Chapter 24! Yes, it's shorter, however, I'm trying to get back into updating every other day or so, so the chapters may be shorter? I don't know. Heck, I might even be able to post another tonight. I don't know yet. But I really hope you enjoy this one. It was fun to write, and made me tear up a little. I've also been thinking about the end of this one and the beginning of the third! So excited! And I may even write one about the kids...when they're older of course!

*Disclaimer*

Enjoy!

ShelbyPOV

Tricia was a tough girl. I had to give her that. The entire pack was gathered around the house now just milling around. For what, I had no idea. I didn't eavesdrop on Embry and Jacob's conversation. Embry and Walker were glaring holes into each other across the table. Caden was positioned behind Walker and Jacob behind Embry, just in case they tried to jump the table and strangle each other.

"So, Tricia," Nessie said, trying to cure the tension in the room. "You're a senior, right?"

She sighed. "Yeah, but I wish I wasn't even in school."

"Why's that?"

"What's the use? I mean, I'm not even planning on going to college."

Walker's head swiveled around. "Excuse me?"

Tricia glared at him. "I'm not going to college. I want more than just more school. I want to travel and do a little bit of everything. That's not possible in a classroom, jerk."

"You're going to college." Walker's tone was low and serious.

"Now you sound like dad."

He flinched. "Have you told mom and dad this?"

Tricia opened her mouth to reply but Embry beat her to it. "What does it matter? She doesn't wanna go, she doesn't have to. End of story."

A low growl came out of Walker. I doubted Tricia heard it, but the rest of us did. "Alright, genius, how is she going to support herself?"

"Sorry, I asked," Nessie muttered beside me.

"It's ok," Tricia said. "I don't care what anybody says. I know there's more to life than just putting a label on yourself such as a major, schooling for it, and then being stuck there because you can't afford to go back to school. I want to learn all I can. Not to mention, I've been saving up money since I was ten." She shrugged and played with the spaghetti on her plate. "And –don't laugh at me, but, I have this weird feeling that something…extraordinary is going to happen to me. I just have to wait for it. Like, it's not something I can build. I have to wait for it to come to me."

Walker snorted, but I caught the look on Embry's face like he was dying to jump up and say, hey, that's me! I'm your soul mate!

I shook my head at him, which made him deflate a little. Thankfully, somewhere in the room, a phone rang. Tricia jumped and dug into her pocket.

"Shoot. It's mom." Taking a deep breath, she calmed herself and pushed the send button. "Hey, mom…uh huh, I just went for a walk…sorry, I just didn't realize how late it had gotten. I'll be home soon…love you, too. Bye." She stood up, wiped her mouth with the napkin and handed Esme her plate. "The food was delicious. Thank you, but I think I should be getting home."

Immediately, Embry tried to stand up, probably to walk her out, but Jacob put a hand on his shoulder as Walker stood up. Embry didn't like it, but he did as his Alpha silently commanded.

Looking straight at Embry, Tricia smiled. "Good night. Hopefully we'll meet again."

"Absolutely," he answered with a grin.

I could practically hear Walker's teeth grind. "Let's go, Tricia. It's after dark."

"Walker," Jacob called out. When the other man turned, Jacob gave him a direct stare. "You are to only walk her halfway. Morgan and Lucas will go with you and walk her the rest of the way to the house. Do you understand?"

Again with the gnashing. "Sure."

"What's going on?" Tricia asked worriedly. "I don't understand why he can't come home. He seems fine to me, if maybe a little more aggressive."

Everyone got the shock of their lives when Walker took a deep breath and seemed as calm as he had been the day after we rescued him when he said, "I can't go home right now, Tricia."

"Why not?"

"Because I am sick. Not in a bad way or any way that you're thinking, but I have to get better, ok? Please, just trust me."

"I do trust you. I always have. You're my big brother."

With a tight smile, Walker closed his eyes and nodded. "Yeah, I am. Let's get you home."

Morgan and Lucas walked with them to the front door. And once that door was closed, we all took a deep breath. Jacob let go of Embry who slumped back into his chair and looked up at Jacob with a meaningful look. I had a strange feeling that it had something to do with Walker's reactions to Tricia and that she was adopted.

"Well, that was fun," I said dryly. "Now, Jacob, tell us about this pack meeting."

Immediately, the Cullens were in the room as wolves started trickling into the house. Seth came to stand behind me, his hands on my shoulders massaging gently.

"Alright, everyone. About a week ago, after our first training session, Nessie heard something in our house. When I went to check it out, I initially thought it was just settling noises, but there was a scent. It wasn't wolf or vampire, but it was human and one I recognized from my time up north. They're spying on us and somehow this bastard got in my house. Most of the pack and I are going to go up for a surprise visit. Emmett, Jasper, Edward, and Bella, you'll go with us and scope out the perimeter to check for signs of the other pack while I deal with the chief. The rest of you will stay down here to protect those left."

A chair scraped over the hardwood floor next to me. Nessie stood up and put her palms on the table. "Jacob, why didn't you tell me that you found something? You told me it was Embry."

No nervous twitches or deep breaths for the Alpha. He just gave her a solid set of peepers. "Because we'd just had a really good night, and I didn't want you worrying. He was no longer in the house and I'd told the boys about it. They found his scent and called in for reinforcements on both our cabin and Seth and Shelby's. There was no reason to alarm you, then."

Instead of arguing, Nessie just took a deep breath and said, "Next time, just tell me, ok? I'd rather know than be lied to or protected."

"I'm sorry."

Nessie smiled at her mate. "Forgiven, forgotten."

He smiled back briefly then looked at all the wolves. "We'll go up tomorrow in the daylight. Easier to see what's coming from far away. They get no warning, no calls, no nothing. I won't put up with this in my territory. Nessie, Shelby, I want the two of you to stay down here. If something turns sour, I don't want our two alpha females in the crossfire."

His tone left no room for argument so all I could do was nod and accept the orders I'd been given. I'm sure Alice had some baby shopping she wanted to do anyway, and Nessie was working on getting the wedding together.

I raised my hand. "I have a question. Maybe this should be for Caden."

"Go on, love," he said.

"Ok, Tricia just said that Walker is acting a little more aggressive. Could that be because he didn't shift with this past full moon? We were all expecting him to, but he didn't."

Caden took a second to think about it. "It's entirely possible. If his wolf is agitated, then that agitation could bleed over into Walker's personality. And it seems that he's already stressed when it comes to his sister. With Embry having imprinted on her, it'll make life complicated around here."

Nessie, Jake, and I all shared a look.

"What?" Caden asked.

I groaned. "Tricia's adopted."

It took all of two seconds for that to sink in, and then, "Christ, if he thinks he's in love with her, which he isn't, this is going to turn into a huge cock fest."

"Wait," Embry said. "What do you mean he's not in love with her? How do you know?"

"His scents when he was around her. All I got was protective and loyal, but not really that nice chocolaty smell. Nothing I associate with the romantic type of love he thinks he has."

Embry sat up straighter with a smirk. "Well, that's good, right?"

Caden gave him a look. "Not necessarily. He doesn't know that he's not in love with her. He thinks he is, and that's dangerous for you and her, to be honest."

"Hold up, you think he's dangerous to her?" Jacob asked.

"Absolutely. If he thinks he can win her over and another wolf comes in and swoops her away? He'll see that as a betrayal."

"Jacob," Nessie said beside me. "Can I talk to you for a moment? Alone?"

The two of them walked through the kitchen and out the back door to have a moment. Seth kept up with the massaging on my shoulders and neck while everyone went into thoughtful silence.

After a while, Embry sighed and said, "Well…shit."

Yup. That about summed up that whole interaction.

RPOV

Looking around the yard, I found that Jake and I were as alone as we were going to get.

"What's up, Ness? Everything ok?"

Taking a deep breath, I turned to him with the sound of Christa's voice in my head telling me not to tell anyone. There must have been a look on my face because Jacob stepped forward and brushed my hair back.

"Talk to me, hun."

"Christa imprinted-,"

"What? That's great!"

"-on Walker."

The smile slowly left his face. "What? When?"

"Tonight. How it didn't happen before, I don't know. But they had a serious moment when he first came out of the house tonight after Tricia showed up. I saw it."

"Oh, man-,"

"Jacob, she begged me not to tell anyone. Please, just keep this to yourself for now. I want to talk to her, ok?"

"Ness,-,"

I stroked his chest as he opened his arms to me. "You told me that I'm in charge of the females, right?" When he nodded after a moment, I continued. "Then, let me deal with this. Please. Christa is scared to be with someone. She's scared that she'll get hurt. The ultimate betrayal happened by her own parents' hands. She's fragile right now. And I have an idea. While you're gone tomorrow, and you'd better be careful by the way, I'll go talk to her."

He thought about it for a few heartbeats while he stroked my back and hair.

"Ok, ok. I'll let you handle this. God knows I have enough on my plate without this whole triangle crap again."

Wrapping my arms around his waist, I pressed my ear over his heart. "I have a feeling this is going to be a more dangerous triangle than we think. If we could just get Walker to realize…"

Jacob squeezed me to him. "It's ok. We'll figure this out. We always do." He kissed the top of my head. "Come on. Let's go eat a little and then go home. How does that sound?"

"Perfect. It's been a long day, and I could use a hot bath."

"Mmmm, would you mind some company?"

I pulled back so I could look up at him. "Are you kidding? A sexy, alpha werewolf in a tub with me? I think I could handle that."

His smile was all wolf as we went back inside.

JPOV

The next morning, the cold weather had returned with a vengeance. I knew this because I was standing in the woods watching my breath puff out in clouds of white. Most of the pack and the Cullens I'd called out yesterday were standing in front of me waiting for orders. Even the Cullens were looking to me to lead them in this.

"Alright. Here's what's going to happen. We're not up there to hurt anyone, yet. Just a show of strength and power, maybe a threat or two. The Cullens, Derek, and Adam will run the perimeter to search for any signs or scents of Tristan's pack. If you find anything, don't do anything. Just come back to join us. I want them to think I was just running a safety procedure, not trying to find something. Any questions?"

When all was quiet, I turned back to the Cullen house. Nessie was to stay here or the rez, not go back to our cabin. The same with Shelby. And they were to have guards at all times. Esme, Carlisle, Rosalie, and Alice were in the house as were Patrick, Alana, Morgan, and Lucas. Embry and two others were running around Walker's and Charlie's houses. The two lived close enough together that a patrol line wasn't impossible. I also had wolves scattered around the rez just in case this was what Tristan was waiting for. Did I like separating my pack? Absolutely not. But we knew our jobs and plans. Hopefully there wouldn't be a need for them.

From the second floor of the house, Alice's room, Nessie and Shelby watched the group, their eyes worried and scared. Seth and I both waved and gave them the best Seth and Jacob-y grins we could find, which made them laugh a little.

"Let's get this over with. I wanna be home for dinner," I said.

There was a rumble of agreement when Seth said, "Amen to that, brother."

With that, we all turned into the woods to pay a visit to our cousins up north. And to see if they were harboring Tristan and his pack.

RPOV

Shelby and I gripped hands as we watched our males walk into the woods. Once they were no longer visible, I forced myself to turn back to my aunts. If I didn't, I would watch those woods all day, and I couldn't do that. I had something I had to do. Christa was down at the rez. Her patrol wasn't due for another few hours so she was probably at home.

"Nessie," Aunt Alice chimed up. "I think we nearly have the wedding ready. Now, the question is do you want it up here or down at the rez?"

Assuming none of us die before October? I thought to myself. Instead, I said, "Um, the rez. Yeah, definitely the rez."

Popping up off the floor, she came to me and wrapped her arms around me. "I really wish I could see what happens, Nessie. But I can't. What I can promise you is that Jacob will do anything to marry you, to come home to you. Think of this whole situation like this: he's learning to lead, and learning fast. He's becoming that dominant male that's learning diplomacy doesn't work for everything. Sometimes, things have to get rough. And he's willing to get down and dirty to get back to you."

I squeezed her hard. "I know. I just want all of this to go away."

"I know, sweetie. And all of that goes for Seth, too, Shelby. You know that, right?"

Looking over my shoulder, I saw and felt Aunt Alice hold out an arm for my best friend, who took the invitation. I wrapped an arm around her, too.

"Yeah, I'm starting to realize that."

"Good. Now, Shelby, let's talk baby, shall we? I think Nessie has something she needs to take care of."

Twenty minutes later, I was down in the rez with Patrick and Alana on either side of me. I would have brought Morgan and Lucas, but for my plan to work, I needed Morgan to stay up at the house. It wasn't long before we were in front of Christa's front door.

"You sure you'll be ok?" Patrick asked in a deep voice.

I nodded and smiled at him. "Yeah. Craig and the others are down here. I'll be fine. Besides, I don't plan on leaving the house."

The couple shared a look. It was the kind of look that told me they were finishing each other's unsaid sentences. Jacob and I had the same look on occasion.

"Fine," Patrick said. "But you call us if you need us. Don't try to be brave. If you have to, scream like a lunatic. We'll be listening for it."

"Roger that. Thanks again for walking me down here."

Alana grinned. "That's what Jacob left us down here for. We are at your disposal today and always."

Not knowing what to do with that, I said another thank you and knocked on Christa's door as they took off to I don't know where. They were probably going to stay close though, just in case.

A moment later, the door opened. Christa looked as if she were having a pajama day before her patrol shift. She was wearing flannel pajama bottoms and a girl's ribbed tank with a mug of something that was still steaming. She also looked slightly surprised yet resigned to my visit at the same time.

"Nessie, I was hoping you'd wait a couple days."

"Oh, you know me. I have to have something to do while Jake is off doing something dangerous besides biting my nails into nubs. Can I come in or do you want to do this out here?"

She sighed and moved to give me room. The house was small but cozy. A fire was lit in the small fireplace. Plush and worn couches formed a box around the flames giving the place a close, warm feel. The part of the kitchen that was visible was spotless.

"Look, would it help if I asked you sanely not to tell anyone?"

It was my turn to sigh. "Christa, you know I had to tell Jake." She opened her mouth to argue, but I talked over her. "But he promised not to say anything to anyone. He's allowing me to handle this while he deals with the more dangerous issues. Why don't we sit down."

Hearing the tone in my voice as not a request but a subtle order, she slumped and went over to one of the couches and stared at the fire as she sipped on whatever was in the mug.

"I don't see that there's anything to deal with. I imprinted. He loves someone else and doesn't even know what happened. Why shouldn't I keep it that way?"

I stared at her incredulously. "Christa, do you really want to be miserable like that? Plus Embry imprinted on Tricia. You know that. I know you do. Walker thinks that he's in love with her, but he's not. This needs to be dealt with. Right now, Jacob ordered Embry to stay away from Tricia. Do you really think that's fair if that has to be a permanent order if you don't own up to the imprint and talk to Walker? At least get to know him. Maybe a spark will ignite on his end and we can avoid a catastrophe. You may be ok with suffering, but Embry? Do you really want to do that to him?"

Emotions passed over her face as her eyes once again focused on the fire. Using that distraction, I pulled out my phone and texted Morgan to get her ass down here now, like it was an emergency.

"What am I supposed to do, Nessie? I'm not good with other people. My parents kept me so sheltered and never taught me how to interact."

"Then, you need to work on that. Work up the courage to purposely interact with people." A knock came at the door. Morgan. "And you need to start with patching up old relationships that you did have."

Christa's eyes widened as I stood up to answer the door. Opening it, I found Morgan breathing hard as if she'd run as fast as she could to get here. Lucas was at the edge of the yard, watching. I'd already told him my plan so he knew there wasn't an emergency. He'd been all for mending the girls' friendship.

"What…happened? What's…wrong?" she panted out.

From behind me, "Nessie, no. I don't want her here."

"Too bad. Morgan, get in the house."

Finally, Morgan looked at me with focused eyes and then seemed to realize where she was. She started shaking her head and backing up. Glancing over her shoulder at Lucas, I silently told him to help me out. He came forward with grim determination to block Morgan's exit.

"Nessie, please, don't do this. She wants nothing to do with me, and that's understandable."

"I don't want her here, Nessie."

"Shut up!" I yelled. "Look, I don't care what either of you wants. And frankly, I don't like interfering in personal stuff like this. However, this has gone on for far too long. You were best friends at one point, and both of you have closed yourselves off even though you're both distraught. You need to talk this out. Now. Today."

Both of them stopped arguing and silence enveloped the house. I stood to the side so that they could see each other. Both women had tears in their eyes as they tried and failed not to look at the other.

"Christa, I-."

"You left me," Christa said from between clenched teeth.

Morgan said nothing. She closed her eyes and let the tears fall.

"You left me to their mercy. Jacob, Billy, hell, Charlie Swan. You could have gone to any of them, and they would have investigated. Instead, my dad told you to stay away from me and to never think about coming back…and you listened to him!"

"I know, and I am so-,"

"No! Let me talk. It's the least you could do." When Morgan nodded and hugged herself, Christa continued. "I watched out of my bedroom window as you ran around with your friends and boys. I was trapped by them, my own parents. I couldn't go to anyone. I was helpless, locked off from the world, no phone, no TV, nothing. You had the opportunity to save me, your supposed best friend, and you didn't! You left me there!"

Without saying a word, Morgan moved to stand in front of Christa and dropped to her knees with her head bent.

"You're right, Christa. There's no excuse for what I did and didn't do. And all this time I have been beating myself up about it. I've wanted to come to you since Jacob banished them. I just didn't have the guts to face you after you were free. And I know you needed someone to help you acclimate. If I had just told someone, things would be different. You'd be a different person, a happier person. Please, Christa, I am so, so sorry."

After that, there was no more talking. Morgan used all the breath she had to cry at Christa's feet. For a moment, Christa just stared at Morgan's bent head, and then she looked up to me as if asking me what to do.

"This is your chance, Christa. Fix it. Let go of all the anger and hurt. Mend this. Maybe it will help you with other relationships. Leave that anger with your parents. Morgan may have not gone to anyone, and yes, it may have been a bad decision, but she's willing to help you now. And begging for your forgiveness. She didn't leave you because you weren't important to her. She just didn't know what to do. It was your parents who hurt you, not Morgan."

Lucas stepped up behind me, a large, comforting shadow at my back. "She's right, Christa. Holding onto that hate is not going to change what happened to you. And it won't help fix a friendship that needs to be in existence for you to heal. We'll all help you, but Morgan loves you like a sister. Did you know she keeps a picture of the two of you next to her bed? Every night she says she sorry to that picture. All the things she's ever wanted to say to you, she has said to that picture."

Though I saw her try to hold them in, Christa's own tears let loose as she looked back down at Morgan who was curled upon herself around Christa's feet. Slowly, Christa bent down to the floor, her hand stroking Morgan's hair. Placing a finger under Morgan's chin, she lifted the other woman's tear-stained face.

She swallowed hard before saying, "I need your help. Something happened and I'm so confused. Will you help me?"

Morgan wiped her eyes, and said, "Anything. I'll do anything."

They reached for each other at the same time and cried into each other's hair. I smiled as my own tears started to flow. Lucas placed a hand on my shoulder and smiled down at me as he watched his female be forgiven by her best friend.

Grateful was definitely a word I'd use when I thought my friendship with Shelby. Sure, she was pushy and a pain in the ass and incredibly nosy, but I loved her. She was my sister and never hesitated to put me in my place. And I was always there when her tough exterior decided to crumble. Sometimes that was the war of friendship. One had to be the tough-on-the-outside type while the other was the quiet net that caught them when they fell into their emotions.

"So," Morgan said in a sniffly voice, bringing our attention back to her. "You gonna tell me what happened?"

With a relieved sigh, I shut the door behind me as we all went for the couches with Morgan and Christa sitting next to each other arm in arm.

JPOV

We made it to the Makah reservation in record time. And surprise, surprise. They were expecting us. A lot of the men standing around the edge of the woods were the same men that the chief had had around him the last few times we'd met. And there he was. The old man didn't look a day older.

Before we'd gotten within eyesight of them, Edward and the others had melted into the woods, running the perimeter, searching for signs of Tristan or Nyla.

"Jacob," the old man called. "What brings you up here on this chilly day?" Those sharp eyes took in all the wolves at my back, some phased out and some still human. "It looks as if you came to battle. Such a shame I wasn't warned or I would have prepared."

"You'd have still lost."

"Perhaps."

I laughed. "The only way you could go up against me and win is if you had a pack of wolves all your own."

"I know what you're thinking and I know nothing of them, except they've been sneaking into the reservation and stealing food or ripping up deer to just leave the carcasses out in the open. We've had to clean up after them."

Glancing to my left, I saw Caden barely shake his head out of the corner of my eyes. So the chief was lying.

"Anyway, that's not why I'm here."

He spread his arms wide as if in invitation. "Then, please, enlighten me as to this unexpected visit."

"You've had your people spying on me again. And I don't appreciate it."

Just then the breeze blew and I got a good whiff of the scent that had been in my cabin. The man was here with the chief. Flaring my nostrils, I sniffed the wind and watched the men at the same time. The wolf in me was sure he could pick out the right one with just a moment longer.

"I have no idea what you're talking about."

The acrid scent of the lie replaced the scent I was trying to decipher.

At the lie, I was done with the games. Anger bubbled up inside me as I watched him grin at me, like he thought I wouldn't think he was lying.

"And now you're lying to me. I can smell it. And I know that the man that was in my house is here in this clearing with you." I stepped forward so that I was all up in his personal space. "Let me explain something to you. This is over. It ends here. You and your people stay the fuck out of my territory. They do that and I won't have reason to come up here again. And let me assure you that the next time I have to come up here because of this shit, it won't be to talk. I will rip you apart in front of your tribe."

As I spoke, the smile left the chief's face as if he were letting the words sink in. Now, he swallowed hard with angry eyes.

"My, my, Jacob Black. You never threatened violence before. You were always such a diplomatic man, always up for a negotiation."

"This isn't a negotiation. I'm done with you. If I find another of yours in my territory, I will send him back to you in pieces. And one more thing, since those other wolves are enemies to my tribe and family, I will consider anyone harboring them or supporting them an enemy of mine. Best you remember that."

With that, I turned to walk away. Caden and Seth came with me.

As we walked, Caden said softly, "He was lying the entire time."

"I know. But I'm not bluffing. I'm giving him the chance to get away from them. If I find that he's still in contact with them when we finally catch them- and we will- I won't hesitate to cut him down."

From behind me, the chief called out to me. "Will you kill all my men and leave my women and children helpless?"

With a deep breath, I turned back to him. "Only those that aggress against me. All others will be spared. All I want is peace between us. You leave us alone, and I will gladly never find a reason to come back up here. The call is yours, chief. Make it a good one."

A gave him one last serious moment of eye contact, and then turned to leave with my pack to go back home. Most of us phased, including me. I knew Caden wouldn't, so I gave him my ring to hold onto. Surprisingly, he kept up with us in his human form.

Halfway there, Edward and the others joined us.

Edward came to run beside me. "He was lying. There are trails and scents all over the place around the perimeter, but none actually going onto the reservation. We found the leftovers of tents and campsites." I growled but he continued over me. "That's not the worst of it, Jacob. They're heading towards Forks. Once we ran the perimeter, we followed the freshest trails. They're hunting, Jacob. Hulking in the shadows around houses, probably trying to blend in with their human forms. Caden was right.

"They're recruiting."

Dum, dum, duuuuum...So, should they go to war or not? Will the Makah chief see to reason? I don't know, either! So PLEASE review! You guys have been so awesome with your support. I love you guys! xoxoxoxo