to climax. Something about having everyone's eyes on us was very sensual.

Of course, there were some people in the crowd we definitely pretended weren't there, such as our parents. But it wasn't really about specific people. It was just about sharing our love with the tribe and letting them see the strength and power of our intimacy.

It wasn't awkward like I thought it might be. It seemed to forge a deeper connection between us and our people. It made me feel like, in trusting them with our most intimate moments, we could trust them with anything. And that trust would be important going forward as we began to bring children into this community.

These people would be our emotional support system for the rest of our lives and our children's' lives. It was important that we develop strong bonds of mutual trust and respect with them, as well as love and affection.

After we had all achieved release, the girls switched places. The song switched to another beautiful love song. This one was more modern though and the words were in English. It was about Ephraim's Law and how it had come to be.

It was about how after he became a wolf, he had befriended some visitors to the area. One woman caught his attention. She was beautiful and pale with red-brown hair. Her eyes and her kindness were the things he fell in love with.

She was married and he became good friends with her husband. So much so that when her spouse noticed their affection for one another, he offered to share. They had to do so in secret though, for fear of the tribe's disapproval.

Eventually, things became so serious between them that they committed to one another in a secret tribal marriage ceremony with only his pack mates and her family for witnesses.

But something happened later on. She wasn't his Imprint and she couldn't give him children. So eventually, he Imprinted. On Martha Young. He created the Law in order to marry Martha because even though the elders never knew about his secret marriage to his friend's wife, the ancestors did. So, once the law was changed, he married Martha publically.

Everything went well for them all until he and Martha began to have children. His first wife could not give him that and it soon created inequality between them. They could have overcome this, but there were many other differences, so in spite of their love, they gradually parted ways.

She ended up leaving the area with her family, but not before the pack and their Imprints had a chance to thank her. If she had never come into Ephraim's life, he never would have changed the law. And by then, Levi Uley and Quil Ateara II had imprinted on one another's wives and made use of the new law themselves as well.

This fact was news to all of us. It also meant that Sarah's maternal grandfather might not have been Quil Ateara II, and could just as easily have been Levi Uley. I had to wonder if Old Quil even knew who his dad was. Maybe he was like us and had no idea. I doubted they had paternity tests back then when Grandpa Ephraim and his pack brothers were alive.

Renée dragged my attention back to her by pinching me in the side and I laughed and kissed her. "Sorry Baby, I got distracted by the song," I admitted in a whisper.

"Yes, it is very distracting. Maybe this will help," she said, taking my hands and placing them on her breasts.

"Oh wow. Yep, that definitely helps." I nodded emphatically. Soon we both found our release and it seemed Billy and Sarah had as well. The drums changed to a tune of celebration and everyone else began to dance away, heading to the tribal hall where the party would be.

Once they were all gone, it was just the four of us and we could take our time dipping in the ocean to clean off and then dressing in the clothes we had brought to change into for the party.

"You girls look gorgeous." Billy beamed.

"Yeah, totally sexy." I grinned as they spun around to show us their cocktail dresses.

"Thank you, Boys. You're looking pretty dapper yourselves," Renée pointed out, straightening my tie.

"Yes, very handsome indeed," Sarah agreed, fixing Billy's lapel.

"We ready to head to the hall?" Billy asked me.

"Yep, let's get our wives inside so everyone can ooh and ahh over them," I smirked.

"You make us sound like a pair of prizes you boys have won." Sarah giggled.

"Hey, if the shoe fits." Billy shrugged innocently as we gathered up our things and headed to the car.

AN: Okay so I know this was a reeeaaallly long chapter, but I wanted to get through the ceremony and there was a lot to cover.

A few reveals in there, not sure how many y'all picked up on. I'm happy to answer any questions :D

As always, I love to hear your feedback!

Blessings,

-BMW