A/N: Just for future reference, I'll probably normally update once a week. The first few chapters were an exception because I had them all written out before publishing. Also this story has officially broken 100 follows! Thank you guys so much! You have no idea how happy that makes me.

I still don't own Twilight

Not wanting to watch poor Kat undergo any more torture, and figuring the pain meds would knock her out anyway, I left the room entirely, making my way to the entry area and sitting on a step of the grand staircase.

"Mind if I join you?" I looked up to see Alice shifting from foot to foot, her gaze flying around the room.

"Go ahead." I replied, scooting over to give her some room.

"So…"

"So." Well, this wasn't awkward at all. "Where's the rest of your family? Did they clear out because of the blood?"

"Actually no. Your scent doesn't make us thirsty for some reason."

"Really?"

"Really. It's hard to explain, but I guess for vampires, thirsts like a burning, similar to a raging fire in the back of our throats. Humans stroke that fire, make it burn hotter so that we need to quell it somehow. But with your kind the fire doesn't burn anymore than usual." She explained, looking down at the ground.

"That's interesting."

"Yeah." She glanced up at me but quickly glanced away as soon as she saw me looking at her. "We need to talk about all this still."

"Yes, but I think that's more of a private conversation. One where both our families aren't listening." I told her, not liking the idea of an entire house of eavesdroppers.

"I agree. But it needs to be soon." She gave me a small smile, which I returned after a second of hesitation. A moment later Carlisle walked into the entrance area and made his way over to us.

"How is she?"

"She's asleep. Her lacerations were already beginning to heal, so I'd wager that she'll be fine very soon." He informed me with a reassuring smile.

"Thank you."

"It was the least I could do considering my son was the cause. Again, I am very sorry for his actions."

"It wasn't your fault. Edward decided to be an ass, and none of us could have changed that." I assured him, and he nodded after a slight hesitation.

"I have to ask though. I noticed Kat's exceptional healing rate, but…" He trailed off, but I knew what he was getting at.

"The scars?" He nodded. "When I was first changed Kat told me that there are a few things that can permanently scar a shifter. One is the bite that changed someone. Another is another shifter."

"Was she attacked and changed?" Alice asked.

"No, Kat was born a shifter." Alice opened her mouth, no doubt to ask another question, but I quickly cut her off. "It's not my place to tell you about Kat's past. Hell, it took her two months before she'd even tell me. All I can say is that she had a rough time growing up."

"I understand." Carlisle told me before heading upstairs to change his bloody clothes.

"Were you two really together before my family came back?" Alice asked once her father left.

I took a deep breath, not wanting to dwell on the memories, but answering her all the same. "Yes."

"Is that why she hates me so much?" Alice asked in a small voice, and when I looked over to her I saw her head hung in shame.

"Actually, no." Her head shot up and she gave me a questioning look. "Kat understands what an Imprint does to a person, so she doesn't hold that against either of us. But she has her reasons for hating all vampires. It's not just you."

"That's reassuring." Alice said with sarcasm.

"If it makes you feel any better, they're good reasons." I laughed a little at her expression.

Alice was about to say something else, but stopped short when a stumbling Kat came into the room. She slowly made her way over towards us, almost falling multiple times during the journey. Once she did finally make her way to us she all but collapsed into my lap.

"Kat, what are you doing?"

"Hi Bells." She slurred out, sounding strangely like she was drunk. I felt a slight breeze and looked up to see Alice gone, but she quickly reappeared with a shirt in her hand, which she threw at Kat.

"You could at least put some clothes on." Alice said with her arms crossed.

"She's spunky." Kat giggled, then leaned to whisper in my ear. Or at least she tried to whisper but it came out at normal volume anyway. "She's not half bad for a bloodsucker. But don't tell her I told you that, it's a secret." She pulled away and began laughing uncontrollably.

"What's the matter with her?" Alice asked, but I saw the barley hidden smile on her face, either in response to the statement or at the other girl's actions, I didn't really know.

"I don't know." I answered as I tried to get Kat to put on the shirt.

"I'm assuming the vampire gave her morphine." I looked up to see Rikki leaning in the doorway.

"And?"

"Kat has a weird reaction to morphine. It makes her act drunk. Like a teenager at her first frat party drunk." Rikki answered, making her way over to us to help Kat get the clothing on. "Made it hard for her back when she was 16 or so."

"They actually gave her pain meds back then?" I asked, thinking back to what Kat told me about her time when she was first shifting.

"She was the best, so she got the best." Rikki answered once we finally got the shirt on the girl.

"What are you two talking about?" Alice asked with a huff.

"Her past." Rikki answered simply, then turned to Kat. "Why aren't you asleep Kat?"

"I tried, but the dogs wouldn't stop barking." Kat slurred out with a frown.

"Dogs?" I asked her.

"Yep. Woof, woof." She smiled up at me, making me notice her canines had elongated into fangs, a common response to danger. When shifters sensed danger was near certain unconscious changes happened, whether it be our canines elongating, our claws beginning to grow, or our eyes flashing the color of our cats'. So the fact that Kat was having that reaction meant something was coming for us.

"Shit, you think it's the pack?" Rikki asked.

"Could be. They might not know the Cullens are back." I answered.

"The pack?" I looked back to see Carlisle descending the stairs.

"The shifters from La Push. They think we're a threat, or at least our scent is. We've never actually gotten to speak to them, Kat tried a few times to speak to their Alpha, but every time we got close they would start growling and snarling. There are at least seven of them, and only four of us, so we didn't want to risk a fight." I explained, standing up and trying to steady Kat. "Kat, is the barking getting louder or quieter?"

"Louder. There're footsteps too." She had the closest thing to a frown she could manage on her face. "Why won't they let me sleep Bells?"

"They're gonna go away soon, don't worry." I assured the blonde who was using me as a support. "We have to get her somewhere safe, she can't fight like this." I told Rikki.

"If it is the wolves from the Reservation then they're in violation of the treaty." Carlisle spoke up. "If they come here and we can show them that my family is back and then they'd have to leave. Your pride can hide in here until we get them off our land."

"Alright, but we'll be ready to fight just incase." Rikki told him.

"I'll get her upstairs." I looked over as Esme suddenly appeared, arms outstretched to take Kat. After a second of hesitation I handed the drugged Alpha over and the two disappeared up the stairs. Esme appeared after a moment, informing us that Kat was safely asleep in a spare bedroom.

"I can hear them now." Alice spoke up from the front door where she had been keeping guard. "How did she hear them so much sooner than the rest of us?"

"Kat has the best hearing out of any of us." Danni informed her, coming to stand by Rikki and me.

"Impressive." Carlisle murmured. "Now you three stay here and we'll go outside to meet the wolves." The three of us nodded and, as soon as the Cullens left the house, made our way to the front wall to keep a close ear on the altercation.

At first all I could hear was heavy footfalls of large beasts. I mean really, how did they ever expect to track anything when they sounded like an elephant tromping through the woods? Then a myriad of growling and barking sounded through the clearing surrounded the Cullens' mansion.

"Where is the beast?" I heard a man ask, his voice rough and tense.

"I have to say I don't know what you are referring to. I also must point out that you are on our land, and therefore in violation of the treaty." Carlisle spoke up keeping his voice very calm and level.

"We have been tracking the scent of something for the past three months. Its scent is all over this clearing." The male's voice spoke up. I was assuming this was the Alpha as all the other noises I could here were huffing and growling of large animals, meaning he was the only one in human form.

"Again, I don't know what this creature your talking about is. My family just arrived here a few hours ago, and we didn't see anything out of the ordinary." Carlisle replied.

"Why are you back?" I heard another voice bite out, this one uncomfortably familiar to me. It was a voice I used to associate with warmth and happiness, but recently it reminded me of another one that left me all alone. The voice belonged to none other than Jacob Black. Well, I guess I knew why he stopped calling…

"Why we're back is our own business dog." That was definitely Rosalie. Jake's only response was a low growling.

"I see you added to your coven since the last time you were here." Alpha spoke up.

"If you're insinuating that they changed me, then you're wrong." Marina said. "I was a vampire for years before the Cullens found me. So there was no breach of your treaty." I was impressed at how calm she was when speaking to a pack of giant wolves that wanted nothing more than to rip her apart.

"Speaking of your coven, aren't you missing one?" Jacob spoke up again.

"Edward is out hunting." Carlisle simply replied.

"Bullshit!" Jacob snarled. "He's with Bella, isn't he?" It took everything I had not to laugh out loud at that. As if I wanted that asshole within ten feet of me. I saw both Rikki and Danni also trying to keep in snickers.

"No, he's out hunting. Are you really so dense that simple language escapes you?" Alice mocked him, and I found myself smirking at her words.

"After all the pain he's caused her, he shouldn't be allowed anywhere near her!" Well, I could agree with Jacob about that. "You should have never come back!"

"Jacob, enough." Alpha barked at Jake. "We didn't know your family," he bit out the word as though it caused him pain, "was back in Forks. We will leave, but if you do find the thing running around I suggest you send it our way. I'm sure my pack would have an easier time with it than you would."

After a tense moment I heard the sound of the pack retreating, and I finally let out a breath I didn't even realize I had been holding. Danni, Rikki, and I all stood up, stretching out our legs after crouching by the front door for a bit too long. The Cullens slowly made their way back into the house, Alice immediately coming to stand by me. And, surprisingly, I found it reassuring to have her in my presence, as if her near me could calm my nerves.

"They shouldn't be a problem again, but from their reaction I'd stay far away from their land." Carlisle told me.

"Trust me, we want nothing to do with them. How many wolves were there anyway?" I asked.

"Ten." He answered and I cringed, knowing full well there was no way the pride would be a match for that many. "It was odd though, they were all different sizes, but not much variation. Except for one, he was so much shorter and slimmer than the rest."

"He was probably a she then." Rikki spoke up.

"But only the males have the gene passed on to them." Carlisle said with a perplexed expression.

"Either the wolf was very young, or was a she." Rikki said again.

"Who's a she?" I looked to see Kat walking down the stairs, wiping sleep from her eyes. "Why's everyone gathered in the entryway? And why was I upstairs?"

"Ah, sleeping beauty awakens!" Emmett declared with a booming laugh.

"Huh?" Her face scrunched up in confusion.

"You passed out after Carlisle gave you morphine." Danni elaborated, and Kat's expression turned to one of horror.

"Did I do anything while under?" She asked tentatively.

"Oh no." Alice spoke up and skipped over to the anxious shifter, throwing an arm around her shoulders. "And don't worry, I don't think your half bad either, for a shapeshifter and all." It looked rather ridiculous considering Kat was almost a foot taller than Alice, and the fact that Kat now looked horrified at the statement.

"I have no idea what I said, but I didn't mean any of it!" She told Alice, then shot me a look.

At that point I couldn't help it, I busted up laughing, doubling over from the situation and the poor girl's face.

"Don't worry Kat, it really wasn't that bad." Danni spoke up when it was apparent I couldn't.

"What wasn't that bad?" She asked, slipping out from under Alice's arm.

"Oh, you know, you just told me you wanted to be 'bestest friends ever'." Alice said, the words extremely exaggerated.

"I did not!" Kat exclaimed.

"How would you know?" Alice shot back.

"Bella?" I managed to get a hold of myself long enough to see Kat look at me with a pleading expression on her face.

"No, you just told me that you thought Alice wasn't that bad. Then complained about the wolves barking and keeping you up." I broke and told her, figuring she had been through enough today.

"The wolves?" She asked.

"All taken care of. They won't come onto the Cullens' land as long as the Cullens are here." I told her.

"Good." She nodded. "Now, I feel like we've overstayed our welcome a bit." She told Carlisle with a sheepish smile. "I'm sorry about passing out in someone's bed."

"That's alright. It's not like we sleep in them anyway." He told her with a smile.

"Then we'll get going. Thank you for being understanding about all of this, and for not chasing us out of your territory." Kat walked up to him and held out her hand, which he took.

"As long as you don't cause any trouble, I don't see why it would even be a problem for you to be here."

"Oh, one last thing before we leave." Kat stopped on her way to the door. "On nights of the full moon I suggest you don't hunt. We shouldn't have a problem with your family since you're all family of one of our pride's Imprints, but sometimes we don't have full control over our instincts. Especially on the night of the full moon, that's when we're the most like actual animals."

"Fascinating, you have to shift on the full moon?" Kat nodded at Carlisle's question. "I would love to learn more about your species in the future if you wouldn't mind."

"I'm sure you will. Family of an Imprint becomes family to the pride." Kat told him. "We'll see you around."

"Kat." I walked up to my Alpha, speaking as low as I could to avoid others overhearing. "I need to talk to Alice, so I'm going to stay behind."

"Alright." She agreed after a moment. "Just be careful."

With a nod the rest of the pride left the house, leaving me standing in the middle of a room surrounded by vampires all staring at me.

"Alice, can we take a walk?" I asked her, trying to ignore the suggestive looks Emmett was sending me, or the smirk on Rosalie's face.

"Absolutely." With that the little vampire took my hand and drug me into the woods.