Chapter 25? Already, you say? Well, I was told that I was tease and that I absolutely had to post tonight. You know who you are. So here it is. I actually very much like this chapter. Drama, drama, drama, but with a nice light ending. I probably won't post again for another couple days. I gotta get my notes together and in order.

*Disclaimer*

Please Enjoy!

RPOV

Later that night, Jacob called everyone that wasn't on a patrol shift up to the family house. Wolves were standing in and outside, listening through the rooms and windows. Jacob was standing at the head of the dining room table, arms supporting his weight on the wood as he thought about what he was going to say. When he'd gotten home, he'd pulled me aside to tell me what had gone down, and I knew that something was bothering him.

Standing behind him, I could see his back expand with his breathing.

"When I threatened him, I wasn't lying. Some of you think that there's a diplomatic way to handle this, but I've tried to negotiate and be diplomatic. It's not working, especially since the chief has a psychotic werewolf whispering to him about how we're traitors because of the Cullens and the fact that I'm mated with Nessie." He took a deep breath. "I want you all prepared for a war. Tristan is recruiting, fishing in our pond for packmates. The Makahs will go to war with us if they don't see to reason. Unfortunately, that means killing humans. I have to fight fire with fire. Sitting back and hoping for a different outcome is not going change anything."

From his spot next to Shelby, Seth stepped forward. "What happens when they outnumber us, Jake? I mean, it's going to happen. Even with humans on their side, they still have weapons, guns."

Another deep breath, and then he looked over at Caden. "Looks like, if it's ok with the Cullens to use their funds, you're going back across the pond. We have to do our own recruiting. "

"Of course," Dad said. "Anything you need."

"And I'm going with him," Leah piped up.

As expected, Seth started shaking his head. "No. You're going to stay here."

"Seth, you wouldn't let Shelby do something like this alone. I won't let my imprint go without me, and this needs to happen. You're my little brother, but I have to do this with him. Plus, I'd be able to explain about our type of werewolf. And be able to explain the vampires and Nessie." She looked over to Jake. "You know I have to do this. Nessie can't go."

Jacob took another breath and looked back at me. I nodded my agreement. It had to happen. Again, we needed witness and help.

"Rosalie, Emmett, would you go with them? Maybe with you being there, it would be easier to sway them."

My aunt and uncle shared a look before nodding solemnly in unison.

"When will we go?" Caden asked.

I looked to Uncle Jasper as did Jacob.

"It'll take a couple months for me to get the paperwork in order. If I can get the order to my contact tomorrow, it should be ready right after the wedding, assuming it's still planned for October?"

He looked to Jacob who looked back to me and then back to my uncle. "Yeah, it's still set for October."

Uncle Jasper looked over to Caden and Leah. "Then we better get you guys ready to go over there."

"There are also packs across the U.S. I'll see if any of my people over there have any contact with them here," Caden said.

"Caden, I need to know about Tristan's pack. Are they all psycho or just the higher-ups?"

Rubbing his face, Caden shook his head. "Honestly, I don't know. A lot of them, I knew before Tristan came around. Over there, I wasn't part of a pack. I was a lone wolf, but I had contact with other packs. There were alliances and friends made. All in all, I think that maybe they just bought the lie. If, and that's a big if, I could somehow talk to them, maybe I could reach a few."

"I thought you already tried that and they fought you?"

Caden shook his head again. "Not all of them. It was just, as you said, the higher-ups. Why don't I do some rounds in the town in human and wolf form. Maybe I'll run into someone. If I do without a higher-up around, I'll talk to them."

Jacob nodded. "Good. Where's Walker?"

"Right here."

A moment later he stepped out of the kitchen. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Christa shift uncomfortably and drop her eyes to the floor. Morgan wrapped her arm through her friend's and rested her head on Christa's shoulder.

"What's up?"

"I want you training with Caden as much as possible. You need to get back to your parents' house. I want someone there twenty-four seven. The patrols in that area are for both your house and Nessie's grandfather's. There aren't eyes on it at all times and we need that right now with the threat in Forks. So as soon as you can, you're part of guard duty. Also, we need eyes on Charlie as well."

"Bella and I will do that." Dad said.

Jacob nodded. "Good. Patrick and Alana, you will stick to Shelby like gum on a shoe. The same goes for Adam and Derek with Nessie. Christa, Morgan, and Lucas, I want you all down with Sam and Emily. Help the wolves on patrols down there keep an eye on Billy, too. I also need someone on my sister. Not you, Paul. I need you on patrol lines."

Paul shook his head and clenched his hands into fists. "Fine. Then I want Blake and Sadie on her."

Jacob thought about it as if he weren't sure why Paul was picking those two to watch his wife. But it made sense, I suppose. Blake and Sadie trained with Patrick and Alana with weapons. Both pairs were good at making a weapon out of anything near them.

"That's a good choice, Paul," I said in support.

Jacob turned back to me with a question. I shrugged. "It makes sense to me."

He nodded. "Ok. Did you two hear that? Sadie, Blake, you stick to my sister. She'll try to shake you off and tell you that she doesn't need you. If you have to, tie her up and duct tape her mouth until this is over."

The two wolves stepped forward. Sadie was like Christa. Her mother was half Quileute and her father was from Florida. Long, platinum blonde hair was plaited down her back with the tail just brushing the small of her back. There was a rumor that she kept a large knife in there somewhere. Frankly, I was fine with never knowing the answer to that.

Blake was full-blooded Quileute with the high cheekbones, russet skin, and ink-black hair to prove it. He was tall and almost painfully lean. The gauntness of his cheeks made the cheekbones even sharper making him look like a snitty aristocrat from movies and books.

"Loud and clear, boss," Blake said in a low bass voice.

"Good. Those of you specifically assigned guard duty, pick out another pair so that you can hand off shifts and get some sleep. I'll trust you to pick out the others. Every new patrol and guard shifts start tonight. Seth, have someone replace me on patrols. I need some time to think and come up with plans."

"Will do."

"Alright, everyone, let's break up this shindig."

As everyone started to disappear into the woods and the house started to empty, Jacob resumed his position of leaning into the table. Sensing that he needed some sort of support, I moved up behind him to wrap my arms around his waist and rest my cheek on his back. Just listening to him breathe made me want to just cuddle down in the dark, this time with me holding him just like this. It seemed like an awkward position, but it felt right.

"Sounds amazing to me," he whispered.

Apparently, I was back to projecting again. As he straightened up, I pressed a kiss to the middle of his back before he reached back to pull me around. Tiredly, he wrapped his arms around me and just held me to him. This time, however, it felt as if I were the one doing the holding, keeping him together.

"Jacob, I want to tell you something."

"Ok." His voice was muffled from his face being mushed into my hair.

"Well, I need you to listen. Are you listening?"

I felt him nod against me.

"Good. Look, to do what you're doing, to be selfless for the people you care about, that means that you have to give up a piece of who you are. And I think I speak for the pack and my family when I say that we respect the hell out of you for what you're doing."

He pulled back so that he could look me in the eye. "How the hell are you so smart about these things?"

I laughed. "A normal girl would be insulted about that, but me? I know the man I love. And I know that this is tearing you apart. Ever since I was old enough to understand, I knew that you always felt that talking could fix a situation. But now? You're preparing for the worst instead of just hoping for the best alone. And that is a sign of a great leader. I hope it doesn't come to war, but I am so proud of what you're doing. And I know that you're trying your hardest to protect everyone, but it can't just be you. They have to help out, too, you know. Some people don't want to be helped. The Makahs? You've tried so hard to protect them, even when they called you traitor. Even now, you gave him one last choice. It's up to him, Jacob. You can't save everyone. They all make their own decisions."

He hung his head so that our foreheads pressed together. "I know. You're right."

"You've done everything you can so far. Now, it's a waiting game to see what their next move is. So, let's go home and let me cuddle you up like you used to do to me when I was feeling crappy."

He laughed. "Sounds good. I think I could handle a night of just cuddling."

Craning up, I pressed a kiss to his mouth. "See? You are the perfect man."

Against my lips, he said, "You overestimate me."

I shook my head, lips rubbing over his. "You've never let me down once. That's perfect in my book."

"God, I love you."

"Then, shut up and kiss me."

And kiss me, he did.

JPOV

I woke up to the sound of my phone ringing. But it wasn't coming from the bedside table where I usually put it before bed. Why was it coming from across the room? Oh, right. As soon as we'd gotten down the stairs, Nessie had insisted on stripping me out of my clothes where I stood and putting me in the bed. She'd quickly followed and snuggled up behind me. To be honest, it was a little weird at first, but after a while, it felt good to let her do the holding.

Groaning, I lifted her arm up from around my waist, got out of bed, and padded over to my pile of clothes. Digging my phone out of my jeans pocket, I found that it was Caden calling.

Hitting the button, I said, "Yeah," when I finally got it to my ear.

"Jacob, you need to get down here. Now."

His tone was better than any strong coffee at waking me the hell up.

"What is it? What happened?"

"Jacob?" Nessie said sleepily from the bed.

"Charlie is here at the Cullen house. Something big and bad went down in the town. Charlie wants to talk to us, especially Walker. Just get down here…and bring Nessie. Nobody needs to be alone right now."

Instead of screaming and demanding he tell me what happened, I just said, "We'll be down in five," and hung up.

Turning around I found Nessie sitting up with the sheet around her chest. "Jacob, what's going on? What happened?"

"Something happened in town. Charlie's down at the house and he wants to talk to me and Walker. Get dressed. I won't leave you here. You can sleep on the couch."

With a nod, she did as she was told, and as promised, we were down at the Cullen house in five minutes with Derek and Adam flanking us in wolf form. It shocked me to find Charlie's police cruiser in the drive. Sue had made him get a "civilian vehicle" so that he didn't stop traffic unnecessarily.

Nessie and I shared a look.

"Must be police business," I said.

"Gee, ya think," she replied with a yawn.

Dawn was on its way, barely any light to the east, but just enough to tell me that it was morning.

Before I could even step one foot on the first porch step, Charlie came busting out the screen door.

"What hell is going on? I thought you guys had your…weirdness under control?" he demanded, brandishing what looked like a bunch of photos.

"What? What are you talking about?"

Caden came out the door next and crossed his arms over his chest. "Charlie, show him the pictures."

Without a word, Charlie thrust what was in his hand at me. Once I took them, he turned away with his hands on his belt. After giving a look to Caden, who nodded, I looked down at the pictures. Whatever was on them, my brain refused to process at first. It just looked like a mess of jumbled shapes. And then, beside me, Nessie gasped and clapped a hand over her mouth. I glanced at her, and when I looked back at the pictures, I saw it.

It was of the two lane road that ran between the Cullen property and Forks. But it wasn't the road that had Nessie gasping. It was what was on the road. A body was sprawled out over the yellow line. The next picture was in color, and I was quite thankful that I hadn't eaten breakfast yet. The body was ripped apart, eviscerated, and blood was pooling everywhere.

"What the hell is this? When did this happen? And who is this?"

Charlie whirled around and pointed at the picture. "That is the picture of a murder scene. It happened sometime last night. I'm waiting on a time of death. And his name was Luke."

"What?!" Nessie burst out. "That's Luke?"

"You know him?" Charlie demanded.

Nessie took a step back from the forcefulness of her grandfather. "No, not really. I went to school with him for that one year I went to Forks High."

And suddenly, it all clicked.

"Charlie, why are you here with these?" I asked, my tone suggesting I already knew the answer.

Charlie glared at me. "Come on, Jacob. The kid was torn apart, clawed open by massive claws. Now, you told me that your wolves weren't killers. If that's true, then what is this?"

"Charlie, we didn't do this. You know-,"

"Is he actually dead?" Caden asked from the porch. When Charlie turned a glare on him, he said, "All I'm asking is that are you sure he's dead?"

"Yes, I'm sure. He had no pulse and wasn't breathing. Besides, how could anyone survive that type of damage?"

"And all that blood was his?" Nessie asked in a thin voice.

Clearly taken aback, Charlie opened his mouth, closed it, and tried again. "Actually, no. A lot of it was deer blood."

Caden and I exchanged a look.

"We need to see the body," Caden said.

Now, the incredulous, angry Charlie was back. "Are you crazy? Absolutely not."

"It's direly important that we do."

"Why? I mean, you seem to be a good kid, but I don't know you."

"You trust me though."

Charlie scoffed. "Oh really? And how would you know that? Because you're dating Leah?"

"No, because you trust Jacob, and Jacob trusts me."

Oh, great. He was dragging me into the fight. Awesome. I sighed. "He's right. I do trust him. Especially on this."

The police chief studied me for a moment angrily. "Fine. But you have to tell me what that look was just now."

Another look passed between us before Caden nodded at me, letting me take the reins on that one.

I took a deep breath. Nessie took my hand and squeezed it reassuringly. "Deer have been getting ripped apart in the woods and left there. That's not how we hunt, Charlie. It's not us. Remember that pack last year that was after Nessie?" When he nodded, I continued. "They're not after just her anymore. They're after all of us. I'm guessing that this," I held up the picture, "is a message to me, to us."

"So you're saying it wasn't Walker?"

It was Nessie's turn to share a look with me.

"Uh, why would it be Walker?" she asked.

"Because he and Luke had a bad falling out before Walker's 'accident'." He made the quote marks with his fingers.

"What-,"

The screen door creaked open.

"What's going on?"

We all turned to find Walker in a pair of sweats and a case of bedhead.

I turned to Charlie and held the pictures to my chest. "Let me talk to him. Please."

He threw his hands in the air as if he'd given up on the police side of the situation. "Fine."

I went up the porch steps with a glare at Walker. "Back in the house. Now."

Thankfully, he went without argument. I stopped him with a hand on his shoulder when we got to the living room.

"What's going on?" he demanded.

"You didn't tell us you had a falling out with Luke."

His expression told me that wasn't what he was expecting. "I didn't think it was relevant. I'd been attacked by a giant wolf, not him."

Ignoring the sarcasm, I ground my teeth. "What happened between you two?"

He glared at me. "Tricia happened, ok? He went after her when I wasn't around and scared the shit out of her. I dropped him right then and there."

"Let me ask you something. Does your sister know she's adopted?" Couldn't hurt to ask. Besides, it could help with the whole imprint thing going on.

His eyebrows shot up in surprise. "How do you know about that?"

"Did you really think Nessie and Shelby wouldn't tell me? Come on. Now answer the question."

"Yeah, she knows. Mom and Dad told both of us a week after she turned sixteen. We both kind of figured it out anyway. I mean, look at her. Either my mom cheated with the mailman or she was adopted. And my mom would never cheat." He shook his head as if trying to clear it. "What does all this have to do with Luke and the police chief on the doorstep?"

I took in a deep breath. "Luke is dead. Or at least, we think he is."

"What?!"

"He was attacked, just like you were."

"Then he's not dead."

"Walker, my gut is telling me he is. You were supposed to be a recruit, but I think Luke was a message." I held out the photos to him.

He didn't look at them as he took them, just kept his eyes on me as he swallowed hard looking shaken for the first time since he first saw Morgan phase. Finally, he looked down. A whole minute passed before he looked away, his breathing uneven. The colored photo was on top and I guarantee he was trying to get his brain to process what his eyes were seeing.

Holding them out to me, he said, "I didn't do this," in a dead voice. "Yeah, I didn't want Luke near my sister. He had bad tendencies toward girls, and I'd had enough when he went for her. But I would never do something like this."

"Did you go out last night?"

He shook his head. "No. I stayed up talking to Caden. You said you wanted me training, so I came up with some questions. We'd been up all night when Charlie knocked on the door."

I sighed and clapped him on the nape of the neck. "Alright. Let's go tell Charlie that."

"You believe me?"

"Of course, I do. If you were lying, you wouldn't have used Caden as your alibi since he's here and could dispute that."

As we walked back out onto the porch, Charlie turned to me with a question in his eyes. I shook my head telling him that it wasn't Walker.

Charlie pointed a finger at me. "Listen, Jacob. I'm willing to trust you only so far. Whatever is going on, you need to take care of it. This boy's parents are demanding answers that I can't give them. Fix this before my entire town gets turned into giant, ravenous dogs. Understand? If I have to send hunters-,"

"No!" Caden, Nessie, Walker, and I shouted at the same time.

"Grampa, you can't send people into those woods. Obviously, this other pack cares nothing for humans. Give us some time. We have a plan."

"What am I supposed to do, Nessie? Walker's 'sick', and another kid is dead."

"Put into effect a curfew. These attacks are happening at night. Nobody out past a certain time unless absolutely necessary. I'm willing to bet that during the day, they're walking around in their human forms scoping out the town. Why don't we do the same? I mean, we know that their scents are the same in human form and wolf, whereas our wolves aren't like that. They'd have less chance of figuring out it's us until it's too late and we have them." She turned to me. "Jacob, you were talking about being proactive instead of reactive. Well, let's do it. Instead of all these patrols, let's put our wolves in the town. The patrols don't make sense anymore anyway since we know they're already in the town."

To be honest, I was surprised at how well Nessie was handling this. A kid she'd known was dead, and yet, here she was keeping her cool and thinking rationally. She really had gone and grown up on us.

"She has a point," Caden said. "We can still run the old patrol lines to keep an eye out for…other enemies. But we run circuits in the town both in human and wolf at the same time. That way if they catch us watching them and they try to flee, we still have a chance."

"Yeah, but if they catch onto what you're doing, can't they just leave?" Charlie asked. Finally, he'd calmed down enough to think things out with us, which was good. We'd need him for this plan to work.

Caden shook his head. "No, they're here to stay. Tristan wants Jacob's head on a stick, probably literally. He's that barbaric."

"Jesus, what kind of world is this? This stuff actually happens?"

We all nodded in unison.

Charlie rubbed his eyes. "Alright. I'll get a curfew in effect starting tonight."

Caden and I shared another look. I had to warn Charlie. "Just be ready for more reports of attacks, or reports on large dogs."

"Why is this even happening?"

I looked to Caden to answer that one.

He sighed. "Tristan is looking to find new packmates. He'll attack them and do things to them that a sociopath would and leave them. If they survive, they'll sense the pack and come looking for him for answers. It was just good timing that we found Walker on a patrol."

"So, this Tristan is using Forks as a recruiting center?"

"That's exactly what I'm telling you."

Turning away from us, Charlie scrubbed his face with his hands. "Do you really think this plan is going to work?"

"It's the only one we have, grampa," Nessie said in a calm voice. "We'll keep you updated, but we also need help from you."

"Like what?" he asked suspiciously.

Caden stepped up. "Any reports of odd happenings. Animal disturbances of any kind. Anything that's out of the ordinary."

"What about missing people?"

Caden glanced at me. "Have you had any missings?"

Charlie nodded. "Just one."

"Jeremy."

We all turned to see Walker lose the color in his face.

"How did you know that?" Charlie asked.

Walker swallowed hard. "His mother called me to ask if I'd seen him back in February. He and I weren't tight, but I talked to him a few times in school. We had a couple chemistry projects together so I'd been over to his house a few times."

"We never found the body. But the dogs did find some blood in the woods."

"Where was he last seen?" Caden said. He'd moved to lean against the side of the house with his hands in his pockets.

"The grocery store. He went to pick up some stuff for his mom's bakery. She said he never came back. When we went to check it out, his car was still in the parking lot, groceries in the trunk, and keys in the ignition."

"They managed to grab him without causing a scene or a bloodbath," Caden murmured. "Hey, Walker, I know you said you didn't know him that well, but was he a happy kid?"

Walker shrugged. "Um, I don't know. I mean, he wasn't popular. Never had a girlfriend that I know of. And his dad was a total jerk-off to him, especially because he didn't play sports. Said he wasn't a real man because of it. Why?"

"He may have gone voluntarily. They talked him into just leaving everything by promising everything he didn't have: speed, strength, the ability to just go wherever he wanted."

Charlie nodded but shrugged. "That could be true, but it's not a pattern. Walker was popular, played a lot of sports, in the paper all the time."

"Walker was opportunity. He was in the woods alone. They were probably watching the party in the woods, looking for someone who didn't fit in, someone who wouldn't be missed as much when Walker got too close to them." It was almost as if Caden were talking to himself, thinking through the clues. "So Tristan does have a plan. Let's review what we know about him."

"He's psychotic," I murmured.

Caden smiled. "That certainly is true. But something is making him cautious. So, we, well I, know he doesn't like you, Jacob. He wants you dead, as well as the Cullens and Nessie. He truly believes the lie that Jane spun. He wants a foot hole here in North America even though there are packs of our kind of werewolf here. So, he wants to take the territory from you. Werewolves over in Europe are a dominant species, and are considered living legends even though humans don't know for sure that we exist. Here? Werewolves are myths. All the stories and videos are fake. He wants to change that. Tristan wants a kingdom over here. That man has always believed that the world should know that there is an animal that's superior to humans."

"Then we have to stop him."

"Exactly," Nessie said, squeezing my hand again.

Caden gripped Walker's shoulder. "Come on. Let's go work on the town patrols." Then he looked to us. "Why don't the two of you go back home and get some sleep? Nessie's about to fall over."

She shook her head just as she yawned again. "No, I'm ok," she said as she leaned into me.

Rolling my eyes, I scooped her up into my arms. "We'll sleep on the couch." I turned back to Charlie as Nessie sighed and snuggled up to my chest. "Is there anything else you need from us?"

Scratching his neck, he shook his head. "Not right now. I'll let you know when I can get you in to see the body, if you still need to."

Caden nodded. "I would."

Charlie came over to kiss Nessie on the forehead, give me and Caden a nod, and got into the car. We watched as the taillights disappeared.

When I turned back to the house, Caden was still staring out at the drive.

"Jacob, if we don't stop him, it's going to be a bloodbath."

As I passed him on the porch, I felt the urge to say, "Tell me something I don't know."

ChristaPOV

When I hung up the phone, I gave it a look like maybe it could tell me what the hell was going on. Shaking my head, I turned back to the kitchen table where Morgan and Lucas were eating breakfast.

"What's wrong?" Lucas asked as he wiped his mouth with a napkin.

I sat down in the chair in front of my mug of hot chocolate. "That was Caden. He said they've called off the heavy patrol on the outer lines."

"What?" Morgan demanded around a mouthful of waffle.

"Yeah. He said the patrols around the rez were still up, but we were going back to normal patrols around the outside. He also said that some of us would be patrolling Forks in human form."

"Why? What's changed?" Lucas wondered.

"I don't know. He said that he and Seth are going to call a pack-wide meeting tonight."

"What about Jacob?"

I shrugged. "I'm assuming he and Ness will be there. Or maybe they're taking some alpha couple time. I don't know."

The two of them shared a look and shrug.

"Anyway," Morgan said with meaning. "Let's talk about this imprinting business, shall we?"

"Do we have to?"

"Yes. You said you wanted my help, so you're gonna get it. And Lucas's, too. He's good at the gooey, romantic crap."

I sighed. "Like I told Nessie, I just don't see the point. He's in love…well, he thinks he's in love with Tricia."

"But Embry imprinted on Tricia," Lucas said. "Plus, did you hear her when we were all at the house? She called him her big brother. I don't think she feels the same about him. Hell, I don't think she even knows how he thinks he feels."

"Yeah, you said that Jacob knows, right?" I nodded. Morgan shrugged. "Ok, then ask to be put on a patrol with him. Get to know him." When I gave her a look, she said, "Hey, I'm not saying you should stalk the kid. All I'm saying is make yourself accessible to him. Hang around the Cullen house more. Lucas and I are always up there. Emmett's a trip. He and Lucas arm wrestle all the time. I'm sure you'd love Esme. She could teach you to cook-," she stopped short and her cheeks darkened. "I-I mean, if you don't already know. God, I'm so sorry, Christa."

I placed a hand on her arm. "It's ok. I know what you were trying to say. Thanks."

She melted. "I really am sorry. About all of it. I should have done anything I could. Hell, I should have busted your that damn window and dragged you out myself."

"Don't, Morgan. Nessie was right. I put anger on you that you didn't deserve. You were lost. We all were. But we phased and Jacob found us. We're safe with him and that's all that matters now. My anger will stay with my parents."

"So…we're good?"

I couldn't help but smile at the childish tone in her voice. "No, Morgan. We're better than good. We're great."

"See?" Lucas chimed in. "Didn't I tell you to talk to her?"

"Oh, shut up," Morgan grumbled.

I laughed. "You have a very smart mate, Morgs."

"Yeah, don't remind me. I still have yet to find a flaw."

Lucas joined me in a chuckle.

"That's the thing about imprints. They don't have any." The instant I said it, I wished I hadn't because I knew the look she was going to give me.

Sure enough. "Exactly, so get cozy with yours. He'll flip his switch."

"Mine is different."

"Why? Because it's yours?"

"Duh. Everything about anything pertaining to me has to be funky. You know that."

She grinned at me. "I missed you so much. You were always my good half."

"And you wore my horns."

Lucas and Morgan laughed. Breakfast continued on with us coming up with stupid ideas as to what was going on with the patrols. Thankfully, they'd dropped the subject of my imprinting. I wasn't ready to deal with Walker yet. I barely had Morgan back. And I was still getting used to the ever present Lucas. Where Morgan went, he followed, and I didn't have the heart to tell him that I wasn't comfy with him. He was such a sweetheart that it was hard to even think of upsetting him. Plus, I guess it helped that he was around so that I could get used to having some one on one with males. The pack mind was one thing, but having more than a "work" relationship with someone? A guy? Yeah, right. I'd been homeschooled by my mother. And my dad? Scary as hell. Leaving the house to go out into public had not been an option for me. The backyard was as far as I could go, and there'd been nothing but grass. Not even a tree to climb on.

After a couple hours, we decided to head up to the Cullen house just in case we could find anything out early. Instead, we found the house nearly empty and almost quiet.

"Ow! Aunt Alice!"

"Sorry. Quit moving."

"Well, I would if I didn't have to breathe. Does the corset have to be so tight?"

The sound of fabric ripping bounced around the house as we walked through the foyer.

"You have great boobs. We need to accentuate those. No other Cullen woman has boobs like you do."

"Ow! Then get a push up instead of the rib crusher."

"Oh, quit whining. You helped design it."

"She has a point, Ness." That was Shelby.

Walking into the living room, we found Nessie standing on the sturdy coffee table in a white corset and silk skirting. Her hair was knotted on the top of her head so that it wouldn't get in the way of the fitting. Clearly, it was wedding dress day.

"Oh, hey guys," Shelby said when she noticed us.

"Where is everyone?" Lucas asked.

Shelby fluttered her hand toward the large picture window. "They went up to Jake and Nessie's cabin to spread out maps and such for the new patrols."

"So what's going on?" Morgan said as she followed Lucas into the kitchen. Apparently she wasn't too interested in the conversation because she started in on her mate. "You just ate breakfast."

"Yeah, like two hours ago. Oh, hey, Esme. Don't mean to be rude, but you got any food around here?"

I didn't hear the answer because Shelby started talking again.

"Nope, can't say. This is a drama free house today with wedding preparations and such. Don't wanna jinx it or anything."

"That's true," I conceded.

She patted the couch next to her. "Come on, come enjoy the entertainment."

Nessie glared at her best friend as I sat next to Shelby. "You won't be laughing when it's you up here."

Shelby laughed and crossed her arms over her stomach. "What makes you think I'm getting married, huh?"

"Oh, Seth will ask. Don't you worry about that."

"Pfft, I am not sticking my giant ass in a wedding dress. I already feel like I've gained fifty pounds."

"You look it, too," I muttered playfully.

The entire house went quiet. Instantly, I shrunk in on myself and realized that I'd been rude.

"I'm sor-,"

Shelby interrupted me. "Was that a joke, Christa?"

When I looked up to see her expression, I was surprised to find a happy grin on her face.

She wrapped an arm around my shoulders. "Welcome back to the living, sweetness. It's great to meet you."

From the kitchen, I heard Morgan giggling. She was actually giggling. Soon, Nessie and Shelby were laughing, too.

"Oh, for heaven's sake," Alice said as she pulled back on putting a pin in the skirt while Nessie wrapped her arms around her torso.

And then she cracked a smile, too, and winked at me.

I was the last to join with the mirth, but honestly, I felt light as a feather.

Hmmmm, what thinks you guys? Please review. You guys are freaking awesome and I wouldn't be able to do this without your support! Love ya! xoxoxo