*Skids into room* GUYS! Guess what?! I'm baaaaaack! With Ch.18. :D This one is gonna be short, just to give you guys a taste and to dip your toes back into the story. Don't wanna overwhelm you. Heck, I'm overwhelmed. And you're probably gonna hate me for the end of this one, too. But that's ok. Why? Because I can update now! YAY!

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SethPOV

Sighing in relief, I leaned back against the headboard of my and Shelby's mated bed. All of us who hadn't gone with the ladies had just finished discussing the pros and cons of going up to the Makah reservation for a little talk and threat if they were harboring Tristan's pack when the females in question had walked through the door of the Cullen house. Shelby had walked in, glowing from spending the day with her friends but also exhausted. I'd taken all of her bags from Patrick and then we'd headed up here for the night.

She was in the bath as I rested back to let our food have time to heat up. Esme had whipped up a couple things of enchiladas. One for us, and one for Jake and Nessie. I'd watched as the other couple made it safely into their cabin, smiling and holding each other close. All was right with the world now that they were finally, permanently together.

Jacob had finally agreed to let Nessie go up north to visit our cousins. I wasn't thrilled with idea any more than he was. And Shelby didn't have a choice. She wasn't going. Luckily, she hadn't fought me on that order. The need to protect our unborn child was more powerful than her need to be a bad-ass.

"Seth?"

Shelby's voice pulled me out of my thoughts from the bathroom. "Yeah?"

From inside, I could hear the water move around softly, as if she were arranging her arms and legs. "What did you guys talk about today?"

Taking a deep breath, I forced myself to let it out slowly. I'd kind of been dreading that question. Her worrying about us wouldn't help all the security precautions run smoothly, but she had a right to know what kind of danger her mate was in. If she'd been in my position, I'd have demanded every word the moment I'd come into contact with her.

So, with that in mind, my palms rubbed over my jeans as my legs carried the rest of me to the bathroom. Shelby was neck-deep in water in the claw-footed tub, bubbles and all. The room smelled like lemon and cinnamon. Bringing over the chair that was in the corner, I parked it and watched her while I thought of what to say.

Seeing my face, she sat up straight. Her hair had grown in the months that she'd moved in with the Cullens so she'd been able to put that ink-black hair into a clip.

"Baby? You ok?"

I nodded. "Yeah. We just went over a lot."

"Like what?"

"Pregnancy," my mouth blurted out before I could catch it.

Green eyes widened and shot to mine. That's the one subject that had been on both our minds. In all of the books and myths that I'd ever read, none of the shifters could have children. The only ones that could were my kind, the Quileute wolves because we decided when we wanted to phase out. I'd been so scared that Shelby was going to shift at any given time without regard to the moon. As Caden had said, Shelby was some kind of special.

"What about it?" she asked quietly.

Blowing out a breath, I leaned my elbows down on my knees. "According to Caden we don't have to worry about you shifting while you're pregnant. He said that for now it's a done deal. After you have the baby, he thinks you'll shift."

She blew out her own breath and sank deeper into the tub. "Good, that's good."

My fingers ran through my hair. "Still, if you feel anything off, you call Caden first and then me, ok?"

It was not a request and she knew it. She nodded. "Yeah, of course."

"So, how are you feeling?"

"A bit nauseous, but that might be because I haven't eaten since about two o'clock."

Feeling like an awkward kid, I got up and went for the door. "The food should be warmed up by now. I'll just pull it out of the oven."

Before I could make it out of the bathroom door, the water in the tub sloshed heavily. A moment later, a towel snapped and more sloshing sounded. Two more steps and I'd been out the door, but that stopped when Shelby's warmer than normal hand landed between my shoulder blades.

"Seth, why are you acting so awkward? Is it about the meeting?"

Oxygen seemed to be hard to get by. But she had a point. Just the fact that we were about to start training to become the deadly nightmares of children's fairytales unsettled me. For years we'd only been dangerous to the vampires in our wolf forms, but Caden was about to teach us how to be dangerous even in our human forms. All this time, I'd been in control of myself and my actions, even when I'd phased. My wolf and I had been in sync with each other, knowing that our only enemies were the vampires and now, the other wolves. But with what Caden wanted us to do, it seemed as if we were all about to attack our wolf selves with no warning, aggressing against that which had helped to protect not only our people but ourselves. What was worse was Caden wanted Shelby at the training. He'd said it would benefit her to know how her body worked should she need to use it at any time during the pregnancy to protect herself and the baby.

"Seth?" Her hand had wandered up to the nape of my neck. "Baby, please talk to me. What's going on?"

Reaching back, I wrapped my arm around her waist to bring her around and against my body. She came in close, our bodies touching from chest to toes.

Watching her eyes grow worried, I stroked her warm, flushed cheek. "I'm happy about the baby. It's just…we also went over something else. I'm not quite sure how I feel about it, either."

Shelby nudged herself closer to my body, leaning her weight into me. I wrapped my arms around her and held her close.

"What is it?"

Looking down into her jade green, worried eyes, I found my strength. The fear of learning how to be lethal was being heavily outweighed by the fact that the woman in my arms and the child growing inside of her both needed me to do whatever it took to keep them safe.

Reaching up, I released her hair from the clip so that it fell down around her shoulders.

"Tristan wants to try to teach us how to partial shift the way his…your…kind of werewolf can. He also wants to try to teach us how to move like them, like the Cullens. We're fast but not that fast. But there's one other thing."

"What?" Her eyes had grown wide at the possibilities.

"He wants you there to see if you can kick-start the partial shift."

Her brows pulled together into a frown. "But won't that start the total shift?"

Rubbing her bare arms and shoulders, I shook my head. "He doesn't seem to think so. He thinks that the communion between you and your wolf cements the pregnancy. She won't risk her own pup. The two of you are one cohesive being."

She nodded thoughtfully. "Well, that makes sense, then."

"What makes sense?"

She shrugged again and tightened her arms around my waist. "It just feels like…I don't know, like there's something inside of me, something caged. It's like I can feel the she-wolf walking around. Maybe it's in my head so that I have something to grasp onto, but she feels very real. And it's like we can communicate, though her thoughts are very primal, right down to the roots and wildness of everything."

Without a doubt, I could have stayed like this forever. She wrapped safely in my arms. The two of us safe in our own house without any prying ears or eyes. I wanted nothing more than to take the towel off of her, strip my own clothes, and just lie down together in bed, skin to skin with our unborn child safely between us. The scenario was probably going to happen tonight, but first Shelby needed to eat. I did not want her to be going hungry when she had two to feed.

"You ok?" she asked.

Her voice shook me out of my own thoughts. Smiling down at her, I brushed her hair back from her face. Then leaned in to press a kiss to her soft lips.

"Yeah, I'm ok. Why don't you get dressed for bed and I'll get dinner together? It's probably on the verge of burning anyhow."

"Alright." She pecked my lips with hers and went for the closet while I went for the stairs.

Ten minutes later, she joined me at the dining room table where I'd set out the pan of enchiladas, plates, and forks. Water for her, soda for me. And I just couldn't help thinking about all the things that would be new around here in a few months. Baby seats and bottles in the kitchen. Toys spread out around the house. Clothes and bibs. Diapers and pacifiers and blankets. Early mornings were ahead of us. Probably nights of having a third heartbeat in bed with us. On a random thought, I wondered if Shelby would want to breastfeed.

"Seth?"

Shelby's voice suggested that she'd been trying to grab my attention for a while.

I shook myself. "Sorry. What?"

She quirked an eyebrow. "I asked if you're sure that you're ok."

"Oh, yeah." Not sure whether she'd enjoy me thinking of her breastfeeding, I scraped a mouthful of deliciousness into my mouth to give me time to come up with another topic of discussion. And before she could open her mouth to call my bluff, I came up with something. "So, you said that you can hear your inner wolf. What's that like?"

She narrowed those very knowing eyes at me as she took a sip of water. When she shrugged, I held back a sigh of relief.

"Don't you know?"

I shook my head and wiped my mouth with the napkin she'd handed me. "Nope. It's only ever just me in my head. I mean, I know that I have impulses and instincts but I'm not listening to a different voice."

A heartbeat or so passed as she thought about things. I knew she was trying to find the words to explain it, so I was patient and continued eating.

"Ok, it's kind of like it's my voice, but a different tone and different vocabulary. She and I are in agreement. She wants out, desperately, but not enough to sacrifice my-her-our child. I guess the way I see her is in my subconscious. She's just lying there, waiting for the baby to be born so that she can move and stretch. And she's guiding me in a way. Showing me the limits of what I can and cannot do with my body right now."

"What do you mean?"

To my surprise, she blushed. "Like, us making love. You've been so…gentle since we found out about the baby. But I keep getting these images."

"Of what?"

She frowned and shook her head. Her eyes focused but not on anything in this room. "I think it's our wolf forms, mating. And it's not gentle. She's letting me know that the baby-and me-are more durable than the norm because of what we are."

I just blinked at her, letting that sink in. Gentle was the only thing I could think of when I thought of the baby. And lately, with me being a dominant, gentle in bed had been grating on my nerves. Taking her hard, asserting my dominance over her was what my instincts were telling me. Now was the time to mark her, to let others know that she was mine, and that she was carrying my young.

Shelby's dark, sexy chuckle brought me out of my fantasies, and I realized that I was growling deep in my chest.

"I take it you're done with dinner?" she asked suggestively.

The growl got louder. "Yeah, I am."

Since there was nothing left of dinner, I scooped my mate out of her chair and went for the bedroom.

RPOV

Jake and I were curled up on the couch in front of the fire, still stuffed from Esme's enchiladas. The fire was roaring from Jacob building it up and I was cuddled up to his side, his massive arm around my shoulders. His fingers were tangled up in the curls at my waist, lightly brushing my hip. Watching the flames crackle, I leaned into his warm lips when they pressed to my forehead.

"I love you," he murmured against my skin.

I pressed my lips to his chest. "I love you, too."

"How was your day out?"

Snuggled up to him, my arms wound around his waist. "Amazing, but I think we need to watch ourselves around my pixie aunt."

His chuckled reverberated through his chest and into my ear. "And why do you say that?"

"She was watching me today while we were in a baby store for 'Leila'," I said bringing one hand up to make the air quotes. "The woman had a pen and paper. She was taking notes on me and Shelby about what we thought was cute or not. Luckily, Shelby's and my tastes run differently in the baby department. Otherwise we'd both have the same crap."

The motion of him leaning back brought my head up so I could meet his eyes. "What?"

"You got something you need to tell me?" he asked.

I laughed. "No. But I couldn't help looking."

"I know, sweetie." He pressed another kiss to my forehead. "I want them, too. But first, I want us married."

"Well, you know, if we keep going at the pace we are, we'll be pregnant before October."

He chuckled against me. "Hey, as long as we're married before the baby's born, I think I could be ok with that."

Rolling my eyes and shaking my head, I decided to change the subject. I just couldn't help that I desperately wanted what Shelby had right now. There was a little jealousy, but what save me from being angry was that she'd accepted it and already loved the baby. There was no more of that fear of becoming her mother now that she had her father's voice telling her that she wasn't her mother.

"So, how did your day go?" I asked.

Under me, his body tensed. That wasn't a good sign.

He cleared his throat. "Uh, well, Caden's pretty sure that Shelby won't shift till after the baby's born. He says some sort of communication and agreement between Shelby and her wolf. The ultimate strength of a female or something to that effect."

Relief flooded me. I hadn't realized that I'd been worried about that. "Good. That's good." But that couldn't have been cause for him to tense up like that. Something other than the pregnancy came up. "What else happened?" I asked stroking his chest. He eased up a bit.

Taking in a deep breath, he huffed it out as if he was thinking that he might as well just get it over with. "Caden wants to train us."

Leaning up, I narrowed my eyes and asked, "Train you how?" in enough of a suspicious voice that he got the point.

His free hand that wasn't playing with my hip came up to stroke my cheek. "He wants to train us to be like him, like his kind of wolf. Quick, like Cullen quick. Partial shifts. Things like that." A thoughtful look crossed his features. "Actually, I think those are the only two."

"That doesn't sound so bad. Why did it make you tense up?"

I had a terrible feeling that I was not going to like his answer.

Sure enough, he didn't disappoint. "Nessie, that kind of power is something that doesn't come naturally to us. We have the strength and speed in our wolf forms, but not our human. Caden thinks that if we come across one of Tristan's pack in our and their human form, that they won't readily recognize us. Maybe we'd be able to take them down if we had the same speed and abilities they do in their human form."

"Ok, that's great. That still doesn't explain-,"

"Ness, according to Caden, their inner-wolves are highly aggressive, primal beings. Ours are not. It's hard to explain the difference."

When he sat up straighter, I moved back so that he could rest his elbows into his knees. While he thought about what to say, I stroked his back. His lack of words clearly agitated him. He wanted me to understand what was going on and the effects. And I knew that Jake and Caden were two different types of werewolf, so, yeah, there were going to be differences.

"Ok," Jacob finally said. "Think of it this way. My pack and I are more like domesticated dogs. Our wildness only comes out when we're hunting vampires or other enemies. But at home, we're just giant puppies. But Caden's kind? Tristan? They're dangerous all the time. It's the difference between a wild dog and domestic dog. And to get to where they are, to be able to do the things we do, we have to give up that domestication."

Chills raced down my spine causing goosebumps to follow in a wave as what he was saying sank in. "So, you're saying that you have to give up some of your humanity?"

He nodded. "Yeah. Kind of like when a dog is abandoned by its owners and it's forced tap into its survival genes."

"You're surviving. Evolving."

Turning to me, he took my hands in his. The feel of that heavy ring on his finger resting against my skin soothed me. His dark eyes were steady and strong, maybe a little worried. But there was no fear there. He'd embraced the decision he'd made. Because I knew that he had made the decision by himself to go through with it. No doubt he'd given the pack a choice, but he'd never ask his pack to go through something if he wasn't willing to go through it.

"I don't know how much of me will change, but I promise you-,"

I put a finger to his lips.

"Jacob, you will always be you. But after this, if it works, you'll just be a little more dangerous. And you would never hurt me. I know that. You being who you are will know where to point that anger and aggression if you acquire it." I shrugged. "If this doesn't work, then you'll still use what you've got to work with. And you'll still be my Jacob. That's all that matters."

Those chocolate eyes melted and glassed over while he swallowed hard. "You are the most amazing woman." He gathered me up in his arms and held me close. I stroked his back and the nape of his neck. "Will you be there?"

"At the training sessions? Duh. Absolutely."

His embrace tightened. "Seriously, how did I live without you before this?"

"Miserably?" I offered with a smile.

The massive chest pressed against me rumbled with laughter. "Absolutely. Of course, I was miserable."

Pulling back, I stroked his cheekbones with my thumbs. "I'm not going anywhere, Jake. We already established that. You're stuck with me."

He pulled me in for another hug. "And thank god for that."

JPOV

It was official: I was mated to the strongest, most selfless woman on the planet. And she was right. I had been miserable before she came into my life. But now? It was all good. Now that I had her, there was no way I could live without her. And, I had thought that tonight, she might have given me an ultimatum. It had been a stupid fear, but a real one. I was telling her that I was about to become a dangerous beast, or try to at least. And how did she take it? Amazingly.

Wrapping my arms around her once more, I leaned back against the couch to enjoy the roaring fire. Tonight was peaceful. It had been another warm day and some of the animals who made these woods their home were still out running around.

But of course, the peacefulness couldn't last.

My phone vibrated in my pocket with a text. Ness and I read it at the same time.

I felt the color drain out of my face just as I watched hers turn paper white.

Man, it feels good to be back. I promise that I never forgot you guys. And I promise to update as often as possible even if the chapters are shorter. I know you like the longer ones, but the shorter may come a lot faster. If you have an opinion about that, please let me know! Love you guys! Thanks for hanging in there for me! xoxoxoxoxoxo