A/N: I am terribly sorry and beg everyone's forgiveness for the length of time it has been since I last posted. I will not go into details, just know that RL has been real nasty and scared away most of my muses. I'm slowly enticing them back, so I hope to be posting more regularly. I will say only that I am grateful for those still with me and I hope you enjoy this chapter!

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"Then you will believe me, Chief."

I gasped and spun as I heard that voice. Looking at him standing just behind the pack, I understood why he didn't answer his phone earlier. Hard to picture a big polar bear talking on a cell phone. "Why?

"This is the reaction I feared, and I knew you would need back up, Igido."

The pack leapt to their feet and spun to take in the form that had managed to sneak up behind them. They all took defensive positions with a growl until they saw he wasn't alone.

"Koda, is that really necessary?" I shook my head as I saw a bear trying to sneak his way around everyone to get to me. "You've been seen, so you might as well come here."

"Bella?" Embry asked as he moved to stand at my side.

"It's find, Em. Koda wouldn't hurt a fly, would you, Koda bear?"

With a huff, he launched himself over the logs and landed at my side. He only stopped once he was able to bump my shoulder with his snout.

"This is Koda, one of the Denali protectors. I'm sure there is one or two others hanging around out there protecting their own." I dug my fingers into his fur on his shoulder and tugged. "Coming in bear form was a bit overly dramatic."

"He wouldn't be left behind, Igido. Once I told the pack where I was going and why, I had to command most of them to stay behind. They are all worried about their sister." He moved through the wolf pack to stand beside me, pushing Koda out of the way. The pack had recognized that he was the Alpha of Alphas and backed down. "Based on what you told us, Annie agreed that you might need back up so here I am."

"And just who might you be?" Billy asked as Old Quil tried to shush him.

"It seems that the one next to you knows who I am, Chief and you might want to listen to him. I had been receiving updates on everything going on here. That is how I knew where Isabella came from once she started telling me her story. The last I had heard was about the attack on her parents. I am not sure why the updates stopped, but I can guess."

"I apologize for my Chief's brashness." Old Quil attempted to placate the man standing before them. "He is aware of who you are, just not what you look like."

I looked at him and tried to figure out how that made any sense. I guess even the elders can fangirl over a legend. "Johnny, I think you should just get on with the legends and stop harassing the elders."

"Of course, Aylen." He bowed his head and was about to speak when he was interrupted.

"Johnny." Billy mumbled and jerked as he realized just who was standing before him. "Johnny H. You are the Chief and Alpha of the Denali tribe. The Alpha of all tribes."

"I am glad that you finally acknowledge who I am. Yes, I am the Chief and Alpha of my tribe and all shifter tribes. Until last month none had the same authority that I hold over shifters. I now share that authority with one other." He stared at Billy, knowing he was the main antagonist at tonight's meeting. "Do you deny my authority?"

"No, we acknowledge your authority. This is why we had been updating you with everything going on here over the last two years." Billy was quick to placate the tall muscular man before him.

"Good to hear. Now, before I start going through what you should have been willing to hear from Isabella, I have one question." Johnny looked back at the pack behind him, then back to meet Billy's gaze. "How many of your pack have imprinted?"

I tensed, I knew where this was going, and I had no way to stop this.

"Three up until last night as we had two more imprint." Billy answered proudly. "Boys tell Johnny who has imprinted."

Jared, Paul and Quil took a step forward to separate themselves from the pack. Sam looked torn and Jacob looked uncomfortable.

"Jacob, why don't you tell your Alpha who you have imprinted on." Billy commanded.

Jacob's head snapped up, so he could meet my gaze before shaking his head at his father.

"Don't shake your head at me, son and don't look to her for permission. You do as you're told."

I stared at Jacob, watching closely as he tried to fight my command. As his face contorted he finally gave in and bared his neck to me. I nodded in approval.

"What the hell have you done to my son?" Billy yelled at me. "You have no power here."

"I beg to differ." Johnny responded before turning to me. "Now, Igido, I believe you have a bit of explaining to do."

I held his gaze as I grimaced. "I do, but I would rather not go into it here."

"Igido? That is not the answer I expected to hear from you." He looked at me in disapproval.

"I…" Something Annie had told me about came to mind. "I'll tell you, but in my own way. Trust me?"

Without hesitation he nodded.

I reached up and placed my hands on either side of his head. I dropped my mental shield, so I could connect with him like I did in the pack mind. When I heard his grunt, I knew it had worked. I quickly tried to show him what happened after I arrived last night. I knew when we got to the part I didn't want to talk about. He started growling as he watched Jacob mouth off before trying to attack me. The growl was steady even through the part where I phased and took control. It didn't take long to get to the best part, where I was rejected by my imprint.

With a snarl Johnny ripped his face out of my hands and spun to glare at Sam. He was shaking he was so mad at what he saw.

"Shilah, please, we will deal with this later." I placed my hands on his shoulders, giving him the connection to give himself a chance to calm down. "I can handle this if you need to go run it off. Koda will be with me."

He turned around and pulled me in for a hug. "I am so sorry, Igido. I should not have sent you back to face this alone. I should have come back with you. Maybe things would have been different."

I nodded into his chest since my only other option was to break down again and I didn't want to do that in front of the whole pack and the elders.

"So, would one of you two like to explain what is going on here? Why my son is acting like this?" Billy all but snarled from his wheelchair. "I don't care who you are, I demand explanations."

I growled over how disrespectful he was being towards Johnny. I turned around in his arms as he wouldn't let me go. "I have known you all of my life, Billy and I have never before seen you act so rude to anyone no matter how they acted towards you. I'm not sure what has happened here to change both you and Jacob so much as to be almost like someone completely different."

"Aylen." Came the plea in my ear. Johnny tightened his arms around me as he felt me starting to shake. "You need to calm down. Do not let them affect you like this."

I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. The downside of that was I could only see Jacob attacking Sam and then Sam's reaction to finding out that I was a wolf. The shaking got worse.

"Everyone, eyes closed." Johnny yelled. His alpha command flowed over me as everyone, wolf or not, did as he commanded. "Aylen, please calm enough to disrobe. No one will see you, I promise."

I nodded as he stepped back. In one fluid motion I pulled the bands off my arms as well as my dress and passed them to him before I phased. Shaking myself I looked around everyone, still with their eyes closed. Meeting Johnny's eyes, I saw the pain he felt for me and I shook my head at him.

"I will explain everything to them and they will understand their place."

I walked over to Sam, he still had his eyes closed although he looked upset and it made it really hard not to try to comfort him. For now, I decided to walk away. I stopped just outside of the edge of light emitted by the bonfire. I needed space, but I didn't want to completely leave.

"You can open your eyes. I just wanted to make sure that no one saw something they shouldn't." Johnny said as he stared at Billy. "I expect that you will listen to what I have to say and not argue with me. What you are going to be told is based on legends that your tribe has records of."

"We understand and are willing to listen to you." Old Quil responded politely.

"Quick question, where's Bella?"

My ears perked up as I heard Sam's question. He rejected me, what does it matter where I am.

"She does not need to be here for this. The legends have already been explained to her and she has accepted what her role is to be." Johnny answered without turning around. "There are other legends that should be told other than just the creation of our protectors, how they evolved from spirit warriors to shifters. Yes, we need to teach the legend about the Third Wife, but what is even more important for us now and that has sadly been forgotten, is the legend of the Aylen."

"You called Bella that earlier." Embry spoke up. "What does that mean?"

"Yes, I did. Bella is special, she is our Aylen. Aylen means happiness and hope." Johnny nodded at Embry, acknowledging him as my brother. "Ever since our ancestors settled this land, we were one tribe. It took the invasion of our lands by what the chief here calls them, the Hoquat. With them came a division in the tribe. A once peaceful people soon turned on each other, accusing the other of stealing their food or trying to take their women.

"The legend does not tell us what the final blow was that broke the tribe apart, just that our once great tribe became three. These three tribes would later become those that you know of today, the Makah, the Quileute and the Denali tribes. This divide caused the conception of the spirit warriors. Each chief trained their warriors to protect their tribe from attack. It was with the rise of the Cold Ones that a need arose to have the three tribes reunite as one to take on the enemy. It was understood that separated they would all fall, but none of the chiefs were willing to set aside their pride to bring the tribes together as one.

"After an attack close to the tribe, a young woman of the Quileute tribe made herself known. She had been known in her tribe as a shaman of sorts. She took care of the tribe and treated everyone as if they were her family, bringing happiness to those who suffered and hope to those who had none. The Aylen, as they started to call her, soon saw what was needed to take on the enemy and she journeyed to the other two tribes. Once there, she explained to the chiefs how the only way they would be able to defeat the enemy would be to combine the tribes and fight as one. She managed to convince the tribes to join forces and with her in the lead, they drove the enemy from their lands.

"Once the enemy had been dealt with, the tribes went back to their separation. Their pride still too great to allow them to stay as one tribe. Many decades passed, and the enemy returned, the Cold Ones. You know the legends that cover this span of time, but what you don't know is that the Aylen returned as a new young woman in the Quileute tribe that had the same traits as the first. She saw what was happening and knew that without standing together, the tribes were destined to fall to this enemy. She traveled to both tribes and convinced them to band together. But by the time she had returned, the Quileute had already learned how to share the body of the wolves, being the first protectors.

"The Makah and Denali tribes could only be support at that time. They prayed to the Gods for help and the ability the Quileute seemed to have been gifted, but it seemed as though their prayers were to go unanswered. The Aylen stood by her tribe as a whole and did not look down on anyone that was unable to fight as a wolf. She knew that they would triumph over the enemy as long as they worked as one. The tribes did as she instructed and were able to defeat the Cold One and his mate, but it was at a great sacrifice to the tribes. There were many lives lost, many grieved, but the greatest impact came from the loss of their Aylen. She sacrificed herself to save the lives of the tribe's people that were unable to protect themselves.

"Now, the legends say that the upcoming battle that we will face will be on an even greater scale than the last two. This is why the Great Spirit chose outside of the tribes for our newest Aylen. She had to be strong before being chosen, able to withstand and survive the enemy. All that have known her, know that Bella is stronger than she gives herself credit for. She has loved and been left by the enemy and is still standing. She has been bitten and yet is still human. She has been marked by that of a protector and as such has been chosen for her tribe. We do not know why the Aylen always comes from the Quileute, but even with Bella, though not of any tribe, when she phased for the first time, it was as a wolf. This is how we know which tribe is her family.

"There is something else that you should know about our Aylen. Not only is she able to phase, unlike her predecessors, but she is able to choose her shape." With this, Johnny paused to let all of that information sink in. He stood patiently, knowing the questions would start soon.

"We want to see her." Billy demanded as he looked around at those gathered around the bonfire. "We need proof of what you speak."

Johnny shook his head. "You once called her daughter and now you look on her as if she were a piece of trash beneath your foot. Why would she want to prove anything to you?"

"If, as you claim, she is of our tribe, then as her chief I demand she prove who and what she is."

….

A/N: I apologize once again for the long delay in posting. Holidays and real life have been all too time consuming here recently. As some of you know that follow me, I have quite a few stories that are needing to be updated. So, give a follow and you can enjoy those as I go thru, and update based on the muse that's decided to talk. Don't think that I'll forget about this story as I really have fallen for Bella and the wolves.

I know this ended on a cliffie…again…and I'm sorry. Its just how this story seems to flow. Hopefully this muse has the gumption to push its way to the forefront, but if not, it will get its time. I am truly grateful for all of y'all and the reviews/love. Y'all are what keep me writing and fighting to make these muses talk.

So, let me know what y'all think and I'll get back to my muses…TTFN my lovelies!

Translations: (These will be at the end of each chapter and will contain all words used in this fic)

Aylen means happiness

Nuka means younger sibling

Misun means little brother

Tanis means daughter

Nizhoni means beautiful

Igido means sister

Shilah means brother

Hoquat means white man