Old Quil's place was much warmer than her own sodden, muddy driveway. A fire was lit in the lounge, and that was where they congregated. Charlotte was fed and bathed by somebody who had been fetched from the meeting hall, and put to bed in front of the fire. Still, she shivered and sniffled.

Bella had slipped around in the bathroom getting warm and clean, before emerging to blankets and steaming fish pie. It was too early for dinner, and she shouldn't have felt hungry, but maybe it was the excitement of murdering another human being that made her scarf her meal in about three spoonfuls.

"It was murder, wasn't it?"

She voiced miserable thoughts to Grandfather.

"You'll have to tell Dad, and then he'll arrest me." Realising the food she'd consumed was sticking to the back of her throat, she pushed the bowl towards the coffee table and lent back into the couch. This may be the last night she would spend in her hometown. She'd better enjoy this comfort while she could.

Didn't Washington State still use the death penalty?

Her Grandfather saved her from this train of thought. "It wasn't murder. It was self-defence." He nodded to Charlotte on the opposite couch. "You saved your sister."

"I didn't mean to go for her." She told him, worriedly. "But when I did, it was like she just… broke."

"Vampires do that," He muttered. "After the muscle and tissue rots away, they're left with this hard exterior."

"Vampires?"

"Cold ones. Don't you remember the stories, Bella?"

She did remember the stories. Everybody knew those stories. They were extolled proudly at every bonfire, but nobody believed them to be true. Cold ones; giant shape-shifting wolves – the stuff of legend.

The rain-spattered wolf remained keeping watch on the back-porch steps. Every so often, the enormous head would swing around and he would meet her eyes. His gaze seemed intelligent.

"That's what you killed." Grandfather told her. "That's why Ephraim is keeping watch over there." He pointed to the wolf. "Because there are some still on the loose and we don't want any coming further in."

"You named your wolf Ephraim?" She barely felt able to concentrate. She couldn't think that these nightmarish people were still around. It made her skin crawl. She could only focus on the hilarity of the situation: that somehow she had attacked a vampire person and won; that her clothes had been shredded in the process and Grandfather had got naked in solidarity; and now Grandfather was telling her of his wolf which was named after one of his best friends.

Maybe it wasn't named after his best friend, maybe it was named after his ancestor? She let loose a little giggle and felt the breath leave her lungs, and surprisingly, tears spring into her eyes.

"He isn't my wolf, Bella. He isn't even really a wolf. He is Ephraim Black II." Grandfather reached out to cup her chin. He pressed the back of his hand into her forehead and grimaced.

"He is not Mr Black. Mr Black is human." She giggled a little more, helpless to catch her breath. The wolf on the steps seemed to roll his eyes.

"Mr Black is a shifter, just the same as you and me." Grandfather's voice had hardened. He looked stern. She couldn't fathom any of it.

"But I am not a wolf." Bella felt as though she was repeating herself. Surely they had been over this before. "I am human. And you are human. Although you were briefly a wolf." She snickered again. "But I'm sure I must've bumped my head or something, because that's impossible."

"Maybe you did." Someone else had joined the conversation now. It was Old Quil – the owner of this cushy couch she was sinking into, giggling. He leant over her and looked into her tired eyes. "Has she eaten, Levi?"

Grandfather nodded. "She doesn't believe we are wolves."

"We can show you, if you don't believe us."

"I don't believe you." Maybe it was rude to laugh at them, for both their faces darkened, but as Grandfather hauled her into his arms and out onto the porch, and Old Quil stripped his tunic, Bella did wonder when the tribal elders had become so engaged in exhibitionism.

A/N: Thank you to everyone who has reviewed and favourited so far. Your support is so nice! I write cathartically, so to be appreciated for what I write is lovely.

To guest reviewer Debbie Hicks, many thanks for your tips for chapter 4. I have deleted the review because I think you should get an account, write that up, and publish it as your own story. Let me know when you've done so, I'd like to read it.