I hope everyone is doing well. :]

Sorry if the format is messed up, doc. manager was doing something wack tonight.Funding

Jacob Pov:

"OOOwwwHooooWWW!"

The silence of the day was broken by a loud howl, loud and urgent. Okay, it sounded urgent, but that probably wasn't the case. Around this time our renegade pack of wolves gathered for announcements. Sam didn't find the mental image of a wolf standing in back of a podium very funny, but that's what it felt like.

I scrambled up to my feet and quickly surveyed the area before stripping down. Leah probably wasn't anywhere around here, but you could never be too careful. I unwound the cord from my wrist and tied it to my clothes, loosely knotting it to my ankle. I left enough room in the loop for a giant leg to be put through it.

I stood in the small clearing and focused on pulling the heat into my body, feeling the shakes turn Jacob into…wolf…Jacob. Seconds later, I was bearing left towards our meeting sight, trees blurring around me. Let me tell you, running is nothing like driving a car. Speed is exhilarating. This was the one time when I actually envied Leah and her ability to run faster than any of us. My fur created too much wind resistance though. I would have to cut my hair soon.

I leaped into the clearing and dug my nails into the soft soil to stop myself. Sam was standing in front, waiting for the rest of us to show. Seth was lying on the ground, his head resting on his paws before him. Leah stood near a tree, being as silent as she could. Quil and Embry were standing in the back, and I went over to join them. Jared wasn't far behind, and soon Colin, Brady, and Paul skidded in.

"Ok, just some quick things."

"Which is loosely translated into: I hope you didn't have any plans because I will keep you here all night with information that could take five minutes to go over."

Sam rolled his giant heard over to glare at Embry, who shrugged and gave a wolfy grin.

"I'm not kidding though. There's a bonfire tonight, and that's where the discussion is going to be."

"All right!"

Seth hadn't been to many bonfires before, at least, not since joining the pack. He was a kid in the candy store, I kid you not.

"Besides this, we will later discuss the issue with the Cullens…and Bella."

There was no comment now. Everyone seemed to know that this was thin ice for me. I shifted my weight and looked down, not meeting their gazes. Pity and Jacob did not get along very well. Sam made a barking cough noise and everyone turned their heads back to the front.

"Ok, that's it. I expect everyone to attend the bonfire tonight."

More silence.

"That's it? Seriously? Nothing else, no pep talk, no lecture?"

"Embry, one more comment out of you and I swear…."

"Yeesh, sorry."

Meeting adjourned.

It was a nice night for a bonfire. It had rained recently, not to anyone's surprise. There wasn't too much wind and it was a nice temperature outside, not that it mattered. It could have been -20 and no one would bat an eyelash. No mosquitoes either, that was a plus.

Everyone else was already there. I sat down next to Quil and picked up a stick, spitting a hot dog on the end. It would be one of many; I was hungry enough to eat a pig or two. Emily came and went, re-filling our supplies. After some chatting and eating Sam cleared his throat and we turned our attention to him.

"The Cullens have volunteered to help search and eliminate Victoria. We now have to be careful of the boundary line, which will make our searching harder." He huffed out a sigh and continued on. "Now, the treaty is still standing. I don't want a fight, and the Cullens have stuck to their side of the agreement. No crossing onto their land, am I understood?"

We all nodded. Embry saluted and was rewarded with a hot dog thrown into his face.

"Now, I don't want to spend the entire bonfire discussing the matter. We haven't had something to do for fun in a while. Besides, our newest additions have yet to hear the legends."

Old Quil and Billy sat up straighter. I'd heard the legends many times before and tuned them out, leaning against a log. I didn't want to think about Bella. Every time I did my head became a cesspool of confused thoughts and my heart ached fit to break. I wanted to have fun with the pack tonight, no brooding allowed. Maybe I had time for quick nap…

"Wake up sleeping beauty."

I rubbed my eyes and met the amused glances of the pack. Even Sam was chuckling, something he rarely did when it came to the serious wolf business. I sat up and plopped myself against my makeshift backboard.

"Hey, it's been a long day." I ran patrol most of the night and pretty much all day. Sam didn't like giving Seth, Colin, or Brady a whole lot to do yet because they were new. The area we had to run seemed to have expanded overnight. At least, that's what it felt like.

"You know..." Embry began as he stuck a hot dog on his stick and twirled it over the fire, "Maybe our little furry faction should have some funding."

Jared leaned forward on his knees to regard Embry with amusement in his eyes. "Funding? What on earth would we need money for?"

"I don't know, but we do a lot of work without anything to show for it. Maybe we should have t-shirts that say something like, The Warriors of La Push."

Quil groaned. "Embry, have you go-"

"Or something like The Alpha Wolf Squadron. Get this: Super Wicked Awesome Alpha Wolf Squadron with Hot Daddy and the Monkey Puppets."

Seth arched an eyebrow. "We'd need a billboard, not a shirt to wear that. Wait a minute, Hot Daddy and the monkey puppets?"

We all laughed. There was something about Embry's crazy notions that cleared the air. I could see us running through the woods wearing those goofy t-shirts.

"Embry, if we fundraised for money, what would we say? 'Come help out Fork's wolf pack! We'll keep you safe!' We'd be protecting Forks from the inside of the psyche ward."

Embry barked a laugh and took a large bite out of his hotdog. "We'd get the leech doctor to bail us out."

Paul began telling one of his jokes and our laughter rang out over the beach. I smiled contentedly and cooked another hotdog. It was a nice night, just for us wolves.