AN: I clearly have a pack obsession, because here I am starting another Bella/wolf story. Hope you enjoy.

"I now pronounce you husband and wife. You may now kiss the bride." With the minister's blessing, Phil leaned in and planted a deep kiss on my mom's lips. It went on a little too long, and the minister had to clear his throat. Everyone (not that there were too many people here) laughed, including my mom.

I still wasn't sure exactly what I thought about my mom getting married again. It had been just her and me for a long time. Renee had married my dad, Charlie Swan, pretty quickly after meeting him at the University of Washington. Why exactly she'd left her hot dry hometown of Phoenix for the cool wet climate of Washington, I'd never understood. That was Renee, though, quirky and unpredictable. They'd quickly fallen in love, and just as quickly eloped, had me, and divorced. They were polar opposites in personality and had nothing in common, plus it hadn't taken long for Renee to realize she couldn't stand small-town life, especially in the tiny Olympic Peninsula town of Forks where Charlie had grown up. It hadn't even been a year after my birth when Renee had walked out on Charlie and taken me with her. I'd seen him for two weeks every summer, but otherwise it had been just the two of us, mom and me.

I'd spent my growing-up years mostly in Phoenix, although every so often my mom had taken it into her head to try someplace new-I'd been to multiple elementary schools as a result. We'd always come back to Phoenix, and had even stayed here all through my middle school years, a fact for which I was grateful. Staying here had also put her in the way of meeting a minor-league baseball player named Phil Dwyer, who was five years her junior. They'd taken things slower than she had with my dad, but Phil had popped the question and now they'd just gotten married.

Now I had a step-dad. Phil was a nice guy, and I knew how crazy he was about mom. But it had to be a challenge for him, gaining an almost-fifteen-year-old stepdaughter. I had a feeling I'd be putting a crimp into their newlywed lifestyle.

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It didn't take long for me to figure out my feeling had been right. Phil traveled a lot with his team, and Renee really wanted to go with him. She'd brought me along a few times, but I wasn't interested in hanging out at the ballpark all day the way she did-baseball just wasn't my thing, but then neither was anything else that required even the slightest amount of physical coordination-or in sitting in a motel room.

I actually felt relief when Charlie called and asked if I wanted to spend any time with him this summer; he offered another trip to California, like we'd done the last couple years, but (and I still couldn't figure out why) I'd said that Forks would be okay. I wasn't any fonder of the weather up there than Renee, but I'd lived out of a suitcase enough in the last month or so that I wasn't interested in one more time.

When I got to Seattle, Charlie was waiting for me, police cruiser and all. I was grateful I didn't see anyone I knew-this was beyond embarrassing. It was a surprise when we made a stop before heading west.

"I thought you might like to hit this bookstore before we leave," Charlie suggested. "I remember how much you like reading, and the library in town doesn't have much. Might be a good idea to stock up."

"Thanks Ch-dad," I remembered just in time that he really didn't like me calling him "Charlie".

We ended up stopping at the diner in Forks for dinner-Charlie admitting with a red face that he hadn't been to the grocery store this week. It was going to be a whole year before I could get my learner's permit, so I figured I'd just have to give him detailed lists to take to the store, or else we'd end up eating pizza or diner food every night. Within a few days of my arrival, I amended that list to pizza, diner food, or fish. Trying to change his eating habits might end up being as fruitful as Sisyphus' efforts, but I was still going to try.

I mostly spent the first weekend settling in and figuring out what kinds of things Charlie had on hand and what he'd have to go shop for. Otherwise, I took advantage of the relatively nice weather and spread a blanket out on the lawn to read books, usually my favorite classics. But I did actually get a start on some of the required freshman-year readings, some of which I'd actually already read before.

At the end of the week, Charlie asked me if I was interested in coming down to La Push, the local tribe's reservation that weekend.

"Dad...I'm still not much on fishing..." I hedged. It wasn't that I wanted to spend my time up here cooped up in the house-I didn't-but neither did I want to be trapped in a boat holding a pole.

"Kinda figured that, Bells," Charlie smirked. "Thought you might enjoy meeting some of the local kids. Think they spend nice days down at the beach."

I thought about it for a moment. The only kids I remembered spending time with were Billy's kids: Rachel, Rebecca, and Jacob, and them rarely enough. But I'd promised myself to try and stretch my personal boundaries in high school, and this was probably a good time to start. "Sure, dad. Sounds like fun."

When Charlie pulled his cruiser into the Clearwater's driveway, a teenage girl was sitting perched on the porch railing. She hopped down when I got out of the car.

"Hey, Leah," Charlie greeted. "Your dad ready?"

"Yeah. He's just getting the cooler from mom with your lunches in it."

"Bells, this is Harry's daughter Leah. Leah, my daughter, Bella. She's visiting from Arizona for a while this summer." We exchanged nods.

"Do you still need to change into your swimsuit?" Leah asked me.

"No, I wasn't sure if there was going to be a place to change so I took care of it at home."

"Okay. Well, my mom wants to meet you, and then we can head to the beach. The others are going to meet us there."

Harry's wife, Sue, was a nice woman with a friendly face framed by long dark hair.

"Welcome back, Bella," she greeted me.

"Thanks."

"How is your mom?"

"She's fine. She just got married at the beginning of the summer, and she's traveling with her new husband right now."

"I'm sure she's enjoying that. If you would, be sure to tell her I said hello."

"I will. Now, here's some snacks for you two to take along. Have a good time."

"Thanks, mom." Leah gave her a quick hug, grabbed the food, and directed me out the door.

"How many people are going to be there?" I asked, while gravel crunched under my feet.

"Maybe a dozen or so, just kids from school, and my boyfriend, Sam."

The path down to the beach was fairly easy, though I kept my eyes on the ground just in case. The last thing I wanted was to have my usual clumsiness reassert itself and cause me to do a face-plant in front of these new kids. At the moment, they didn't seem to have noticed Leah and I yet—too busy playing a game of touch-football. That changed when one looked our way.

"Lee-Lee!" A tall, lean guy abandoned the game and ran over, picking Leah up and swinging her around in a circle.

"Put me down!" she commanded. As soon as he did, she pulled his head down for a kiss. After she let him go, she turned back to me. "Sam, this is Bella, Chief Swan's daughter. She's visiting from Phoenix for a little while this summer. Bella, this is my boyfriend, Sam Uley."

His hand extended to me, and I took it automatically. I had to look up to meet his dark eyes."

"Hi."

"Welcome to La Push. This your first trip?"

"No. Well, I'm not sure. I used to visit Charlie—my dad here during the summer, and he's been friends with Billy Black since, well, forever, so I've probably been before, but I don't remember much."