Paul rubbed the back of his neck, and glanced at Jacob who stood with one arm clamped tightly around his sister and the other shoved into his pockets nodding for him to continue.
"Ah, well it's kind of hard to explain." Paul murmured. "I guess…I guess I could just show you." Paul pulled off his t-shirt and pulled at the button of his shorts.
"Whoa, what exactly are you doing?" Rachel turned her head, and held hands in front of her eyes and Jacob growled.
"Shit, sorry I wasn't thinking!" Paul apologized quickly. Clutching the waist band of his shorts, he disappeared behind a tree.
Jacob pulled her back, placing himself slightly in front her, head tilted towards the trees before he lowered his mouth to her ear. "All the stories? They're true." Rachel sucked in a breath. "Vampires exist and some of us…some of us can turn into wolves."
At the moment, movement in front of her where Paul had disappeared caught Rachel's eyes. Jacob felt her tense under his arm as she spotted the large grey wolf push through the brush and step slowly towards them.
Paul could hear her heart hammering in her chest, and the shorts breaths that she was struggling to slow. He stopped a few feet away from her, and sank down to his stomach and onto his side, showing complete submission and vulnerability.
"Jake?" She whispered, grasping at her brothers arm, her eyes never leaving the animal in front of her. "What is that? Where's Paul?"
"He's right there, Rach." Jacob nodded towards him. "It's all true. Everything dad ever told us, is all true."
Rachel let out a shuddering breath and shook her head, "I can't…I can't." She stammered, turning and running back home.
Paul stood and let his human form take over, quickly reaching behind the trees to gather his discarded clothes, pulling the shorts back on and grabbing his shirt and shoes.
"She didn't believe it?" It was a statement more than a question and Jacob shrugged.
"Give her a while, okay?" Jacob said softly. "She always been the practical one, who believed in firm facts not myths and legends. When me or Beck's had bad dreams she was always the one to prove that there weren't any monsters hiding in the closet or under the bed and you just proved that we exist."
Jacob was sitting in his room that night when someone pounded on his door. Not waiting for an answer, Rachel barged in.
"That was a shitty thing to do!" She screeched. "It wasn't clever and it wasn't funny!"
"What the hell are you talking about?" He scowled, ducking quickly when she hurled an old little league trophy at his head.
"What do you think I'm talking about?" She exclaimed, stalking towards him, and Jacob decided there and then, that no vampire was scarier than his older sister.
"I seriously have no idea!" He ducked again, his bedside lamp shattering against the wall. He took the chance to dart from the room and out to the porch, where he found Paul, breathless from running and pulling his clothes back on.
"What's going on? I heard Rachel screaming is she okay?" He breathed out.
"Physically yes," Jacob nodded, "but mentally? I think maybe we fucked her up a little."
"You!" Rachel growled as she stalked through the door, pointing at Paul who seemed to be battling the need to go towards her and the urge to run away as her finger nail pressed into his skin. "I was actually worried about you, you stupid little…"
She screeched and hurled her clenched fist into his bare chest. Paul winced at the thump and Jacob's mouth opened in horror.
Rachel's eyebrows knitted together, her face turning red as she held her breath. "Jesus, fucking Christ!" She yelled cupping her fist in her other hand and stamping her foot, "Holy shhh… that fucking hurt!"
Jacob ran inside mumbling about an ice pack and Paul stepped towards, grabbing her wrist and pulling the injured hand under the light.
"Get off me!" She growled trying to yank it back, but he tightened his grip slightly.
"Can you straighten your fingers?" He asked trying to prise her fingers from her palm, and Rachel continued to curse under her breath and she tried to flex them. "You shouldn't have done that. Part of what we are is that we don't hurt easily, and we heal fast…unlike you."
"Would you stop with that already!" Rachel hissed, finally pulling her hand back as Jake came back carrying a towel filled with ice. "I don't know exactly what it is your taking, legal or not, but they are just stories and if this is a joke then wasn't funny to begin with!"
"Fine," Paul growled "I'll prove it and this time you watch." He grabbed her good arm and pulled her gently round the back of the house where he couldn't be seen.
"Will you stop taking your clothes off in front of me?" Rachel exclaimed, clutching her hand to her chest as he began to remove his shorts again.
"You'll get over it!" He growled back, dropping them to his ankles and Rachel blushed as she tried unsuccessfully to divert her eyes. "Just stay back-don't move at all!"
His skin began to ripple and shimmer as she watched, turning from taught, tanned flesh into grey fur. His limbs lengthened and twisted and in seconds, where Paul once stood, there was a wolf.
"Do you believe us now?" Jacob asked from behind her, making her jump.
She frowned at him. "You too?" And he nodded.
"I'll be inside if you need me." He said softly, throwing a quick glance in Paul's direction and he nodded in return.
Rachel watched her brother leave, listening to the door close before she turned back to the wolf, who sat on it haunches waiting for her.
She stepped forward and Paul leaned away slightly, the fear of hurting her still fresh in his mind.
"Can I?…I just want…" She stammered. "Can I feel you?"
Paul's eyes widened, but he nodded, stilling his body as she carefully approached.
She breathed hard as she raised her good hand to his nose, hovering above it.
He was growing slightly impatient for her touch and nudged her hand and she jumped back and giggled with shock.
"It's cold!" She chuckled, looking at her palm. Still smiling she put her hand back on his nose and slowly ran it up his snout, between his eyes and pushed her fingers into the hair on the top of his head.
The wolfs eyes fell shut with her touch and a large sigh escaped its mouth. Paul felt relief as her fingers twisted his fur.
"Holy shit! You're really a wolf, it's all rea!." She whispered to no one in particular, and Paul nodded his head and grunted slightly.
"You can't talk like this?" She asked and shook her head. "Of course you can't. You can understand me though, right?"
Paul opened his mouth and let his tongue flop out in what he hoped resembled a smile, and Rachel chuckled slightly.
"Are there more of you? Beside's you and…and Jacob?" She frowned slightly at her brothers name.
The wolf stood slowly and Rachel backed away, watching as Paul reappeared. She watched the floor as he pulled his shorts up over his hips and gently guided her to the porch steps, where he sat, looking up at her.
"There are ten of us in total, for now at least anyway." Paul shrugged as her head shot up.
"Ten? Who?" She asked, wincing slightly when her took her wrist and pulled her down next to him. He picked up a makeshift ice pack, that lay discarded on the boards and held it to her hand.
"Well me and Jake obviously, but he's kinda of the Beta of the pack and Sam's Alpha, the leader." He looked up at her face and she was watching him intently. " Quil, Embry, Jared, Leah, Seth and the twins." He finished.
"Seth? As in Clearwater?" Rachel exclaimed. "But he's like, fourteen!"
Paul nodded and inspected her knuckles. "He was thirteen when it happened, just after Harry passed, the emotion is kind of the final trigger for it all. With Seth and Leah it was grief, Jake got angry and I was always angry." He chuckled dryly. "Still am most of the time."
"Is that what happened earlier?" She asked softly, when he finally met her eyes and he nodded.
"I'll break it down for you." Paul sighed " A couple of years ago a coven of vampires came to live in Forks, on the other side of the forest, and their presence re-activated the wolf gene. Sam went first, then Jared, me, Embry, your brother…At first the change is hard to control and the slightest thing will flip the switch but it get easier the longer you do it, not that Jake ever had that problem."
"A wolf gene?" Rachel gasped "But if Jake has it does that mean that I do? What happens if I stay here?"
"Well so far everyone who phased was under twenty, Sam's the oldest and he was nineteen when it happened." He shrugged and smiled "It's unlikely it'll happen to you, especially now."
"What's that supposed to mean!" She scowled, as Jacob stepped out onto the porch.
"Hey, it's getting late." He informed them.
"I wasn't aware I had a curfew?" Rachel said turning to him.
"You don't, but we have work to do." Jacob turned to Paul. "Sam called, the last patrol picked up faint trail. It could be old, but he want us to double up just to be on the safe side."
Paul nodded and stood as Jacob walked into the shadows, gently releasing Rachel's hand. "I don't thinks it's broken, but you might want to get it checked out any. The last person that did that ended up with a cracked knuckle." He glanced at Jacob and chuckled when he scowled, but when he turned back to Rachel his smile was gone. "You can't tell anybody about us, about the pack. Not your friends, not even your sister. Only certain people are allowed to know."
"My dad?" Rachel whispered.
"He knows," Paul nodded "He's an elder now and it was kind of hard to miss Jake bursting into a wolf in his back yard!"
A small bark came from behind them and they turned to see the head of a large, russet wolf peeking around the corner of the house.
"Jacob!" She gasped, and the wolf's tongue flopped between it's teeth.
Paul laughed and started towards him. "He'll be back in the morning." he told her as he slipped out of sight.