SheWolf.

Chapter Two: September Surprises.

It had been early June when Rachel ran into the redhead by her University. By July, Rachel's wolf gene had activated. First came the small changes to her physique and height which were so small and steady that they went unnoticed. By late July, her aggressiveness could no longer be passed off as anything normal. By the last week of July the fever had set in. Mid August, Rachel phased for the first time.

It took her a while to get from Seattle to La Push. What would have been between three to four hours trip on a good day by car took a hell of a lot longer as a Clydesdale sized wolf. Especially when you were trying to do it without anyone seeing you. So frustrated at what she was, how sudden it was, how no one had warned her, and now the difficult trip back home, as well as having to go home at all, Rachel was far too worked up to phase back to human. Not that she knew she had to calm down to be able to become human again.

In the end, Rachel dove headfirst into the sea just outside of Seattle and between both Seattle as well as Bainbridge Island. It would be the easiest way to travel without being seen by humans, and with her high temperature it was unlikely she'd succumb to any cold related illness. That, and she also noticed she seemed to heal very quickly. A cut from a jagged thorn had brought this to her attention.

Unfortunately sacrifices had to be made in order to remain hidden from human eyes. One, it wasn't as if she could go to a fast food restaurant, grocery store, or farm so human food was pretty much out of the question. Drinking sea water would not help her thirst - she managed to remember this from the documentaries she often put on in the background when studying - and so she often edged onto land for a minute or two just to drink from a nearby river or stream. That satisfied her thirst but not her hunger. Rachel had never hunted, she'd never even fished with her father who was famous for doing it with Harry Clearwater & Charlie Swan. It wasn't as if she was against hunting for survival or anything like that, she just didn't like seeing anything being killed and prepared to be eaten. It freaked her out, so she ended up going hungry.

Very hungry. So hungry she knew it had to be her quick healing that was the only thing keeping her awake, alert, and in motion. She knew otherwise she would have collapsed long ago. When it got to this point she had to keep telling herself to not nibble on her arm - legs. Whatever they were. It just wouldn't help.

It was the first of September when Rachel finally saw the familiar First Beach of home. She had never thought she would be so happy to be home. Yet, the sight of First Beach had her nearly sobbing in relief. Mainly because now she could have bagels, pizza, and most of all chocolate.

With a final whimper she hauled her large, furry frame up out of the sea and onto the sandy beach that smelt so much of home. She collapsed onto her stomach, panting heavily, as her eyes fluttered closed.

It was only the scent of a threat, something wild, that had her eyes snapping open as she tried to figure out what and where the threat was. Every instinct she had told her to get up, to fight or flee, so with all the strength she had left she pushed herself up onto all four paws. Still panting, she strode forward towards the forest, her limbs shaking as she did so. She knew if something was to happen it would be best to be under cover in the forest. There would be a lot of dark points in there so if it was a human she would be hidden from their eyes.

Unfortunately she never reached the forest.

A large black wolf leapt out of the forest with its Pack behind him. This wasn't a large normal wolf. This was her species of wolf. This one was a Spirit Warrior as was its Pack. She deducted he must be the Alpha but all of her instincts said he was not, that he should be submitting to her, so she snarled at him, ears pinned back to her skull as she adjusted her body into that of a stance ready to attack.

It was only the sight of familiar brown eyes that had her breaking out of her focus. Lifting her head she stared at the russet wolf that stood off to the left, from her view point, at the end of that line of wolves. Instincts told her this one should be Alpha but as of yet had not taken up its birth right. It wasn't this that caught her attention however. She knew those eyes!

Slowly she walked over towards him, her body no longer tense, and before long came to a halt infront of him. He was inches taller then her and a lot more muscular, bulkier, but she wasn't intimidated. How could she be? Those eyes... those warm, soft, once happy brown eyes should belong to her little brother.

'Oh Jacob...'

Rachel mentally sighed before wrapping her right paw around the back of his neck, pushing him into her chest, and then began licking the top of his bowed, furry head. Whatever they were, whatever their purpose, she wouldn't have wanted him to be involved. He was still so young and had his whole life ahead of him.

A forceful prodding against her mind caused her to snap round with a snarl as she glared at the black wolf fiercely. Her body shifted so Jacob was behind her, a protective move, as she bared her teeth. She was a descendant of the true Alpha. She would not submit to someone unworthy, and instinct told her this one was unworthy. Not just because his presence was weak at best compared to hers and Jacob's, but there was something about his eyes that filled her with disgust.

A softer, gentle prodding pressed against her mind. Her head turned around to gaze back at Jacob just as she felt something connect with her mind...

'Who are you?'

A huge mental smile filled Rachel's mind as she heard her little brother's voice inside her head. After turning into a massive wolf out of the blue, hearing her brother's voice in her mind was not the wierdest thing in the world and thus easy to accept.

'Oh Jakey! I've missed you!'

Surprise entered Jacob's brown eyes at the familiar voice.

'Rachel?!'

Her answer was to lick his face enthusiastically, her tail wagging happily as she did so.

'Rach!'

Jacob whined, trying unsuccessfully to escape his sister's overwhelming, affectionate greeting. Rachel huffed, pausing a moment before hitting his shoulder with her paw, hard.

'What are you doing?! I may be new to this but you are the true Alpha, and I won't have you skulking about like the runt of the litter. Now, get off that furry ass of yours and take your title as you should have done before I got here!'

Rachel growled at him, before giving his bottom a firm headbutt. She almost chuckled at the sight of Jacob's body tripping forwards from the momentum before he managed to steady himself.

'I'm not ready for that kind of thing Rach. I can't just take on all that responsibility. You still call me Jakey for god's sake!'

He protested, huffing. Rachel exhaled, unable to agree he did have a slight point. It did seem he was still young at heart despite the changes he had gone through.

'That doesn't mean you're not though.'

Jacob added, ears pricked as he watched his sister's reaction. She stared at him wide eyed for a moment before she let his words sink in. Her... Alpha female. There was some temptation to do just that. After all, which woman didn't want a group of men to be at their beck and call? Of course it would have been better if they were sinfully attractive but, unfortunately, the last time she had seen any of the guys on the reservation they were definitely not anything close to sinfully sexy. Well, there was one... She pushed that thought away. He was of no concern.

'Come on. We're going home. I'll deal with these idiots later.'

Rachel told him, walking over to give him another headbutt on the rump. Jacob huffed as his body was once again propelled forwards.

'Which reminds me,' Rachel continued absentmindedly, 'You and dad are in for a lot of scolding when we get home.'

She circled around her brother, encouraging him to go where she directed, before heading towards the forest line as she continued to ignore the rest of the Pack. Rachel was doing her best to hide her exhaustion, and she felt thus far she was doing a pretty good job. She knew however as soon as the adrenaline wore off she'd probably end up sleeping for days. She'd probably even need an IV to fill her with fluids and vitamins since she had pretty much starved herself for longer then normal human limits could cope with.

Just as she got close enough to almost feel the grass covering the forest floor a flash of silver leapt infront of her. Automatically Rachel descended into a defensive crouched position, ears pinned back to her skull as she snarled at the wolf before her.

He was huge. He was taller then Jacob, with a lot more muscle, although at first glance he didn't seem to be the tallest of the group - that belonged to the black wolf. However what he didn't have in height he more then made up for in presence. Just being around him clearly intimidated the other wolves as none moved to join him or go against him. Clearly they were trying to steer clear unless it reached the point where they had to interfere.

Her gaze slowly rose from his paws, his powerful chest, up his silver neck, and to a ferocious face. However, the second their eyes met his facial expression changed into something else. Where it was once dark, ferocious, and vicious, was now softened. Infact his body language had changed from attacking to... well, she wasn't quite sure what it was but his body language and expression made her feel uneasy.

How did she know it was a he? Well, an unavoidable glance between his legs left her in no doubt as to his gender.

Slowly, tentatively, she raised herself up until she was stood tall, keeping her gaze locked on him. She really didn't want to let her guard down around him. The fact his eyes were familiar as well did not make her relieved in any way what so ever...

'Paul!'

Was all she heard before Jacob's russet body slammed into the side of the silver wolf's. She watched in shock as the pair snarled at each, claws and teeth snapping at each others hides as they rolled around, leapt, and tackled each other. She knew she should stop them. She didn't want Jacob to get hurt but the silver wolf... She couldn't help but find his fury, the way his muscles flexed and rippled beneath his shimmering silver fur, and the dark, fierce look in his eyes undeniably sexy. It was magnificent, and she felt rather bad that in a way she didn't want this moment to end.

However when his teeth got far too close to her brother's throat for her liking Rachel leapt forward and shoved herself between the pair. With her back to her brother she snarled at the silver wolf, making sure he got a good view of her sharp teeth. To her surprise he instantly backed down, his body language going to casual and relaxed within seconds. Rachel blinked a few times before raising her head, standing properly, and turned to look at Jacob who looked very angry. His body was extremely tense, and to her it looked like he was barely holding himself back from attacking the silver wolf again.

'Jacob, what is going on?'

She asked firmly, her eyes staring into his in an attempt to get her brother's attention off the silver wolf and onto her.

'Ask him!'

Jacob snapped, her gaze flickering back to the wolf behind her with a growl.

'JACOB!'

Rachel snapped, leaping forward until they were nose to nose.

'I am not asking him. I am asking you. What is going on? Who is that?'

With those words said, Jacob finally put his full concentration on his sister. A lupine smirk rose on his lips as he realised she had no idea who that was. This was going to be satisfying.

'You don't recognise him, Rach? Thats Paul Lahote.'

He told her, and with that Rachel froze. If she had been in human form her face would have paled. That was Paul Lahote? Anger soon surged through her and in a second she had swung around, lunging right at Paul with her teeth bared. Her target - his throat.

Author's Note: I am so sorry for not posting a chapter to any of my stories for so long. I had muse, a lot of it really, but it just didn't seem to want to get down on paper as it were. Anyway, the Twilight Rachel/Paul muse decided to co-operate today, so here is a brand new chapter. I hope you all like it, and I love all of your reviews. Please keep them coming! Without you and the reviews, I wouldn't be as happy as I am to be able to share this with all of you wonderful readers. You really do inspire me!