A/N: Thanks for your continued reading. I hope you enjoy, and please review! Many thanks.

Jacob's POV

Soft rays of the sun peeked through the blinds. I was too comfortable in my position to willingly want to get up. Bella's hair splayed all over, her back pressed against my side, and the comforting sound of her steady shallow breathing. I smiled at the memory of her complaining about being the little spoon. I laid my arm across her waist, nuzzling the crook of her neck. I loved the light lemon scent of her wavy brown locks. I shut my eyes again, enjoying the feeling of her sound asleep, in my arms. Last night, I was beyond relived when Bella came out to talk. Neither of us had acknowledged, out loud, what happened on the cliffs. When she accepted the imprint, a weight lifted off my shoulders. I didn't push her though, this was good enough, for now at least. I knew Bella was still hurting, so I carried her to my room, not wanting to break our hug. We just laid there, until we fell asleep. I admit it wasn't the easiest thing, and a first for me, but it was Bella.

"Mmm." Bella turned her head back at me, eyes squinting, and brows knitted. Morning Bella was perfect.

"Good morning." Whispering, as I kissed her cheek.

"Not, yet." She groaned. I chuckled knowing exactly how she felt, but I had to go soon.

Bella tried turning over, wincing in pain. "You okay?"

"Just stiff." She snaked her legs over and under my legs, and slid her arm under my own, resting her hand on my back.

I pushed her hair back from her face. She opened her eyes, and the soft light reflected off those chocolate orbs in a way that, I couldn't help myself. I leaned in, pressing my lips against moist plump lips. The warmth slowly seeped through me, as she responded to my movements. It was completely natural, and for the first time in a long time, I felt good. Then, to my surprise, I felt her mouth slightly part and my tongue filled in the spaces. Our mouths moved in sync, never missing a beat, and the warmth slowly turned into heat. Her lips melted into mine, and with each massage of her tongue, heat turned into flame. Bella was panting now, her hand had moved to my hair, and fingers entwined in strands. Slowly, so I didn't hurt her, I hovered over her and slid her under me. Bella smiled, her eyes pacing between mine, and I found myself kissing her again. She tasted sweet and warm, it was mouthwatering, really. The wolf was stirring now.

Howls

I ignored it.

More howls. Damn.

Bella stopped, pulling her head back. The wolf literally whined, I nearly did too.

I sighed and pressed my forehead against hers. "I'm sorry."

"Don't be. You're the Alpha now, I get it."

I opened my eyes, raising my head, "You can hang out here until I get back, or go to Emily's."

"I might just stay here. Catch up on more sleep, have some "me" time."

"Sure, help yourself to whatever you want, okay." I kissed the tip of her nose, I couldn't bring myself to willingly leave this bed.

"Go. I'll be here when you get back." She laughed, pushing on my chest.

I smiled, and look her over one more time, wanting to keep this memory.

"Fine, fine, I'll go."

I slipped out of the covers and headed to the bathroom…for a cold shower.

Sam's POV

"Embry don't let him get past you!"

"I got it Sam, relax."-Embry

"Mike, calm down buddy, we're here to help you."

This one's fur was light brown that faded into white on his underbelly. He whimpered and yelped, frantically pacing back and forth, and sprinting off in any direction he saw a gap.

"We know this is scary, but you have to trust us. You have to calm down."

"Where the hell is Jacob?"-Paul

"Right here, asshole." He bounded into the clearing from behind Embry. "Guys just give him some space for a minute." Jacob slowly trotted toward the smaller wolf, now crouching on his haunches. "You have to calm down in order to shift back. Once you do that you can see your mom, okay little guy."

The brown and white beta, scooted backwards on his haunches, yellow eyes darting around his surroundings. We all sat back, trying to emanate calm to our new brother, showing we meant no harm. Jacob walked closer to him, nuzzling the smaller wolf, coaxing him to shift into human form. Jacob was much better with newcomers than me. I was too emotional and overprotective, my paternal nature I guess. Jake on the other hand, knew how to connect with the person as well as the wolf, taking his Alpha abilities even further.

"You guys can head back, take Mike's mom over to Billy's so he can explain everything. Sam, stay here."

Embry and Paul took off into the woods, and I sat back, waiting.

"You got it Mike, just focus on something that makes you happy."

Mike's thoughts were erratic and barely cohesive.

He was so young, barely thirteen this week, I'd been keeping an eye on him since he started showing symptoms. I found out from Emily, she was subbing at the middle school, that a kid had missed a week due to illness. Very slowly, and painfully, bones were contracting into a human skeleton, and fur receded into skin. The shift was hard for the new ones, and until they could control it, the shift would be this way for a while. Sometimes the newcomers couldn't change back human for days, because of their emotional instability. It was exhausting to deal with and to watch, but a pain we all understood.

A shaking boy stood, shoulders hunched, head bowed, a sheen of sweat covering is bare body. He'd already experienced one growth spirt, standing at five foot-nine, and muscles beginning to form. He was native of course, but a little pale, clearly from staying indoors all week. His face was slender, with puppy dog eyes. He really was just a kid.

Jake shifted then, and I took that as my cue to do the same.

"You alright" he only nodded, still shaking.

"Let's get some clothes on." Jake jogged into the trees, returning with a duffle bag of clothes. He threw us each a pair of shorts.

"T-thanks" Mike stuttered.

"C'mon, your mom's with Chief Black, first we'll take you to my place to introduce you to the pack."

"It's our unofficial den, you could say." Jacob said jokingly, trying to lighten the boy's mood. "Everything s'gonna be okay buddy. You're pack now, which means family, and we take care of family." Jacob reassured him, I nodded in agreement.

…

It took a while for Mike to warm up, but he settled in alright. Naturally migrating to Collin and Brady, the only ones still in school, not to mention barely mature despite their appearance.

"Jake." I called jerking my head to signal outside.

It was a pretty nice day out for the end of winter. The sky cleared up just enough to actually look blue, allowing the sun to even shine.

"What's up?"

"I thought the Cullen's would leave after helping Bella. Only two have been back a short time, and look what happened." My patience was running low, and the last thing the res needs is more kids shifting because their parents pissed them off.

"I don't know if they've left or not, yet. You know I don't care for them, but it's just Doc and the pixie, so relax. Neither mentioned any of the others coming, so it should calm back down. I'll ask Bella to give the little one a call to find out."

"How can you not know if the leeches are still here or not? Do you know recall what just happened to your imprint?" I was pacing now.

"Uley!" I stopped. Jacob walked in front of me, blocking my way. "Hey, what's with you huh?"

I ran my hands through my hair, feeling like I was gonna pull out a chunk of it. I was so angry, I felt the tremors starting to roll up my feet.

"Stop." He commanded, and the wolf involuntarily settled. Jake raised a hand to my shoulder. "What is going on?"

With a heavy sigh, I paced further away from the house, Jake following behind. Frustrated, I palmed my face, dragging it over.

"It wasn't planned, you know? It just happened, but then I thought, 'I can do this'. After Bella was attacked…She-Emily had a miscarriage… The doctor's don't know why, everything looked good; she just lost it." I broke down, resisting the urge to shift and run until my legs gave out. "I don't understand. What did she do to deserve this, huh? She would've been the perfect mom. It's not fair to her!" I felt her pain, Emily was strong and put on a good face, but I knew because I felt how much she was hurting.

Everything fell quiet, and there was only the sound of the breeze rustling the trees.

Jacob pulled me in, covering my head with his arms, and all I could do was cry for my wife's pain. He said nothing, because there was nothing anyone could say to make the pain go away.

"You don't have to go through this alone brother."

I pulled out of my brother's embrace. "I'm not ready for them to know yet. I don't want them to know yet, for Emily's sake." It wasn't like any of us to keep secrets from each other, but I didn't want Emily to have to deal with the knowing eyes.

Jacob nodded in understanding. "Take some time off. I'll take care of everything, you take care of your family."

I wiped my faced and went back inside to my wife.

Leah's POV

During our usual pack dinner, I noticed something was off with Em, so I hung around until everyone left.

"Hey Sam, could you give us a minute?" I thought about making up some excuse, but that would've made it worse coming from me. He looked at me incredulously, frowned, kissed Emily, then left. It had been a long time since Emily and I had a real conversation.

"What's up, Leah?" she was washing dishes, her back turned to me.

I walked up to the counter and leaned my back against it, facing the rest of the kitchen. "No, what's up with you, Emily? You don't seem like yourself at all today. Talk to me." I waited for her to say something, not wanting to scare her away. She finished the dishes, but kept cleaning around the kitchen.

"I had a miscarriage." Emily sounded so calm, I almost didn't grasp what she said.

"W-When?" I was in shock. She never said it, but I knew how badly Emily wanted to be a mom. She was a natural around kids.

"After Bella's attack."

Why won't she stop cleaning?

"Emily...Em, just stop cleaning and look at me please."

She threw the rag on the floor, "What Leah? What do you want me to say? That-that I can't look at a child without wanting to burst into tears? O-or that I can't look into Sam's eyes right now because I see the pain he's in? How about the fact that nobody has any idea why I lost the baby, when I'm fine?"

I was frozen. My cousin, my sister, was in pain, and I could tell she was dealing with this alone.

"The worst part is, we weren't even trying; but the moment we found out I was over the moon excited. Sam was talking about maybe adding a room to the house for the baby, spouting off all these ideas. I'd never seen him talk like that before."

I slowly walked to Emily and grabbed her hand. "I know you don't wanna hear this Em, but it'll happen when the time is right. I really believe everything happens for a reason. Maybe, right now, just wasn't the right time for you guys."

Emily leaned into my shoulder, quietly sobbing. "It hurts, and it sucks, so much. I never imagined this happening to us. Seeing that look on Sam's face, I felt like I failed him. Like I couldn't even give him a child, when he's already given me so much in this life."

I couldn't believe what I was hearing.

"Emily, listen to me. That is not true. Sam is beyond lucky to have you, and he knows it. You're beautiful, confident, nurturing; everyone knows you'd be the perfect mom. There is nothing wrong with you, and you didn't do anything to deserve this. Sometimes really bad things happen to good people, but if anything you'll be the much stronger to deal with whatever comes next."

I knew there was nothing I could say to make her feel better, but I had to say something.

Emily collapsed in my arms, and I lowered us to the floor.

"I'm so, so, sorry Em." I rocked her back and forth, rubbing her back. It was all I could do as my sister mourned for her lost child. Another step towards healing old wounds. Progress…