You think you got the best of me
Think you had the last laugh
Bet you think that everything good is gone

Think you left me broken down
Think that I'd come running back
Baby you don't know me, 'cause you're dead wrong

Stronger (What Doesn't Kill You), by Kelly Clarkson, from the album Stronger, released in 2011

Sam had been trying for the last hour to make contact with the still unknown wolf, but not to any avail. Seth, as the least intimidating of us, had approached them (after he was healed of course), tail ducked in submission, but he received a nip to the nose in warning. And he had told us as such- it was as if the wolf didn't want to hurt us, they were just scared.

And understandably so. I hadn't scented them as of yet, but the minute I did it was an enticing smell. They smelt like burning wood coupled with the natural aroma of a woodland forest and strawberries was practically drawing me to them. And it made me doubt, for the first time since it had happened, that I hadn't imprinted on Bella.

Because the smell was the most amazing thing I had ever smelt, drawing me to her. I told Sam I'd try to approach her, and he nodded, warning me to be hesitant. I carefully walked over to them, trying to convey in my body language that I wasn't out to maul her. I know some wolves could react badly to me, especially considering that I had the air of an Alpha surrounding me.

Surprisingly, they only reacted with curiosity, as they carefully and painfully got up, and I wanted nothing more then to brace against them. Their legs were shaking beneath them, strained and they were obviously injured by the hit they had received earlier. I just wanted to lick and clean the wounds, but I also didn't want to get bit, as they were obviously still scared.

Despite the strain, they managed and strode over to me, sniffing under my neck, before sniffing around me entirely as I wagged my tail slowly and sniffed them in return. We finally got a verbal response, as they announced, to the entire pack:

"Mate."

The voice sounded a lot like Bella's, and to my surprise, a lot of the pack agreed with me. It wasn't just me. I was suddenly dreading the conversation with Bella a hell of a lot more now. She (I think it was safe to assume it was a she) stumbled on her legs before practically collapsing, as I fought to brace her.

She didn't phase back, probably as a protective mechanism, but it left us wondering what we could do but take her to Sue, who was our resident wolf doctor. Once there, we would get a shock of our lives.

The first thing I had noticed when I entered Sue's house was that Bella wasn't on the bed any more. Sue came dashing out from the kitchen, before gasping out as she saw the unconscious wolf in my arms. She seemed to know who it was as she immediately started to tend to her as I dropped her carefully on the bed.

"Where's Bella?"

I asked with fear, thinking the bloodsucker had somehow managed to grab her despite our interference. The food that Bella was eating was on a plate was strewn across the floor, the glass of water seemingly untouched on the bedside cabinet.

She carefully rolled the wolf on her side before parting the thick splodge of black fur surrounding her hind legs, and carefully examined them. She winced, before flexing the foot of the unconscious wolf, as she quickly grabbed a bandage and placed her hands on the limb in question.

"The wolf is Bella. I don't know what happened but one minute she was eating, the next she was shaking and bolted out of the door in the form of that wolf. The phase itself was one of the quickest I'd seen, and it looked like she hadn't even realised what had happened."

I think I've lost it. There was no way that Bella was the wolf that had somewhat saved us all. She didn't have the gene, so how the hell had she phased? Even ignoring that, how had she healed enough to even attempt to walk. Sure, she looked okay after our impromptu blood transfusion, but we hadn't explored the lasting effects, not including the injuries, both internal and external.

Sam looked just as surprised as I did, before he decided to leave me alone with my Imprint, of which I had no doubts. We would explore why I had only a half imprint later. Bella took my priority right now.

"I'm going to see how Harry and Billy are doing in regards to coming the legends."

He turned to face me, looking forlorn at the unconscious Bella on the bed. He stroked her fur briefly, before retracting his hands to himself. I knew that he was only doing it to comfort Bella, even if she couldn't feel it.

"I'll let you explain it to her. We can hold off training until she is well again."

I nodded as I started to run my hands through her course fur, ignoring the bloodstains and being careful not to touch any cuts. I was rotating around Sue as she worked on Bella once more, although at least this time she had our healing to heal up the lesser wounds while Sue worked on re-breaking bones.

With any luck, she would be completely healed by the time she woke up. I guess I was thankful for that at the very least. God, I had a lot of explaining to do..probably starting out with why she was a wolf and why I ignored her..I'm fully prepared to get punched, because to some degree I deserved it.

Knowing that Bella would most likely wake up in wolf form, I went outside and took of the pair of shorts I had, tying it around my leg, before phasing into my large, canine and russet brown wolf alter ego. I trotted back in, head butted Sue in both thanks and greeting, before I curled up at the front of Bella's bed, head on paws, and waited, talking to the phased pack to pass the time.

Bella only took a couple of hours to wake up this time, much to my thanks. We had still not had any information on this legend that we had instigated the use of, but I knew they were trying their best. It wasn't their fault if the legend hadn't been recorded like it should've, or if it was so old it was lost to time.

I first noticed when Bella woke up, when I felt someone enter the pack-mind, someone new and unrecognised. The thoughts drizzled in softly, quietly at first, and it was obvious that the wolf, who we knew was Bella, was confused and somewhat out of it. But, we were comforted by the fact that it was Bella, and not her wolf. We would've had quite the issue if it turned out that she was still her wolf.

"Where am I?..Edward?..Did he actually..he must have...but the question is where am I..because it certainly isn't the hospital or the Cullens."

I could hear her shifting on the bed, and she couldn't see me from her position. At least it would let me explain it to her gently. I needed to get up soon because I could feel cramp building up in my forelegs, but I was also trying to fight the urge to claim my mate, which had suddenly arisen now that I knew she was okay. I knew that some of the others had the urge, obviously excluding Quil, who only felt the urge to protect, nothing more, and nothing less.

"Bella? How are you feeling?"

The other wolves who were phased allow their thoughts and conversations to fade into the background, knowing that so many sounds could be disorientating to a new wolf. I could see Bella recognising that it was my voice, but I could also feel the tinge of sadness she felt when it came to me. I had really broken her heart..

"Jacob?..I'm feeling...alive?...and really..really...hungry. But otherwise, I feel okay. I think. I feel a bit..out of body."

Well, that was understandable. I waited for the flash of rage, of anger, something to tell me that she was filled with an anger just deserved. But all I could feel was the tinge of minute pain, discomfort and sadness.

She shouldn't be feeling sad..she had done nothing wrong. I couldn't put it off any more, I had to break it to her that she was a wolf..and I'm just thanking God that she hadn't mastered how to probe into our minds yet, or explore our thoughts.

"Where are you Jake? I can hear you clearly yet I can't see you.. And it sounds kind of..echoey."

Okay, I guess a good place to start would be walking into her sight. If I can explain it while giving a practical example, then maybe she won't freak-out so much. Or at least, she won't become terrified. Because I remember how terrifying it was to phase for the first time.

"I'm going to come out now. Remember that no matter how I look, I'm still your Jake."

I could practically sense her unease after I had spoken, but it was also accompanied by some degree of anticipation and agreement. Luckily, she hadn't noticed that she was a wolf yet, which was working in my favour, as most of us clocked almost immediately that we weren't human. But since she was lying down, and looking most likely at the window, she would have no reason to think any different.

I carefully stretched out and walked up next to her bed, shaking my fur out. As I locked eyes with Bella, it was like I had imprinted all over again, and judging my the surprise on her face, and the confused yet loving emotions emanating through the pack mind, she had felt it too. She was my everything all over again- and I just wanted to be there for her with an even larger intensity.

"Jake? Is that you? Are you the wolf I saw in the forest?"

Wait, that's her priority? No yelling? Screaming? Panicking? She was just thinking back on if I was the wolf she saw? I shook my fur out as she curled her legs up, and I leapt up to join her on the bed. Thankfully, it was strong enough to support the both of us.

"Yes. We- the pack- are shifters. Although we refer to ourselves as werewolves. Some of us in La Push are descendants of Taha Aki, giving us the gene to shift. We are the first in a generation to shift, my father's generation having skipped the gene."

She nodded her shaggy head, before she seemed to realise that she wasn't quite human..well, not at the current moment of time anyway. I quickly gathered my memories and projected them to her, starting from how we had found her, through to having to fight Edward, and her running out to fight him along side us.

I remembered to show her how we had been forced to heal her, and to show Bella her new form. Bella was contemplative, and I didn't pry in her thoughts. I hated it at the best of times, so I'd like to give her as much time to get used to it as possible. Although, I had noticed that the pack mind was completely silent.

Usually, if our thoughts were being kept to ourselves, there would still be a ripple, being able to sense the others minds. But now, the only mind I could sense was Bella's. And I already knew that some of the pack were phased, patrolling in case leec- no, let's not upset Bella, Edward is out there once more.

"Thanks Jacob.. Do we know why I'm like this?"

"Not yet. Shall we see if we can find the pack? Sam went to consult the elders on what they had found surrounding the legend."

I leapt off the bed, stretching forwards before striding out. Bella followed behind me, padding silently as we left the small house we had made our home temporarily. We had been in it enough for it to feel like our home, anyway. We had bounded out into the forest, with Bella being surprisingly graceful despite it being her first time.

Perhaps her wolf had something to do that. She followed me into the centre of the forest, as someone came barrelling towards us, before skidding to a stop on their heels. I recognised the form and the scent immediately- we only had one chocolate brown furred wolf- Quil.

"Quil?"

I could see him cocking his head, ears pressed back in confusion. There was something wrong if he couldn't hear me and I couldn't hear him. I hadn't sworn fealty to anyone else, nor had I made my own pack..so why the hell couldn't I hear them when I could hear everyone just fine less then a couple of hours ago.

"Jacob? Are these orbs normal to see?"

Taking my attention away from Quil, I looked around Bella, trying to see these 'orbs' that she was talking about. But I couldn't. All I could see was a normal forest, sounds of birds and the smell of oak travelling through my nose. Bella, seemingly having picked up on how to sense thoughts (because, let's be honest, it isn't too hard) was feeling confused. To be fair, if I saw something no one else did I'd be pretty alarmed too.

"I'm going to try and reach out to one."

I saw her reaching out with her furred paw, only that she looked confused. It looked like whatever they were weren't tangible, if her face was anything to go by. She put her paw back on the ground and looked in deep concentration.

As she did whatever she was doing, I turned back to face Quil, who was scratching something uninterperetable into the soft dirt. It looked like nothing more then claw marks...and I can't understand claw marks funnily enough. We were wolves, not some prehistoric tribe.

"...I don't know. We can't hear him, and they can't hear us from the sounds of it."

I blinked at the sudden joining of a mind, and I turned to look at Bella, who was standing triumphantly, looking proud of herself. I turned towards Quil as Bella flanked me, and I pushed out, touching the edges of Quil's open thoughts, almost to confirm that he was indeed there.

"Jake?"

"Quil?"

"Jake?"

"Sam?"

"Jake!"

Bella had been trying to be heard over the other two wolves, which was pretty difficult admittedly because she was naturally quiet and shy. Her wolf seemed to represent this. I don't think she knew what she was doing when she pushed her head under my neck, but it aggravated my wolf to no end.

And not in the aggression sense, more so in the fact that he had suddenly decided that he wanted me to claim her. Great. I swallowed it down before I ended up jumping Bella's bones, and nuzzled her, as we turned to face Quil once more.

"So is this why you kept pushing me away then? And Sam wasn't taking you all away from me..he was trying to protect the both of us?"

All three of us nodded in sync, and I could still feel Quil's pain at having forced Bella away. In response, he tucked down, almost in a bowing position, before he wagged his tail, inviting Bella for a game of chase. She looked at me, almost as if she was asking for permission.

She didn't need it of course. So, she bounded after Quil who was weaving around in the trees around us. It was sweet to see her playing...carefree and healed, like she had never been mauled by- sorry Bella. I quickly changed my train of thought.

But it was more along the lines of Bella herself. Her fur coat was unique- she had so many different shades on her, so it was like she had part of Sam's coat and part of mine mixed in. Her muzzle was white, but with a smudge of really light brown down the muzzle. Next to her eyes she had two short lines of white, which was then surrounded by the light brown of her face.

Down towards her body, she had a tuft of white on her chest, which was surrounded by a grey which faded into the black splodges on her hind legs. As she onto her fore paws, it smudged into white, with a slight line of brown. Her tail was grey but with a mark of white. It was completely unique to her.

"In a pack hierarchy, there are certain roles that we play. Sam, the only black furred wolf in our pack, is the Alpha. He is the leader, and can place injunctions on us, which can restrain us from doing certain actions. I am the Beta, and while Sam can overrules any command that I say, anything that I say must go unless I, or Sam states otherwise. Jared is third, and basically can do the same thing, just with me and Sam overruling whatever he says if we so wish. Make sense so far?"

I got a sense of agreement as she continued chasing Quil, keeping up with him despite lack of practise on her part. Not that it was her fault. If she was a bit tighter on her weaving and had a bit more practise then I had no doubt that she could catch him. But as it was, she was enjoying herself, which was all that mattered currently.

Sam and Embry were patrolling the border, as was Collin and Brady. My job currently was to get Bella up to speed and train her...and hopefully not shatter her heart when I have to tell her what it is we actually do. But for now, I was content to let her play around with Quil. That sounded bad..Anyway.

"We wolves can 'imprint' on someone. The imprintee is considered to be our soulmate, our other half. It's not like love at first sight, really. It's more like… gravity moves… suddenly. It's not the earth holding you here any more, they do… You become whatever they need you to be, whether that's a protector, or a lover, or a friend."

Bella, seemingly getting pack mentality, nipped my flank as she passed, continuing to pursue Quil. It wasn't like I had anything better to do, so I joined in, expertly manoeuvring through the trees that blurred into one. I cut through a gap between trees and rammed into Quil with as much gentleness as I could, knocking him off course as I followed him. Bella skidded round the corner, claws scrabbling for purchase in the soil, before she pushed forwards following behind me.

I pounced onto Quil who barked in excitement, as Bella jumped over a log and pounced on me, causing a dog pile. I was on Quil, Bella was on me, so we were all making the wolf version of a laugh, which was basically a weird sounding bark. Bella backed off of me, and I backed off of Quil, as we all shook out branches from our fur, and sat down, tongues lolling. We may be human, but we can act like wolves- we could let loose every so often.

"Who's imprinted?"

"Quil, Sam, Jared...and myself."

"Oh.."

Her ears drooped as her tail followed a similar pattern, as I brushed her side with my body. She recoiled away from the action, which hurt my wolf a little bit. I could feel the sadness coming off of her, something I loathed to see from my Imprint.

I knew that she wasn't ready for a relationship yet, but I also knew that her wolf was trying to explain to her that we were soulmates. As a miscommunication between her and her wolf, it led Bella to feeling like such an action would be inappropriate.

"Bella...I imprinted on-"

She stifled a sob, which came out as a pitiful croon, the pure emotional state of it leaking out in her voice. I felt so bad right now, but I needed to get this out, otherwise she would possibly do something really stupid...and I honestly wouldn't blame her with all the shit she's been through.

"I imprinted on you Bella."

Her entire chain of thought snapped off abruptly, and her emotions and thoughts were locked off once more. I mentally prodded the spot where her thoughts should occupy, only to be greeted by a wall.

I couldn't puncture it, and when I asked the other's, they couldn't even go near it. So, this was an interesting, albeit worrying, development. Suddenly, I could feel the wall expand, covering the entire pack mind with a wall, which wobbled before steadying once more. And her thoughts and feelings sprung back once more, which relieved me to no end.

"Sorry...You aren't kidding?"

I shook my head as she shoved her head under mine, no doubt scenting me once more. It was an instinctual behaviour, and I didn't really mind.

"No."

I confirmed, and reached within my mind to the Imprint Bond. While it had been consummated nor officially there yet, it had a strong presence in the back of my mind. I tugged at it gently, and I could feel her surprise at the feeling, before she seemed to tug it back. It must be strong for her as well.

"Yes, it is."

"Jacob, Bella, we found something out about the Legends that we think you should see. I will meet you at your Father's Jacob. If Bella can't phase back, Billy gives her explicit permission to come in the house. It's that important."

Now we were both curious, but heeded Sam's call. Quil slunk off into the overgrowth once more as we turned for home, curious as to what they had found out, and Bella's curiosity yearning to know what had happened to her exactly. It was an answer only the legends could tell her, since none of us truly knew ourselves.

Author's Note

So...two exams down, four to go. One of which, I'm royally screwed for. And it's tomorrow. And I took it as a higher (that's what we call it here, essentially what comes after a GSCE). Sooooooo I'm buggered for maths.

I saw Endgame. No spoilers here but MY HEART IS BROKEN. Feel free to pm me if you want to talk about it in depth, because I don't want to spoil it for those who haven't seen it. Let's just say I'm going to pretend it never exists. Good film but bad film. Isn't that a paradox. Once this fanfic is done, I'll post my other one from the Avengers fandom. I can juggle two stories but not three.

I haven't got much else to talk about otherwise. I should probably get back to studying to try and save myself from this potential failure waiting to happen. Sooooo

I'll see you all on Sunday if you read my other fic, and if not, I'll see you next Thursday!

Edit Notes 28/5/19 - Paragraphing issues, minor grammar and spelling mistakes.

~A very stressed Cait