8. Seth's Story Part 2

"What if they don't like me," Raven Graves Clearwater asked, bringing Seth back to the present.

Seth moved their ten month old son Logan to his left arm gently and held out his right hand to Raven. She shifted their ten month old daughter Storm to her right arm so she could take Seth's left.

"They're going to love you," said Seth, "besides it's not like they can entirely object."

Seth's words brought a smile to Raven's face.

How he could love her was beyond her understanding despite the extra room in her mind. After all they had been through nothing in the way he loved and cared for had not changed, in fact it seemed to only grow stronger especially after the twins were born.

Seth didn't need to be a mind reader to know what his wife was thinking since he was thinking it too.

Thinking back to the day they met the winter in Newcastle, Wyoming.

Bella, Edward, Renesmee, Jacob and Seth were hunting in the Thunder Basin National Grassland when they came across a teenage girl camping with only a tent along the Cheyenne River. It wasn't as much as the girl camping alone that had their interest peeked but the fact that all she seemed to have was a tent and sleeping bag when the ground all around them was covered with snow.

Upon seeing her all five of them thought it was crazy to be camping this time of year with what little provisions she had but after first laying eyes on her, Seth saw in her the child she had once been, the seventeen year old she was now and the future he would have with her.

Jacob saw the look in his brother's eyes and in the strangers, knowing what had just happened.

He rolled his eyes and mumbled, "Just great."

Despite Seth imprinting on Raven, it was Edward who could tell there was something different about her. It wasn't just the lack of supplies that the family of five had noticed but her mind which he couldn't seem to penetrate. The only other person whose mind he couldn't read was Bella's but there was no possible way he could have come across another shield and even if that were so she seemed to be connected to Seth.

So what Edward couldn't know, what he couldn't see was that just as Seth had locked eyes with the stranger, just as he was seeing his entire life, the girl too was seeing Seth and her life with him.

The girl had never felt anything like it. It was as if her entire screwed up life had drawn her to this moment. She had a couple of boyfriends in the past but never loved them, not like this. She had never believed in love at first sight but seeing Seth, it felt more than that, if such a thing was even true.

Seth drew closer, feeling the verge to stand as close as she allowed.

"Hey," said Seth, "I'm Seth Clearwater," he said extending his hand.

The girl shook it, "Raven Graves," she answered.

Raven was surprised that Seth didn't pull away from her unique touch. Her whole life she'd been told her skin was too hot. She had been taken to doctors but none could ever bring her "fever" down. When doctors wanted to take her blood and run tests that's when she ran. She could never understand why. They were just trying to help but it often seemed like any other primal instinct like eating or sleeping.

"Cool name," said Seth.

"Graves, really," they heard Jacob say.

Not looking at Jacob, only at Seth, Raven responded, "Just a name that got was picked out for my birth certificate. I was found at a cemetery in an old Texas mining town."

"So Raven isn't your real name either?" Jacob asked.

Raven shrugged, still looking at Seth, "Foster kid- probably given that name because there were a few ravens lingering over me at the grave waiting for me to die since I was pretty hypothermic; or so I've been told."

"Well whatever the reasons I think it's cool," replied Seth, "Very X-Men. So if you're Raven that also makes you Mystique. Awesome."

Raven laughed, "Yeah except she turned out to be a villain."

Seth shrugged, "Still she was a shape-shifter so total props in my book."

This made Raven smile. Seth walked closer and took Raven's hand. She did not pull back. It felt so natural despite them having just met.

"Come on, I want you to meet the rest of my family."

They walked only a few feet toward the others.

Seth nodded, "My brother Jacob Black and his girlfriend Renesmee Cullen and her parents Bella and Edward Cullen."

With Seth having imprinted on Raven there was no point in introducing them by their pseudonyms.

"So you're vampires," Raven said to them as if it was no big deal and she'd known all along.

Edward scolded himself. It was frustrating not being able to read the girl's mind and Jacob scolded at Seth but Raven was quick to back him up.

"I could smell you from a couple miles out," said Raven, "Just figured you'd be smart enough to steer clear."

"Yeah well," said Jacob, "When we see a kid camping in only a tent when there's snow on the ground, we can't help but investigate."

"So other than a foster kid," asked Bella, "What are you? Your senses are clearly heightened for you to know some of us are vampires."

"Don't know really," said Raven, "I've run a temperature of 108.9 since I was five. As a result I've been running away from doctors and foster homes ever since whenever they wanted to run my blood or do any tests. One kid even cried out saying my touch burned him. I went through my first transformation a year ago when I came across my first vampires. That's how I figured out what you were but you don't smell the way they do. You smell more like nectar so it's quite appealing actually."

"Transformation into what," asked Renesmee.

"You name it, I've been it," Raven replied, "A mountain lion in Texas, a shark in South Carolina, a pit bull in New York, a grizzly bear in Montana, a wolf in Wyoming."

"Did you say wolf," Jacob asked.

"Too much information?" asked Raven.

"Not at all," said Seth, "Jacob and I are wolves, along with our other brother Embry who's in South Dakota right now."

"You're werewolves?"

"That could explain why you two were drawn to each other," Edward said with a newfound interest in who would become their new family member, "And why you could tell we were vampires but you're not like these guys. They just phase into one animal." Edward smiles, "You certainly are a shape shifter of some kind and you certainly live up to your X-Men name: Mystique."

"And you don't know your biological parents," Carlisle asked later on at the Cullen house in Wyoming as he was drawing Raven's blood.

It had been the only time where she trusted a doctor to run tests since he was just like Edward and Bella.

The only other person in the room was Seth.

Once the needle was pulled out, the puncture mark healed within seconds.

"No," Raven replied, "Over the years I've tried to find them. Even went back to where I was found at that cemetery in Texas hoping I could get some answers but I came up empty. I used to think my high temperature was normal but just before the phase happened I got so angry that I left my school in Montana and hid in the woods. Not long after that I phased into several animals at once. It's like there was something wrong with my body and it couldn't decide what to be until it settled on a grizzly. It took me a week to calm down enough to be human again and a few months to control it so since I couldn't I moved again so I wouldn't be noticed.

Ever seen a wolverine along a freeway?"

Carlisle smiled, "Can't say that I have."

"Try being one or try being the person on the pass who had to swerve so as to miss hitting it."

Seth reached out and squeezed her hand, "I'm sorry you had to go through it alone."

Raven squeezed it back. It was so natural with him, as easy as breathing. "You're here now," she said to him.

Seth smiled, "This might take Carlisle a while. Anything you feel like doing?"

"Actually," said Raven, "there is one thing. Before you and your group showed up I was headed into the river to fish but I didn't get the chance."

"We didn't see any fishing poles," said Seth.

"Never said I was doing it the human way," Raven said with a smile, "Had planned on getting near the edge and turning myself into a pike. There's a lot of good walleye in that river. Tastes better raw than cooked. Ever since my first phase I haven't been able to eat human food the way I used to. It's a bit repulsive these days."

"You never liked human food," asked Carlisle.

"It's not that I didn't like it, I just always seemed to be allergic to most of it. One of the many things I could never quite understand."

Carlisle smiled, "My granddaughter isn't big on human food either. It's compatible with her system but she still prefers blood and since we're vegetarians she's grown to like animal blood."

"You guys don't feed on humans?" Raven asked, "Must be why you don't burn my nasal passages the way those other vamps did."

"Well since I can't phase into a fish," said Seth, "maybe you can phase into a wolf so that way we can both hunt that way."

Raven smiled. She was thrilled that she would get the chance to see Seth in his wolf form and not only that but also have a partner too.

The two of them left the big Cullen cabin in the woods. Once outside they both phased.

'Wow,' said Seth, 'You look incredible.'

Seth stared at Raven. She was the size that Leah had been except her coat was pure black with rings of white around her back and a white line tracing down her tail.

Then Seth added, 'Yikes sorry. I'm not even sure if you can hear me or not.'

'Seth that's you,' said Raven, 'I can hear your thoughts and you can hear mine?'

'Yeah,' said Seth, 'It's a wolf thing. I'll have to explain it later. Come on lets go. I'm starved.'

Seth bounded into the woods with Raven taking his flank on the right. Though she had been running on her own for so long it felt like a normal place to be. She wasn't just running a few feet behind him but by him as an equal.