Collin and I got into his car and drove over to the beach again. It was kind of crazy (well, really crazy) that only this morning, a few mere hours ago, we were on this same road, heading toward the same place, to meet the same people (more or less), under completely different circumstances. As cliché as it may have sounded, I was amazed at how much could change in so little time.
Not really in the mood for talking, I flipped on the CD player and turned it way up. My brother had odd taste in music. You never really knew what kind of music you were gonna get with him. It could be some really obscure indie rock band or Beyonce or a musical soundtrack, or tribal music. You just never knew. The song playing now was "Watch the Sky" by Something Corporate, one of my favorite songs by one of my favorite bands. I tilted my head back on the headrest, closing my eyes and letting the music wash over me, clearing my too-cluttered mind.
We made it to the beach far too quickly. As Collin pulled into the parking lot and parked, my heart sped up, and my hands got sweatier than they had been the first time a boy had told me he wanted to hold my hand. Collin put his arm around my shoulders and held me close to him as we walked down the beach to where the – I refused to think pack- boys awaited us. I shivered, but not from the cold. I still felt excruciatingly hot, despite the freezing temperature.
Around the campfire sat the boys- my childhood friends (and enemies, I inwardly chuckled, when I saw Paul). They were laughing at something Jared had said, and even though I was nervous, I smiled. It was so perfectly normal to see them all sitting there. I could almost forget the freakish reason for this little meeting.
"Hey, little sister," Brady grinned, loping over to where Collin and I were. I gave him a quick hug, and he grabbed my chin affectionately. "Don't be so nervous," he teased. "We won't bite."
I half-smiled at him. "Oh, I know that. Believe me, I'm not scared of what you'll do to me," I paused for effect. "I'm scared for what'll happen to you if faced with my wrath," I joked, grinning devilishly.
The boys roared in laughter at my remark. I could feel my normal joking-self returning, a bit. After all, I thought, these were my friends. Why was I so freaked out about being here? They weren't any different than they had been a few hours ago. Sure, I knew now that they morphed into giant hairy canines, but now so did I. What was the big deal?
Sam, the "alpha", sat in the obvious head spot of the campfire circle. "Come sit, Catie," he said, a small smile in his eyes. "We have lots to talk about."
Sam had always been very reserved, but he had always also seemed to think himself superior to the rest of us. Granted, he was much older than Collin and I, but even so, I didn't like the way he liked to act as though he was better than us. He was so stern, too, far beyond what he should've been at twenty-three years old. He used to scold us sometimes, especially during the summers when he lifeguarded. He would strut around the neighborhood pool as if he owned the place, and we would make fun of him behind his back. Naturally, he would hear our snickering and make us sweep or do some sort of chore that he was supposed to do. There was always lot of bickering on my part, but Sam would always get the last say, which made me go home and rant about him until I couldn't breathe.
Luckily, we'd all grown up a lot since then.
Collin pushed me forward, and I sat between him and Brady, directly across from Sam. Sam looked at me directly, which made me want to squirm, but I held still and kept eye contact. "So, you're one of us now."
"Yeah," I said. Thank you, Captain Obvious…
"Well, I guess we should start at the beginning."
Brady nudged me with his elbow, and I turned to see him roll his eyes. I had to stifle the giggle rising up in me. "Um yeah, Sam, can we just get on with this?"
"Of course. Well, I'm sure Collin explained some things to you, did he not?"
"Yes, Sam, he told me of our beginnings with the spirit warriors and all of that. I understand, mostly. Can you tell me one thing, though?" Sam nodded, and I asked the question that most bothered me. "Why me? Why are there only two known "she" wolves? Is there something wrong with us?"
Sam took a deep breath. "No, I don't think something is wrong with you. We don't have a real reason, honestly. One thing we think is that maybe you are just the strongest females that our tribe has, both physically and emotionally, even though you aren't full Quileute. The packs need females to balance us out, keep us steady. I guess that's why Leah phased and then, now that our packs our split, you phased."
I nodded slowly, taking it all in. What Sam said made sense. The packs might get overly violent if not for a woman to keep them stable and calm. But even so, couldn't some other girl do the job just as well as me? I thought about voicing this question of mine, but decided against it. I knew there wasn't an answer. I knew that even if there were, it wouldn't change my fate. Why not just accept it?
"I'm sure Collin already told you about the Cullens?" Sam asked, interrupting my thoughts.
"Sort of. They're vampires. I guess I should've known; they're too pale and beautiful and perfect to be anything else, right?" The boys laughed softly in agreement, and Sam nodded, a condescending smile on his face.
"Yes, they are far too perfect to be human, aren't they? Many years ago, when our great-grandfathers were shape-shifters, the Cullens came to town. Our great-grandfathers were fearful of them, because they knew what they were. They were the Cold Ones- the Pale Faces. They sucked the blood of humans, feeding on lives. This worried the shape-shifters who protected the community. They didn't want to put their people in danger." At this point in Sam's monologue, Brady faux-yawned, long and loud. I wanted to laugh, but didn't, for fear of angering Sam. Instead, I cut in.
"Right. So they made the treaty, banning them from our land. I know the story," I smiled.
"I'm sure you do," Sam smiled back. "Still, the treaty exists, though we often find ourselves on a fault line with it. One quake on their part- or on ours- will bring it all tumbling down. Luckily, our alliance is stronger now, because of Jacob's imprinting on Renesmee and Seth's close friendship with them," Sam nodded towards Seth, who grinned shamelessly.
"But this alliance- it only exists with the Cullens, doesn't it?" I asked.
"Correct, other vampires aren't bound by the contract. But I think our defenses are well enough that we could take down any 'non-vegetarian' vampires if needed," he grinned, and the rest of the pack mimicked him.
"Non-vegetarian vampires?" I asked, incredibly puzzled.
Seth spoke up before Sam, "The Cullens have a different diet than most vampires. They prefer to exist on solely animal blood, in order to protect human lives. They like to refer to themselves as 'vegetarian' vampires, which would mean normal vamps- the ones that drink human blood- are 'non-vegetarians'."
"Ah, I gotcha. So… is there anything else I need to know?"
"Well," Jared said, an easy grin spreading on his face, "you should probably hear something about patrols."
The rest of the pack smirked in agreement, obviously enjoying some inside joke I wasn't privy too. "Patrols?"
"Patrols," Brady sighed, turning towards me. He still wore an impish grin on his handsome face. "Patrols are what keep you up at night, all alone in the woods. Patrols are what we each dread, day after day. The true bane of our existence." Collin and Seth laughed loudly at this. Still not quite understanding, I raised my right eyebrow. "Yes, my dear, you should be afraid. Very afraid."
"Enough of the dramatics, Brady. Will you just spit it out already?"
"Fine, but you asked for it. Each of us is scheduled to patrol the borders of the rez, you know, make sure no vamps come in and massacre the people of the town while they sleep," he laughed. "Basically, all you do is stay up all night, one wolf for every few miles in order to protect the town. It gets incredibly boring, not to mention you're completely beat the next day." Sam looked at him sternly, and Brady added, faking seriousness in order to appease the alpha, "But it is completely necessary. There won't be any slacking on the job."
We all laughed, even Sam, because Brady's impersonation of our alpha was dead-on.
"So I guess I need to be scheduled for patrol?" I fake-gulped, just to tease the boys.
"Yes, you can 'intern' with Brady on Saturday nights. Is that alright with you?"
"Sure, that's fine," I told Sam, and Brady gave me a high-five.
"I guess we're almost done here?" Sam asked then, looking around at each pack member.
"Almost," Brady grinned.
Paul and Jared shared a mischievous glance, and Seth laughed. "We still have to do a formal induction."
"An induction?" I said nervously.
"Oh yes, Little Sister, an induction," Seth grinned. They then proceeded to turn away from me, strip off all their clothes (which was… awkward), and phase into their wolf forms. "I suppose you expect me to do the same?" I asked anxiously, already knowing the answer.
I swear, the Seth-wolf and the Brady-wolf laughed- well, more barked- at my silly question. "Alright, alright," I told them, before skipping off to hide behind a large boulder. I could hear more laugh-barking at my expense, as I took off my clothes and phased. Phasing was easier the second time, I didn't feel quite so out-of-control. It almost felt …. natural.
Weird.
When I was in my wolf form, the laughter inside my head was overwhelming. I could hear all their voices, all at once. Could you guys tone it down a bit?
Sure, sure, anything for you, Little Sister, sent the Brady voice. The laughter lowered, but it was still considerably obnoxious.
It does take awhile to get used to, the Sam voice said sympathetically. I guess he wasn't so bad after all. He was at least trying to make me feel better.
So, is this all there is to the induction? Phasing and hearing everyone's thoughts? I honestly hoped that was it. But I should've known better.
There was another round of laughter- once again, at my expense- before Collin spoke up. Sorry, Cay, I saw his wolf-form grin in that weird lupine way. There is still one thing you have to do.
They all laughed, and all I could think was, This is gonna be bad.
But 'the induction' wasn't bad. In fact, it was incredibly exhilarating. We all marched up a cliff, way to the tippy top, where each wolfboy proceeded to jump off.
This didn't really scare me. I'd been cliff-diving a million and one times before. But I had always been human when I'd cliff-dived before. Now, I was a rather large wolf, not at all accustomed to my size or strength. I should've been terrified.
But I wasn't.
Collin and Brady waited for me to be ready, and then, we all jumped together. I felt invincible as we fell and when we collided with the cold water, a huge rush of adrenaline hit me fast. I could hear the laughter of the boys in my head as I ran off the effects of the fall. The feelings rushing through me were incredible. I felt like I was on top of the world.
Amazing, huh? Brady sent, coming and brushing against my shoulder. I nodded my wolf-head, which wasn't feeling quite so heavy or weird anymore. I was getting used to the whole wolf-thing, which was definitely a good thing, because I had a long time of it ahead of me.
Author's note: So this- at first- was a long burdening chapter to write (which is why it took me awhile to finish), but once, I got started, it was really fun. And I got most of the important, boring stuff out of the way. The rest of the fic is going to be so much fun to write ( I outlined today, and I'm more excited about this fic than I've been about any of my other ones, haha), so I hope you guys enjoy it! In case I don't post again the rest of the week, I'd like to wish all of you a merry Christmas! Hope Santa is good to you :)