Author's Note: Another chapter! I wanted to update twice tonight but this chapter is over 4,000 words long even though it's very little of my own writing. Stephenie Meyer and the creators of Life Unexpected own Twilight and Life Unexpected. I don't, obviously. This is , and this story is fanfiction.
P.S. Since Jake never imprinted on Nessie, the pack didn't split. Yes, Nessie still exists.
A stunned silence greeted Embry's outburst. Paul growled at him. Embry laughed at Paul's reaction.
"Oh shut up Paul."
"You shut up Embry." He yelled shaking. Wow, good come back, I thought.
"Paul, why don't you take a walk." Sam told him sounding amused.
Paul looked like that was the last thing he wanted to do but instead of arguing like I expected he spun on his heel and turned heading into the forest of all places.
"What's up his butt?" I asked.
Morgan laughed and everyone else returned to their conversations. I had no idea what an Imprint was. I assumed it was some odd slang that I wasn't familiar with.
"Come on, let's go get something to eat. Girls get first pick otherwise there won't be any food left." Morgan said.
"The guys eat like a pack of wolves." A girl who had long brown hair smiled and Morgan laughed at what seemed to be an inside joke.
After a 15 hour bus ride with a tuna sandwich and three boxes of Sour Patch Kids, I was starving. I piled my plate high with hot dogs, potato salad, and watermelon. Of course my portion was miniscule compared to Seth and the other guys. When I was 11, I lived in a group home with 6 other guys, and I thought those guys were big eaters. They had nothing on these guys.
I think I had everyone's names down, by the time I was done eating. It felt like I was part of a huge family, everyone seemed to know everything about each other. Seth was throwing Marshmallows across the yard while Quil ran around trying to catch them in his mouth. Jared burnt his hand when Tom pushed him into the fire earning him a smack on the head from Kim. Colin and Brady danced around to a "Hip's Don't Lie" for 20 bucks. Just as I was starting to tire Emily's back door opened flooding the yard with artificial light from the kitchen and Charlie and the other elders piled out into the yard.
"Story time!" Seth yelled out. The atmosphere turned suddenly from happy and playful to quiet and excited.
"Stories?" I asked Kim.
"The histories of our tribe," Kim explained. "Going through the legends of how we came to be."
"Riley, you should pay extra attention. You might find some interesting details." Sam leaned over and told me looking at Paul who had been sitting far away from me since he came back.
Everyone sat closer to the fire. Two old men and one older woman sat in front of the fire. A man in the wheelchair cleared his throat.
"That's Billy. My dad." Jake said with his arm around Morgan.
"The Quileutes have been a small people from the beginning," Billy said.
"And we are a small people still, but we have never disappeared. This is because there has always been magic in our blood. It wasn't always the magic of shape-shifting—that came later.
"First, we were spirit warriors."
I leaned against the chair Seth was sitting in. I remembered having to do reports on Greek Myths when I was younger. It had never really caught my interest and I wished nothing better than to drift off to sleep but I paid close attention because of Sam.
"In the beginning, the tribe settled in this harbor and became skilled ship builders and fisherman. But the tribe was small, and the harbor was rich in fish. There were others who coveted our land, and we were too small to hold it. A larger tribe moved against us, and we took to our ships to escape them.
"Kaheleha was not the first spirit warrior, but we do not remember the stories that came before his. We do not remember who was the first to discover this power, or how it had been used before this crisis. Kaheleha was the first great Spirit Chief in our history. In this emergency, Kaheleha used the magic to defend our land.
"He and his warriors left the ship—not their bodies, but their spirits. Their women watched over the bodies and the waves, and the men took their spirits back to our harbor.
"They could not physically touch the enemy tribe, but they had other ways. The stories tell us that they could blow fierce winds into their enemy's camps; they could make a great screaming in the wind that terrified their foes. The stories also tell us that the animals could see the spirit warriors and understand them; the animals would do their bidding.
"Kaheleha took his spirit army and wreaked havoc on the intruders. This invading tribe had packs of big, thick-furred dogs that they used to pull their sleds in the frozen north. The spirit warriors turned the dogs against their masters and then brought a mighty infestation of bats up from the cliff caverns.
"They used the screaming wind to aid the dogs in confusing the men. The dogs and bats won. The survivors scattered, calling our harbor a cursed place. The dogs ran wild when the spirit warriors released them. The Quileutes returned to their bodies and their wives, victorious.
"The other nearby tribes, the Hobs and the Makahs, made treaties with the Quileutes.
"They wanted nothing to do with our magic. We lived in peace with them. When an enemy came against us, the spirit warriors would drive them off.
"Generations passed. Then came the last great Spirit Chief, Taha Aki. He was known for his wisdom, and for being a man of peace. The people lived well and content in his care.
"But there was one man, Utlapa, who was not content."
A low hiss ran through the fire.
It was too dark to see where it came from but I leaned forward now, my interest peaking.
Billy ignored it and went on with the legend.
"Utlapa was one of the Chief Taha Aki's strongest spirit warriors—a powerful man, but a grasping man, too. He thought the people should use their magic to expand their lands, to enslave the Hobs and Makahs and build an empire.
"Now, when the warriors were their spirit selves, they knew each other's thoughts. Taha Aki saw what Utlapa dreamed, and was angry with Utlapa. Utlapa was commanded to leave the people, and never use his spirit self again. Utlapa was a strong man, but the chief's warriors outnumbered him. He had no choice but to leave. The furious outcast hid in the forest nearby, waiting for a chance to get revenge against the chief.
"Even in times of peace, the Spirit Chief was vigilant in protecting his people. Often, he would go for a sacred, secret place in the mountains. He would leave his body behind and sweep down through the forests and along the coast, making sure no threat approached.
"One day when Taha Aki left to perform this duty, Utlapa followed. At first, Utlapa simply planned to kill the chief, but that plan had its drawbacks.
Surely the spirit warriors would seek to destroy him, and they could follow faster than he could escape. As he hid in the rocks and watched the chief prepare to leave his body, another plan occurred to him.
"Taha Aki left his body in the secret place and flew with the wind to keep watch over his people. Utlapa waited until he was sure the chief had traveled some distance with his spirit self.
"Taha Aki knew it the instant that Utlapa had joined him in the spirit world,
And he also knew Utlapa's murderous plan. He raced back to his secret place, but even the winds weren't fast enough to save him. When he returned, his body was already gone.
"Utlapa's body lay abandoned, but Utlapa had not left Taha Aki with an escape—he had cut his own body's throat with Taha Aki's hands. Taha Aki followed his body down the mountain. He screamed at Utlapa, but Utlapa ignored him as if he were mere wind.
"Taha Aki watched with despair as Utlapa took his place as chief of the Quileutes.
For a few weeks, Utlapa did nothing but make sure that everyone believe that he was Taha Aki.
Then the changes began—Utlapa's first edict was to forbid any warrior to enter the spirit world. He claimed that he'd had a vision of danger, but really he was afraid.
"He knew that Taha Aki would be waiting for the chance to tell his story. Utlapa was also afraid to enter the spirit world himself, knowing Taha Aki would quickly claim his body. So his dreams of conquest with a spirit warrior army were impossible, and he sought to content himself with ruling over the tribe. He became a burden—seeking privileges that Taha Aki had never requested, refusing to work alongside his warriors, taking a young second wife and then a third, though Taha Aki's wife lived on—something unheard of in the tribe. Taha Aki watched in helpless fury.
"Eventually, Taha Aki tried to kill his body to save the tribe from Utlapa's excesses. He brought a fierce wolf down from the mountains, but Utlapa hid behind his warriors. When the wolf killed a young man who was protecting the false chief, Taha Aki felt horrible grief. He ordered the wolf away.
"All the stories tell us that it was no easy thing to be a spirit warrior. It was more frightening than exhilarating to be freed from one's body. This is why they only used their magic in times of need. The chief's solitary journeys to keep watch were a burden and a sacrifice. Being bodiless was disorienting, uncomfortable, horrifying. Taha Aki had been away from his body for so long at this point that he was in agony.
"He felt he was doomed—never to cross over to the final land where his ancestors waited, stuck in this torturous nothingness forever. The great wolf followed Taha Aki's spirit as he twisted and writhed in agony through the woods. The wolf was very large for its kind, and beautiful.
"Taha Aki was suddenly jealous of the dumb animal. At least it had a body. At least it had a life. Even life as an animal would be better than this horrible empty consciousness. And then Taha Aki had the idea that changed us all. He asked the great wolf to make room for him, to share. The wolf complied. Taha Aki entered the wolf's body with relief and gratitude. It was not his human body, but it was better than the void of the spirit world.
"As one, the man and the wolf returned to the village on the harbor. The people ran in fear, shouting for the warriors to come. The warriors ran to meet the wolf with their spears.
"Utlapa, of course, stayed safely hidden."
"Taha Aki did not attack his warriors. He retreated slowly from them, speaking with his eyes and trying to yelp the songs of his people. The warriors began to realize that the wolf was no ordinary animal, that there was a spirit influencing it. One older warrior, a man named Yut, decided to disobey the false chief's order and try to communicate with the wolf.
"As soon as Yut crossed to the spirit world, Taha Aki left the wolf—the animal waited tamely for his return. To speak to him. Yut gathered the truth in an instant, and welcomed his true chief home.
"At this time, Utlapa came to see if the wolf had been defeated. When he saw Yut lying lifeless on the ground, surrounded by protective warriors, he realized what was happening. He drew his knife and raced forward to kill Yut before he could return to his body.
"'Traitor,' he screamed, and the warriors did not know what to do.
"The chief had forbidden spirit journeys, and it was the chief's decision how to punish those who disobeyed.
"Yut jumped back into his body, but Utlapa had his knife at his throat and a hand covering his mouth. Taha Aki's body was strong, and Yut was weak with age. Yut could not say even one word to warn the others before Utlapa silenced him forever.
"Taha Aki watched as Yut's spirit slipped away to the final lands that were barred to Taha Aki for all eternity. He felt a great rage, more powerful than anything he'd felt before. He entered the big wolf again, meaning to rip Utlapa's throat out.
"But, as he joined the wolf, the greatest magic happened.
"Taha Aki's anger was the anger of a man. The love he had for his people and the hatred he had for their oppressor were too vast for the wolf's body, too human. The wolf shuddered, and—before the eyes of the shocked warriors and Utlapa—transformed into a man.
"The new man did not look like Taha Aki's body. He was far more glorious. The warriors recognized him at once, though, for they had flown with Taha Aki's spirit.
"Utlapa tried to run, but Taha Aki had the strength of the wolf in his new body. He caught the thief and crushed the spirit from him before he could jump out of the stolen body.
"The people rejoiced when they understood what had happened. Taha Aki quickly set everything right, working again with his people and giving the young wives back to their families. The only change he kept in place was the end of the spirit travels. He knew that it was too dangerous now that the idea of stealing a life was there. The spirit warriors were no more.
"From that point on, Taha Aki was more than either wolf or man. They called him Taha Aki the Great Wolf, or Taha Aki the Spirit Man.
"He led the tribe for many, many years, for he did not age. When danger threatened, he would resume his wolf-self to fight or frighten the enemy. The people dwelt in peace. Taha Aki fathered many sons, and some of these found that, after they had reached the age of manhood, they, too, could transform into wolves. The wolves were all different, because they were spirit wolves and reflected the man they were inside."
"So that's why Sam is all black," Dylan muttered under his breath, grinning. "Black heart, black fur."
I was so involved in the story; it was a shock to come back to the present, to the circle around the roaring fire.
"Black fur?" I asked Jake who was near me.
"Dylan being stupid." He muttered throwing a can of root beer at Dylan's head.
Billy ignored this. "Some of the son became warriors with Taha Aki, and they no longer aged. Others, who did not like the transformation, refused to join the pack of wolf-men. These began to age again, and the tribe discovered that the wolf-men could grow old like anyone else if they gave up their spirit wolves. Taha Aki had lived the span of three old men's lives. He had married a third wife after the deaths of the first two, and found in her his true spirit wife. Though he had loved the others, this was something else. He decided to give up his spirit wolf so that he would die when she did.
"That is how the magic came to us, but it is not the end of the story…"
Billy looked over to the old man who had demanded my name earlier.
"Quil's grandfather and namesake. Old Quil." Jake told me.
"That was the story of the spirit warriors," Old Quil began in a thin tenor voice. "This is the story of the third wife sacrifice.
"Many years after Taha Aki gave up his spirit wolf, when he was an old man, trouble began in the north, with the Makahs. Several young women of their tribe had disappeared, and they blamed it on the neighboring wolves, who they feared and mistrusted. The wolf-men could still read each other's thoughts while in their wolf forms, just like their ancestors had while in their spirit forms. They knew that none of their number was to blame. Taha Aki tried to pacify the Makah chief, but there was too much fear. Taha Aki did not want to have a war on his hands. He was no longer a warrior to lead his people. He charged his oldest wolf-son, Taha Wi, with finding the true culprit before hostilities began.
Taha Wi led the five other wolves in his pack on a search through the mountains, looking for any evidence of the missing Makahs. They came across something they had never encountered before—a strange, sweet scent in the forest that burned their noses to the point of pain."
I thought of the rotting mangos that one of my mother's liked to have. Their sickly sweet smell traveled through the entire house and I would have to sit outside to get away from it.
"They did not know what creature would leave such a scent, but they followed it," Old Quil continued. "They found faint traces of human scent, and human blood, along the trail. They were sure this was the enemy they were searching for.
"The journey took them so far north that Taha Wi sent the pack, the younger ones, back to the harbor to report to Taha Aki.
"Taha Wi and his two brothers did not return. The younger brothers searched for their elders, but found only silence. Taha Aki mourned for his sons. He wished to avenge his sons' death, but he was old. He went to the Makah chief in his mourning clothes and told him everything that had happened. The Makah chief believed his grief, and tensions ended between the tribes.
"A year later, two Makah maidens disappeared from their homes on the same night. The Makahs called on the Quileute wolves at once, who found the same sweet stink all through the Makah village. The wolves went on the hunt again.
"Only one came back. He was Yaha Uta, the oldest son of Taha Aki's third wife, and the youngest in the pack. He brought something with him that had never been seen in all the days of the Quileutes—a strange, cold, stony corpse that he carried in pieces. All who were of Taha Aki's blood, even those who had never been wolves, could smell the piercing smell of the dead creature. This was the enemy of the Makahs.
"Yaha Uta described what had happened; he and his brothers had found the creature, who looked like a man but was hard as a granite rock, with the two Makah daughters. One girl was already dead, white and bloodless on the ground.
The other was in the creature's arms, his mouth at her throat. She may have been alive when they came upon the hideous scene, but the creatures quickly snapped her neck and tossed her lifeless body to the ground when they approached.
"His white lips were covered in her blood, and his eyes glowed red. Yaha Uta described the fierce strength and speed of the creature. One of his brothers quickly became a victim when he underestimated that strength. The creature ripped him apart like a doll. Yaha Uta and his other brother were more wary. They worked together, coming at the creature from the sides, outmaneuvering it.
"They had to reach the very limits of their wolf strength and speed, something that had never been tested before. The creature was hard as stone and cold as ice. They found that only their teeth could damage it. They began to rip small pieces of the creature apart while it fought them.
"But the creature learned quickly, and soon was matching their maneuvers. It got its hands on Yaha Uta's brother. Yaha Uta found an opening on the creature's throat, and he lunged. His teeth tore the head off the creature, but the hands continued to mangle his brother.
"Yaha Uta ripped the creature into unrecognizable chunks, tearing pieces apart in a desperate attempt to save his brother. He was too late, but, in the end, the creature was destroyed.
"Or so they thought. Yaha Uta laid the reeking remains out to be examined by the elders. One severed hand lay beside a piece of the creature's granite arm. The two pieces touched when the elders poked them with sticks, and the hand reached out toward the arm piece, trying to reassemble itself.
"Horrified, the elders set fire to the remains. A great cloud of choking, vile smoke polluted the air. When there was nothing but ashes, they separated the ashes into many small bags and spread them far and wide—some in the ocean, some in the forest, some in the cliff caverns. Taha Aki wore one bag around his neck, so he would be warned if the creature ever tried to put himself together again."
Old Quil paused and looked at Billy. Billy pulled out a leather thong from around his neck. Hanging from the end was a small bag, blackened with age. A few people gasped. I might have been one of them.
Wait, what was I thinking? One of them. I was getting so into the story that I forgot that it wasn't real. It was a story of vampires and werewolves.
"They called it The Cold One, the Blood Drinker, and lived in fear that it was not alone. They only had one wolf protector left, young Yaha Uta.
"They did not have long to wait. The creature had a mate, another blood drinker, who came to the Quileutes seeking revenge.
"The stories say that the Cold Woman was the most beautiful thing human eyes had ever seen. She looked like the goddess of the dawn when she entered the village that morning; the sun was shining for once, and it glittered off her white skin and lit the golden hair that flowed down to her knees. Her face was magical in its beauty, her eyes black in her white face. Some fell to their knees to worship her.
"She asked something in a high, piercing voice, in a language no one had ever heard. The people were dumbfounded, not knowing how to answer her. There was none of Taha Aki's blood among the witnesses but one small boy. He clung to his mother and screamed that the smell was hurting his nose.
"One of the elders, on his way to the council, heard the boy and realized what had come among them. He yelled for the people to run. She killed him first.
"There were twenty witnesses to the Cold Woman's approach. Two survived, only because she grew distracted by the blood, and paused to sate her blood.
"They ran to Taha Aki, who sat in counsel with the other elders, his sons, and his third wife.
"Yaha Uta transformed into his spirit wolf as soon as heard the news. He went to destroy the blood drinker alone. Taha Aki, his third wife, his sons, and his elders followed behind him.
"At first they could not find the creature, only the evidence of her attack. Bodies lay broken, a few drained of blood, strewn across the road where she'd appeared. Then they heard the screams and hurried to the harbor.
"A handful of the Quileutes had run to the ships for refuge. She swam after them like a shark, and broke a bow of their boat with her incredible strength. When the ship sank, she caught those trying to swim away and broke them, too.
"She saw the great wolf on the shore, and she forgot the fleeing swimmers. She swam so fast she was a blur and came, dripping and glorious, to stand before Yaha Uta. She pointed at him with one white finger and asked another incomprehensible question. Yaha Uta waited.
"It was a close fight. She was not the warrior her mate had been. But Yaha Uta was alone—there was no one to distract her fury from him.
"When Yaha Uta lost, Taha Aki screamed in defiance. He limped forward and shifted into an ancient, white-muzzled wolf. The wolf was old, but this was Taha Aki the Spirit Man, and his rage made him strong. The fight began again.
"Taha Aki's third wife had just seen her son die before her. Now her husband fought, and she had no hope that he could win.
"She'd heard every word the witnesses to the slaughter had told the council. She'd heard the story of Yaha Uta's first victory, and knew that his brother's diversion had saved him.
"The third wife grabbed a knife from the belt of one of the sons who stood beside her.
"They were all young sons, not yet men, and she knew they would die when their father failed.
"The third wife ran toward the Cold Woman with the dagger raised high. The Cold Woman smiled, barely distracted from her fight with the old wolf. She had no fear of the weak human woman or the knife that would even scratch her skin, and she was about to deliver the death blow to Taha Aki.
"And then the third wife did something the Cold Woman did not expect. She fell to her knees at the blood drinker's feet and plunged the knife into her own heart.
"Blood spurted through the third wife's fingers and splashed against the Cold Woman. The blood drinker could not resist the lure of the fresh blood leaving the third wife's body. Instinctively, she turned to the dying woman, for one second entirely consumed by thirst. Taha Aki's teeth closed around her neck.
"That was not the end of the fight, but Taha Aki was not alone now. Watching their mother die, two young sons felt such rage that they sprang forth as their spirit wolves, though they were not yet men. With their father, they finished the creature.
"Taha Aki never rejoined the tribe. He never changed back to a man again. He lay for one day beside the body of the third wife, growling whenever anyone tried to touch her, and then he went into the forest and never returned.
"Trouble with the cold ones was rare from that time on. Taha Aki's sons guarded the tribe until their sons were old enough to take their places. There was never more than three wolves at a time. It was enough. Occasionally a blood drinker would come through these lands, but they were taken by surprise, not expecting the wolves.
"Sometimes a wolf would die, but never were they decimated again like that first time. They'd learned how to fight the cold ones, and they passed the knowledge on, wolf mind to wolf mind, spirit to spirit, father to son.
"Time passed, and the descendants of Taha Aki no longer became wolves when they reached manhood. Only in a great while, if a cold one was near, would the wolves return. The cold ones always came in ones and twos, and the pack stayed small.
"A bigger coven came, and your own great-grandfathers prepared to fight them off. But the leader spoke to Ephraim Black as if he were a man, and promised not to harm the Quileutes. His strange yellow eyes gave some proof to his claim that they were not the same as other blood drinkers. The wolves were outnumbered; there was no need for the cold ones to offer a treaty when they could have won the fight. Ephraim accepted. They've stayed true to their side, though their presence does tend to draw in others.
"And their numbers have forced a larger pack than the tribe had ever seen," Old Quil said, and for one moment his black eyes, all but buried in the wrinkles of skin folded around them, seemed to rest on me.
I stared back at him wondering why he had such a problem with me.
"Damn Cullen's." Dylan muttered and Jake hit him on the head again.
"Except, of course, in Taha Aki's time," he said, and then he sighed. "And so the sons of our tribe again carry the burden and share the sacrifice their fathers endured before them." Old Quil sighed and looked around the fire at each one of the men in turns.
Chatter picked back up and normal conversation resumed. I leaned back against Seth's vacant chair and closed my eyes.
I imagined a little kid bringing in a family tree to school showing how he was a werewolf and how it started from Taha Aki.
I thought of my mother. I would see her tomorrow. I would be back in Portland in two days.
Spirit Warriors…
Dylan had muttered Cullen…
Werewolves…
Vampires…
The name Cullen was in my file….
The Cold Ones…
Taha Aki…
Old Quil looked at every man after the story…
Spirit Warriors…
Sam telling me pay special attention…
Werewolves…
Dylan also said something about Sam's hair…
Cold Ones…
No, Dylan said something about Sam's fur…
Werewolves…
Fur…
My eyes flashed open and I sat up straight and I exclaimed, "Crap."
Author's Note: So Riley figured it out! How will she deal with it? What's going to happen with the Imprint? I actually haven't figured that out yet. Hopefully it will come to me when my fingers hit the keyboard. And there was a clue to her father in here! Hint* The name Cullen wasn't in her file because of Bella. 'I'll try and update tomorrow, but I do have ballet so if I do it will be a late update.