"You cheated!" Jacob Black yelled from across the parking lot. Paul Lahote just grinned, tapping his foot and staring at an imaginary watch on his wrist.

"It's not cheating when you're just that fast," he replied with a smirk. Quil and Embry barked out in laughter as the three younger men joined Paul in front of the automatic door. They continued to argue and jostle their way into the store, only stopping when Mrs. Hill scolded them for knocking over the magazine rack.

"Sorry Mrs. Hill!" Embry quickly apologized. The old woman grinned back at Embry.

"It's all right, Embry dear. Just be more careful, boys! You never know when you'll knock something over that can't be fixed!"

"Yes, Mrs. Hill!" they sang back to her. They began to walk down the deli aisle. It had only been a two hours since lunch, but these growing cubs were always starving.

"So, Jake, how's Bella?" Paul asked as he reached for a ham and turkey sandwich.

Jacob winced. "She's doing okay. The Cullens are back, and when they tried to visit her she told them off, but she's still having a rough time."

Quil slapped Jacob on the back. "Ehh, Bella's gonna be just fine. Because she is FINE."

Glaring at Quil, Jacob punched him in the arm and sent him flying back towards Embry. Paul just laughed. "Don't shoot the messenger, Black. He's right, you chose well."

"I didn't choose her, I imprinted! But I know," Jacob grinned mischeviously. "But if I ever hear you talking about her like that again-"

"Okay, okay, no schmoozing Bella! Got it!" Quil threw his hands up.

"And besides, if you should be schmoozing anyone's girl, it should be Paul's. Especially since he's got a new one hanging off his arm each week!"

All of the boys laughed at that. "Jacob's right, you know!"

"Come on Paul – what's your secret?" Quil pestered. "How do you snag all them chicks?"

Paul threw his shoulders back and smirked Quil. "What can I say, boys?" The pack turned the corner and headed down the canned foods aisle. "They flock to me! I can't help it that I'm so beautiful!"

Laughing, he turned and glanced toward the other end of the aisle, and that's when he saw her.

"Luna, is all of this really necessary?" Hermione asked as she rummaged through the grocery cart. She had been tasked to grab the essentials, and Luna had insisted on buying food for the knargles, will-o-wisps, and the great horned purple-speckled unipod (whatever that was).

Luna nodded happily. "Of course, Hermione! Didn't you know that knargles loved spam? I'm thinking that if we hide it a few meters away from the house, it will keep them out of the garden!"

Hermione nodded, deciding it would be the easiest course of action to simply agree with her. "Well, if you think it's a good idea, then by all means, buy all the spam you want!"

Luna grinned brightly and proceeded to pull dozens of cans off the shelf.

Hermione grimaced and covered her face with her hands. "I didn't mean it literally!" she murmured.

"What? Did you say something dear?" Luna asked, whirling around to face her.

"No! Not at all," Hermione quickly replied. She looked at the watch on her hand, and turned to look down towards the other end of the aisle. "Have you seen Harry? I told him he could buy the sweets, but it's been almost half an hour – "

"HERMIONE!" She heard Harry shout. Turning towards the front of the store, she saw him race towards her, his arms full. "I got every single flavor of Ben and Jerry's Ice Cream that I could carry!"

"Do you really think we are going to need all that ice cream? Harry, that's more than we could ever possibly eat!" Hermione squealed.

"It's perfect! We can feed it when we have company over." Luna jumped in softly.

Hermione turned around to face her. "What company are we having over?"

Luna smiled brightly and gestured over her shoulder to the opposite end of the aisle. "Why those boys, of course!"

Hermione peered around Luna's small frame and studied the four boys standing at the end of the aisle. They were all tall, dark skinned young men who were topless – which was strange, considering it was pouring rain outside. The two boys on the right side of the aisle were gazing confusedly at the pile of spam in their cart, while the boy on the left looked amused. The young man in the middle, however, was staring at Luna like she was the sun.

"So maybe I missed something, but why is that guy staring at Luna like she's just saved him from a basilisk?" Harry whispered in Hermione's ear.

"I have no idea!" she replied, speaking softly and only moving one corner of her mouth. "But I think we should find out."

"Good idea, I'll go ask!" Harry said. Straightening up, he walked quickly down the aisle before Hermione could register his actions and stop him.

"Oh, let him go. Besides, won't it be nice to have made new friends already? Draco will be so jealous when he gets back!" Luna chirped. "Now, let's go check out and get this ice cream home before it melts! We certainly don't want to serve runny ice cream to our guests."

Still reeling from this turn of events, Hermione could only nod and silently follow Luna towards the front of the store.

"Okay, explain to me what happened one more time," Hermione said, pacing the floor of the kitchen.

Harry sighed. "I told you. I just walked over and introduced myself, explained that we were new in town and had just moved into the new house a few miles outside of Forks, and that if they wanted to stop by later on today for ice cream they were more than welcome."

Hermione continued to pace. "And they accepted, just like that? Did they even tell you their names?"

"No," Harry replied, "but as they were leaving one of them was telling the guy who was staring at Luna not to worry, that it would work itself out. And another one said 'Congrats Paul, you found yourself a beaut!'"

Hermione frowned, smacking her hands together. "What could they possibly mean?"

"I'm sure it's nothing, Hermione!" Harry added. He was scooping leftover pancakes into his mouth while he watched her parade back and forth.

"Something just doesn't feel right about them! Shirtless in a rainstorm?"

Harry shrugged. "Maybe they just didn't want to ruin their shirts?"

Hermione shook her head. "No, that's not it. What bothers me is the way that guy looked at Luna. He almost looked like – " Hermione suddenly froze, and turned to face Harry. Seeing the look on her face, he dropped his fork onto his plate.

"Looked like what, Hermione? What are you thinking?"

Without a word, Hermione dashed off in the direction of their library. Sighing, Harry picked up his plate and trudged after her. He had only arrived in the room a few seconds after Hermione, but by the time he got into the room it looked like a war zone. Books were flying off the shelves and Hermione was furiously rifling through the pages of one called "Tribes and Traditions in Magical American Cultures".

Deciding that she would tell him when she had made a discovery, he plopped down into one of the chairs and continued to eat his pancakes. Ten minutes later, a triumphant "A ha!" stirred him from his pancake induced coma.

"I found it! This area is home to a Native American tribe called the Quileutes. Legend has it that certain Quileutes have the ability to shape shift."

"So like an Animagus?" Harry interjected.

"Sort of," Hermione replied, "except Quileutes are only known to have changed into wolves, which makes sense. People have called them werewolves, but they can change at will, and it's often not painful for them. However, they are similar to the werewolves in that their wolf has its own personality, and the wolf's magic usually selects the mate."

Harry frowned. "Why is this a problem?"

Hermione grimaced, closing the book in her hands. "When the wolf chooses its mate, a magical bond occurs that the Quileutes call "imprinting." It basically seals wolf's fate. Once they have imprinted, they have no desire to be with any other romantic partner. Every fiber of their being is pulling them towards their mate. The process can't be stopped." Hermione started to pace around the library, and Harry immediately started to feel anxious.

"What's the problem then?"

Hermione turned to look at him, her face set in determination. "I think Paul has imprinted on Luna."

Harry choked on the last morsel of pancake that was in his mouth. "What? How sure are you?" he exclaimed, wiping his mouth off with his napkin.

"I'm fairly certain," she replied just as the doorbell rang. "We wanted to make new friends, right? What a better way to make new friends than an open and honest conversation?"

Harry froze, his brain trying to comprehend what she had said. Just as he realized what that "open and honest conversation" would entail, he heard Hermione's voice ring throughout the house.

"Hi there! So which one of you is the alpha, hmm?"