Chapter 27 has arrived. Sooooo, I added another POV. I know, I know. But I figured with me back to my normal updating, it wouldn't be as bad. Now, I don't think I'll be adding any more POVs for this story. I may for the next one which might mean that some of our characters from this one or the first story may not be as prominent or have any of their POV in the next installment, like Morgan. I may start with Caden in the next one. But we'll see. I'll leave that up to you guys, so if you have a comment about it, shoot me a PM or review. Ok, enough ranting.

*Disclaimer*

Please Enjoy!

TriciaPOV

Embry was the sweetest thing. After I'd left the Cullen house, I'd found him wandering in the woods on the side of the road and asked if he wanted to walk me back home. He'd given me the button down shirt he was wearing over his tank when I shivered because I'd forgotten my jacket. He'd refused to hear it when I told him I was fine. Morgan and Lucas stayed back from us, but still followed. I wasn't really all that sure why I had to have "guards", but with Walker's sudden "sickness" and Luke's death, I wasn't going to question it.

"I'm really sorry about Walker," I said for the thousandth time.

Embry shrugged, moving closer to me so that our arms brushed as we walked. "Eh, it's alright. I can handle him. But is he normally like that with other guys?"

My turn to shrug. "Sometimes. When Luke…did what he did, I thought Walker was going to beat him to death. He's just very protective, especially after mom and dad told us I was adopted. He was protective before but after that, he felt like I'd been abandoned by my birth parents."

He took a deep breath and nodded. "Well, at least he cares. Can I ask you something?"

Pulling the long sleeves of his shirt down over my cold fingers, I nodded. "Mhm."

Surprising me, he took my hand to stop me, turned so that we were facing each other, and looked up at the sky. His hand was super warm, instantly thawing my fingers. His thumb rubbed over the top of my hand.

"Do you believe in things that can't be explained?"

"What do you mean? Like what?"

A thoughtful frown drew his brows down. "I don't know, like, myths and legends."

I laughed. "You mean Dracula? The Wolfman? Bigfoot?"

Bringing his serious eyes to mine, he nodded.

Thinking about it in a serious way, I absently rubbed my thumb over his palm. "It's possible, I guess. I don't know. But that's what Walker doesn't understand. I want to learn so much. And I want to do it out in the world, not in some classroom. I want to experience something…epic, something that the rest of the world doesn't know." I looked up into his eyes. "You know what I mean?"

He smiled. "You have no idea." Reaching up, he played with a strand of my hair that the wind was blowing around. "It'll happen for you."

"You think?"

"Absolutely. You're determined no matter what anybody says."

I sighed. "Mom and dad are gonna be crushed when I tell them I'm not gonna be a brain surgeon."

He laughed. And when he did, something clicked inside of me. There was no way to really explain it. I just felt like, finally, my story was beginning, and I didn't even know him. Except that he was nice, sweet, and actually listened to me. And the fact that he was a looker wasn't a bad plus either. Super tall, broad shoulders, but lean. Some serious muscle definition. Raven-black shaggy hair that fell into eyes that were nearly black. I felt like I was looking at someone that was now a permanent fixture in my life. I was looking at a part of my future.

While he laughed, I smiled and watched him.

"What? Don't like the sight of people's brains?"

I grimaced. "Actually, I don't like the sight of blood. It's supposed to stay on the inside of the body." When he smiled at me, I said, "So, can I ask you something?"

"Sure."

"How old are you?"

For a moment, he just stared at me, then cleared his throat. "Uh, how old do I look?"

I shrugged. "Twenty-ish?"

He laughed. "Actually twenty-six."

My eyes bugged out of my head. And then I managed to get a hold of myself. "Oh, well, that's older than I expected."

"Should I be insulted or…?"

"Oh, no. No. Just wasn't what I expected."

He took a step closer to me. "Why? Does it bother you?" His voice was low and close.

Swallowing hard, I shook my head. Man, he smelled amazing. "No, not at all."

It was one of those moments that the movies were all about. That moment where you think that something was about to happen and you're on the couch cheering. That tense moment where both of us were thinking about how close we were to each other.

And then, to my left, a throat cleared roughly.

The tension was broken as we blinked rapidly and stepped away from each other.

"Embry," Morgan said. "The sun's going down. Jake wants us back."

Embry cleared his throat and rubbed his neck. "Uh, yeah, yeah. Why don't we get you home? Your parents are probably worried."

"Uh, yeah. I'm surprised they haven't called. And we're actually just around the corner."

And so we started walking again in silence. Strangely enough it wasn't awkward silence. We still stayed close to each other, our hands brushing occasionally. But eventually, we got to my house and the moments with him ended. Shrugging out of his shirt, I handed it back longingly, never wanting to part with it.

"Thank you. I appreciate it. It was very warm."

"You're welcome." He took it from me with a smile. "So, maybe we'll see each other again sometime."

"I hope so," I blurted out before I could catch it.

He looked surprised. "Really?"

"Absolutely."

"Look, I know you're only seventeen-,"

"No," I said firmly. His eyebrows rose toward his hairline. "Don't bring age into this. I'm not going to. It's just you, and it's just me." I held out my hand like I wanted to shake his. "Friends."

Staring at me like he was measuring me, he finally smiled and took my hand. "Friends."

"For now," I blurted again. Quickly, I stood up on my tiptoes to kiss his cheek while he was still stunned into silence.

And then I ran for the house as quick as I could so that he wouldn't catch up to me and catch my blush.

JPOV

We were all still chillin' at the Cullen house, playing games and talking. Everyone rotated out when it was time for patrol shifts to change over so I got to hang out with the entire pack. Something I hadn't done in a long time. Somebody even wheeled Billy up here. He parked it next to the couch beside me so that we could talk. It had been a few weeks since I'd been able to visit him so it was nice to see him. Eventually, Rachel made it up here with a sour look. When I gave her a questioning look, he glared over at her two guards, Sadie and Blake. I rolled my eyes while Billy chuckled.

Walker was brooding over against the wall away from everyone. His arms were crossed over his chest as he studied the toes of his boots. He wouldn't tell me what happened, just that a tiff happened between him and Christa, and that sometimes I didn't have to know everything. Which he was right about, so I let it go. But I'd told him they'd better be civil toward each other. Nessie had elbowed me in the ribs, glared at me, and then told Walker that if he needed to talk about anything that he could go to her when I wasn't around. He'd nodded and gone to take up space on the wall. That had happened about twenty minutes ago.

But with me being me, I decided to try and sense his emotions. I was just in the process of bringing my wolf to the forefront when the front door opened. Walker's head moved out of reflex toward the sound, but once he saw who it was the angry look was back on his face as he quickly looked away and locked his jaw.

As Christa came into the living room, her eyes slid to him and quickly away. With her nose in the air and deliberately not looking at him, she made her way through the crowd of wolves on the floor to stand in front of us. Once she was in front of me and Nessie, she lowered her eyes and fidgeted with her fingers.

She cleared her throat. "I, um, I decided I didn't want to be alone. Would it be ok if-?"

Nessie smiled and scooted closer to me, patting the cushion on her other side. "Absolutely. You're always welcome to join us."

Instead of taking the offered seat, she sank down onto the floor between my and Nessie's legs. She curled herself around Nessie's leg and rested her head on her alpha female's knee. Nessie's face softened as she stroked Christa's blonde curls. Looking over at Walker for his reaction, I found that he no longer looked angry, but maybe a little bit sorry. I glanced over at Edward hoping he could give me a little insight with just a look. He had that expression on his face like he wanted to sigh and pinch the bridge of his nose. It was a type of sad sigh, though, like he wanted to do something to help but knew that his involvement in fact wouldn't help at all.

Well, then, that told me everything I needed to know. They needed to work this out on their own, probably between the four of them. And Christa's text wasn't far off the mark. Embry and Tricia needed to spend time together so that Tricia could have the experience of being around another guy without her brother losing his mind. And maybe, if she fell for Embry, she could make Walker see the light.

Out of the corner of my eye, I could see Edward nod enthusiastically, as if I were on the right track. Alright. I'd tell Embry to try to spend as much non-creepy time with her as possible when Walker wasn't around. Eventually, Walker would have to go home. He was training with Caden as much as possible and was able to control his anger. The only problem was he hadn't shifted yet. Because of that, Caden didn't want to let him go. According to Caden, that was the ultimate show of control.

When the door opened again, I saw Walker stiffen. Morgan and Lucas came in wearing identical looks of wariness. I found out the reason as Embry came in behind them with an easy smile and distant look to his eyes. Uh-oh. The only explanation was that he'd walked Tricia back home with the other two. Luckily, Embry saw Walker and instantly shut his expression down.

But when Walker got a suspicious look in his eyes, I gave wide eyes to Caden. Immediately, he jumped up off the coffee table and went for the moody werewolf.

"Alright. I think a little training is in order."

Walker glared up at him. "We already trained today."

Caden kicked him in the thigh none too gently. "True, but we haven't tried getting you to shift. Now get your ass off the floor and go outside."

Grumbling, Walker did as he was told. "I don't see why we have to do this now."

"Do you want to go home sooner rather than later?"

"Yeah."

"Then get outside."

Once the kitchen door closed, Caden shook his head.

"What are you gonna do?" I asked.

"Rile him up a bit. Like you, a trigger for us is anger. Maybe, if I can piss him off enough, he'll shift. Usually, with newly infected wolves, it takes the full moon, but with how dominant and in control he already seems, maybe I can force it."

"You got any theories as to why he didn't shift at the full moon?"

He shrugged. "It's happened before, but it's rare. If he's in enough control of himself, it can lead to not shifting. Like Shelby, who's pregnant."

"Wait, wait, wait," Billy said beside me. He leaned forward to look at Shelby. "You're pregnant?"

She smiled and shrugged. "Yeah."

Billy sat back and glared at me. "Why wasn't I told?"

I shrugged. "Sorry. I've been a little busy, dad. And why don't you get mad at Nessie? She knows."

"Hey!" she exclaimed.

"I would never get mad at Nessie. That's my future daughter-in-law."

"Ok, Rachel, then. Or Paul. Or Seth."

"Or Charlie," Seth chimed in with a glare at me.

"Charlie knows?" Billy exploded.

I laughed. "Yeah, dad. He is married to Seth's mom. And Seth is the father of the baby."

Billy grumbled. "I'm gonna kill him, cop or no cop."

The room laughed.

"Easy, there, Chief," Carlisle said with a laugh from his corner. Ever since we'd found out that Shelby was pregnant, he'd been doing his research with Caden about the Children of the Moon so that he could be ready for the birthing table. Caden had made a comment that the gestation period may be more like a wolf than a human, meaning that the baby could grow faster than a human baby. I'd done my own research. If the gestation period had been that of a wolf, she'd be ready to give birth any day now. However, that didn't mean that Shelby would be carrying the baby to nine months. Right now, Carlisle felt as though it was progressing as a human baby would, but that could change if the wolf gene in the baby got triggered somehow.

We were all waiting for her to wake up one day soon not being able to see her toes. That would be an interesting day.

"Jacob," Caden said. "Why don't you join me outside? Walker seems to have issues at the moment with you controlling him. If you're out there, it may help agitate him even more."

"Oh, that's a real compliment." I sighed as I untangled myself from Nessie. She leaned over for a kiss before I got up.

As I passed, Billy gave me a slap on the back as far up as he could reach. "Good luck."

Stepping over everyone, I followed Caden out the back door. Walker was standing out in the middle of the yard, his eyes closed as if he were listening to the woods, working on honing his abilities. I didn't even have the door closed when Caden went up to him and punched him hard in the face, and then immediately went down into a defensive crouch.

Quickly, I closed the door as the crack of Caden's knuckles against Walker's face echoed around the clearing.

Walker's hands flew to his face and he glared at Caden. "What the fuck was that for?!"

"Oh, come on," Caden spat. "You walk around here like you're entitled to sympathy just because you got attacked." He held his arms out wide. "Welcome to the club. You're not the only one. Shelby got attacked, and then, she got pregnant and you don't see her whining about it!"

Lunging forward, he took a lightning fast one-two jab at Walker's ribs, making the other wolf forget his face and double over. I knew Caden was just trying to get Walker angry, but what he was saying was also kinda true.

Walker coughed. "Well, excuse me for wanting a normal life and not this shit hole that I've been thrown into."

"Normal?" Caden said incredulously with a laugh. "You think normal is being infatuated with your own sister? Come on, now, mate. Think that one through."

Caden moved again, but this time Walker was ready. As Caden's fist went flying at his face, Walker brought his left forearm up to block it, and then swung with his right fist, landing a blow to Caden's temple. Caden stumbled back but got his footing straight with an evil little grin.

"Now, we're talkin', mate," he said as he stalked forward again.

Walker turned a glare on me. "You just gonna stand there and let him do this to me?"

I crossed my arms over my chest. The wolf inside me was acutely aware that Walker was dangerously close to shifting. Caden's plan was working, but I had to play my part.

I shrugged. "He's got a point. And you have been a pain in the ass about Tricia lately. Not to mention how you treat Embry, my pack brother."

Glaring at me, he growled and went down into a defensive position. Now it was on. Caden wasn't going down, I knew that. He was just playing before. But now? He was all business. With a low roar, he charged Walker, who blocked the flurry of fists, but failed to see the foot swipe coming. He went down hard, the air being knocked out of him. His eyes widened as Caden came at him, looking to stomp on that pumping chest. Rolling away, Caden stomped on the ground, jarring him long enough for Walker to get to his feet. Walker was smart and used Caden's recoup time to go after him in a spectacular tackle.

Walker moved so that he was sitting on Caden's chest. Walker was rip-shit pissed. When Caden's arms came up to throw punches, Walker easily used his new strength to hold those hands away from him. With a painfully loud head-butt, Caden was stunned back when his head snapped back into the ground.

And that's when I saw it. Walker's hands were turning, popping. The muscles and skin were ripping and growing back together.

With a war cry, Walker punched Caden in the face. At first, I thought he'd stop at just one, but no. He went on and on. The anger rippled off of him in heat waves. The way that a car does when it's on.

And as he beat Caden, the other man just laid there and took it. When there was a pause for Walker to catch his breath, Caden moved his head to the side and spat out blood.

"Shift," he demanded in a gurgling voice. "Walker, shift! Use that anger. Don't stuff it back down. You're angry, so be fucking angry. You hate this. You've hated things for a long time."

Clapping his hands over his ears, Walker staggered away from Caden.

"No! Stop it."

Caden rolled onto his side, spitting up more blood. "Let it go, Walker. You can't control the hate forever. Luke's dead. Your sister is your sister! And now you can never be a normal teenager again. It's over!"

Caden had gotten to his feet and was advancing on Walker with every word he said. Walker just stayed crouched with his hands over his ears.

"Stop it!" he screamed.

"Caden-," I started.

"Shift, Walker. Give that anger an outlet. I guarantee you'll feel better."

Looking up with what I could only describe as despair in his eyes, Walker whispered, "Go with me. Shift with me. I can't hold it in anymore, and I don't want to do this alone."

"Absolutely."

And that was all that was needed. A moment later, Walker went to all fours and screamed. He screamed loud enough that the woods echoed with it. I'd be surprised if nobody called the cops. I had a thought to call Charlie, but didn't get around to it. Walker's whole body started to spasm with the change, his skin visibly crawling over his muscle. The muscle writhed over the bone distorting the fact that his body was one piece.

Walking up to Walker's writhing form, Caden gripped the back of Walker's t-shirt and ripped it down his back.

"It'll be easier if he doesn't feel constricted," Caden said in a low voice. In one smooth motion, he slipped off his own shirt and went down to the ground, already writhing before his knees hit the dirt.

With me not paying attention, the door behind me opened.

"What is going on-oh, my god," Nessie said breathlessly.

Quickly, I pulled her outside and closed the door. No doubt Shelby would want to follow, and she didn't need to see this. Not while she was pregnant. Caden had been right. The shift was incredibly personal and private. A pain best kept to yourself. Hopefully Edward was seeing this in my mind and would keep her inside.

Nessie wrapped herself around me as we watched. It was like a car accident. You felt bad for the people who were hurt but you couldn't help but gawk at the wreckage.

Caden's shift caught up with Walker's so that we watched as their skin actually ripped apart, showing glistening muscle and the white of bone. The sounds were the same ones from Caden's partial shift but magnified by a thousand. The poppings sounded like grotesque bubble wrap. The cracking and reknitting of bones sounded like a bonfire as wood was added to it.

I heard Nessie swallow hard as the skin moved and grew over the lengthening body parts of both men. They grew taller and broader, fur flowing here and there.

And finally, it was done. What had only taken a couple minutes had felt like ten years. Both wolves lay in the dirt breathing hard, but only Walker whimpered. Caden was used to this. He just needed a moment to orient himself. Once his moment was over, he stood up on all fours and stretched, joints popping as if they hadn't been used in a while. Caden's wolf was white with a black eye patch. Walker was pitch black with a grey saddle.

Caden walked over to Walker slowly with his head down, whining a little. Walker just lay in the dirt, still breathing hard, and eyes closed. When Caden nudged his shoulder with his muzzle, Walker opened his eyes. Nessie gasped. Pale, pale icy green eyes met Caden's amber eyes. Caden nudged him again. This time Walker attempted to stand up. He was wobbly on four legs that probably still ached, but he got his balance rather quickly. He watched as Caden stretched again and then copied the white wolf. He arched his back like cats do, and then stretched out his front legs before moving forward to stretch out the back.

Suddenly, I was very appreciative of the easy phase that my wolves and I had. We'd have been dead by now for sure if we'd had it like the Children of the Moon. Behind us, the door opened again. Nessie and I turned to find Shelby and Leah silhouetted by the light. Edward was close behind.

"Caden?" Leah asked. When the large, white wolf walked up to her, he kept low as if not sure of his welcome. Apparently, he'd never shifted for Leah. With a nervous laugh, she ran a hand up between his eyes, which made him purr. "You're beautiful."

He huffed and gave her a look as if he didn't appreciate such a girly word being associated with him.

"Stuff it, wolf boy," I said with a laugh. "It was a compliment. Go with it for once."

"Walker?" Shelby said as she came around us. The black wolf wasn't as big as Caden, but then, according to Caden, alphas tend to be bigger. Walker may have been a dominant, but he wasn't an alpha.

Walker moved slowly as if his body still hurt, which gave Shelby time to study him while Seth moved up behind her. Caden shot a look to Walker as if reminding him to keep his temper to himself. Shelby moved forward to meet him. She rubbed his face and neck, massaging, as if she could sense that he was still in pain.

"It's ok, Walker. We're all here. You have two families, now. We'll take care of you if you let us."

He grumbled and snuffled into her hair, which made her smile. And then he stiffened. Looking back, I found Christa standing in the doorway, looking worried whether she wanted to or not.

"You ok? You screamed kinda loud," she asked.

He grumbled again and turned away.

Christa looked to Edward, who glared at Walker. "He said he's fine, thanks."

Walker whipped around and growled at Edward.

"That isn't what he said," Christa whispered. "What was it?"

Edward sighed. "Fine. He said it's none of your business how he's doing."

While Walker wasn't watching, Caden leapt over to wrap his teeth around the other wolf's throat and growled. Walker whimpered and went down to his belly. I saw Edward grin out of the corner of my eye. Apparently, Caden didn't like Walker's attitude toward Christa.

"It's ok, Caden," she said. "It's between me and him anyway. Let him be an asshole. He'll get put in his place eventually by the right person."

Leaping out of the door, she phased in midair, ripping her clothes. As she passed Walker, she growled and raised her hackles at him. Caden had let go of Walker, and Walker returned her sentiment as she passed. He even nipped at her tail, for which she turned around and snapped at him.

"Christa, go home," I told her. "Get some sleep. You'll be going into town tomorrow. You and Walker."

They both growled at me.

My eyebrows rose. "Are you disobeying me, Christa?" Instantly, she went down to her belly. Walker was still growling. "Shut up, Walker. Go tell it to someone who cares. The two of you are going to do your jobs. Talk it out while you walk tomorrow. I don't care what you do, but it is not my job to babysit you. You're adults. Figure it out. And now that you've shifted, Walker, you will be running patrols. I know you didn't ask for this mess, but you're in it. And you will help us. We need you. Christa, go home. Walker, take a run with Caden."

Caden pressed his nose to Leah's forehead, and then turned to Walker. Pushing him with his shoulder, Caden muscled the other wolf into the woods. Christa quietly went in the opposite direction, toward the rez.

"Am I the only one who sensed a little hostility?" Emmett said from the doorway.

When he all turned to give him a look, he held his hands up.

"Just a question."

Behind him, someone clapped. Emmett moved aside to reveal Billy.

He grinned at all of us. "I like this guy."

RPOV

Later that night, after everyone had gone home and the Cullen house became quiet once more, Jacob and I made our way back up to the cabin, escorted by Derek and Adam. Two other wolves would take their place so that they could get some sleep. I missed who they said because I was too busy watching Jacob. He was trying to be subtle, but I could see him scenting the wind.

"Everything ok?" I asked.

Looking down at me in surprise, he said, "Yeah, I was just practicing."

I laughed. "Yeah, but you're also lying. What was that look between you and my aunt tonight? Did you think that I missed it?"

"What? I can't share a look with my in-laws?"

I gave him a look.

He sighed. "She had a vision. That's what she dragged me upstairs for after lunch."

"What was it about?"

"Tristan using a bad storm as an advantage. Tonight you said that he was waiting for something. Well, apparently, he can already sense that storm and he's made the decision to use it against us. You were right, Nessie."

I moved in closer to him. "Can you sense it?"

He inhaled deeply. "I can, but it's far off. Maybe another week or so."

"How bad?"

"Alice says it's going to be a doozy. Probably a town and rez blackout."

"But why?"

"The weather. Cold one day, warm the next. Those kinds of fronts mixing causes problems, Ness."

I shivered. "Any news of Jane?"

He shook his head. "Nothing. But it kind of makes sense. Alice is trying hard to see her, but if she's pulling a Victoria and letting someone else make the decisions, that could explain why Alice can't see her."

I'd heard the stories about Victoria wanting to kill my mother when she'd been human because Dad had killed her mate for trying to kill my mom in the first place. I'd also heard of the extent Victoria had gone to in order to get to my mother, family. That had been the first battle that the wolves and Cullens had fought together.

"You think she'll show up last minute?"

"That, I wish I knew. You said that you managed to keep her out of your mind so that she couldn't use her ability on you, right?"

"Yeah."

"I want you to keep that shield up from now until this whole mess is over, ok?"

That surprised me. "I thought you didn't like it when I closed up."

He squeezed me to him. "I don't, but your safety is more important to me than me knowing what you're thinking."

Pulling the keys out of his pocket, Jacob unlocked the door and ushered me inside. We said good night to Derek and Adam. Once the door closed, Jacob locked it and put in the key code for the security system.

"Stay down here," he told me. "I'm gonna go search the house, ok?"

I nodded. "Ok."

While he quickly checked the kitchen and closets, and then went upstairs, I went to the fireplace in front of the couch to start it up. Jacob had taught me how to get it going. I heard him come back down the stairs to head for our bedroom. Two minutes later, he was back upstairs just as I was getting comfy on the couch. He kicked off his shoes and took off his tank, and then sat down next to me, pulling me tight to him. We'd been like this all night, just cuddling up, wanting to be close to each other.

He handed me the remote for the TV system over the mantelpiece. "You wanna put in a movie or watch Netflix?"

"I'm sure I could find something on Netflix." We'd actually gotten into watching Teen Wolf on MTV just because we thought it was terribly ironic. It turned out to be a good show, and surprisingly, Jacob liked it, too. Buffy and Angel were also a couple more favorites.

And just as I clicked on the first episode of season two of Teen Wolf, Jacob's phone rang. I paused it.

"Really? One night. I just want one night of no drama." He growled as he dug the phone out of his jeans. The screen had Sam's name and a picture of the Uley family over it. Taking a deep breath, Jacob pushed the answer button and said, "Yeah, Sam. What's up?...Mhm, no we're not busy. We actually just sat down to watch some TV…That's tomorrow? Man, I completely forgot." He glanced at me. "Yeah, sure. We'd be happy to keep her…Absolutely. Not a problem…Nope, no plans that I'm aware of…Sure, we'll be here." He hung up and sat back down beside me.

"What's up?" I asked scooting up next to him again.

He took one of my curls between his fingers. "Tomorrow is Sam and Emily's anniversary. Nine years."

"Oh, man. How did we forget about that?" I suddenly felt my stomach drop. I'd completely forgotten with all the drama going on.

"We've been ridiculously covered in crap for the past few weeks, Ness. They understand. But Sam wants to be romantic with Em, so he asked if we could take Leila. He's on his way up with her right now."

I beamed at him. He may have wanted it to be just us, but he couldn't say no to his goddaughter. That baby had everyone wrapped around her finger.

"Absolutely. I could use some happy, baby time. I feel like I haven't seen her in years."

"Yeah, I know. Remember the last time we had her?" He turned toward me so that he could stroke my cheek and study my face.

I nodded. "We were fighting. I accused you of not loving me beyond the imprint."

His hands pulled me against him, fingers splayed out over my skin. He leaned forward to bury his face in my neck. "I'm so happy that all of that is behind us. I feel so bad for Embry and Christa. Tricia, too."

"Me, too. Walker, as well. He's so confused." I stroked Jacob's hair and neck. "But I think Christa's right. It's going to take the right person to tell Walker how it is. And we all know that person is Tricia."

"You really think it all will work out?"

"Of course I do. It has to. I think Walker is attracted to Christa and that's why they fought. He doesn't like it. I bet she touched on the whole sister/brother thing and it pissed him off. But Tricia has to tell Walker how it is on her side, especially if he's assuming things. And Tricia has to go for Embry. He's her perfect match. The only person who thinks that Embry is competition is Walker. He just doesn't realize how wrong he is."

Jacob sighed a world-weary sigh. "I just want things to fast forward where everything has worked itself out and we can finally focus on starting a family."

"Amen, love. Amen."

And with perfect timing, a knock sounded on the door. Pulling away from me, Jacob slipped his tank back on and we both got up to answer the door. Jacob opened it to reveal both Sam and Emily, the baby carrier, and Morgan and Lucas at their backs.

I grinned. "Hey, guys. Come on in. Get out of the cold."

The baby carrier was covered with a blanket, making me guess that Leila was asleep. Emily gently set it down when she was inside. Sam set down the massive diaper bag. Morgan and Lucas decided to stay outside and run until it was time to go back down to the rez.

Picking up the carrier, I set it next to the couch in front of the fire so Leila wouldn't get cold. And then I turned to Emily. We hugged hard.

"So congratulations on your anniversary. I'm so sorry. It just slipped our minds or we would have asked if you wanted us to take her for the day."

"Oh, it's not a problem," she said, blowing into her cupped hands.

"Yeah, sorry, Jake," Sam said. "I totally should have called earlier. We just got busy making plans."

Jacob clapped him on the arm. "Seriously, man, it's ok. We never mind taking her. She's great."

"So what did you two do all day?" Emily asked as they all followed me into the kitchen. I started up our Keurig machine as they picked out what they wanted and their mugs.

I shrugged. "Just had a non-crazy day hanging out with the pack all day. Aunt Alice started on my wedding dress and measured Jake for his tux again."

"Oooo, I bet you're so excited. Where are you going for your honeymoon?"

Jake and I exchanged a look. One that made Emily and Sam laugh.

"You haven't even thought about that, have you?" Sam asked.

Jacob set down a mug of chocolate hazelnut tea in front of Emily and put the coffee K-cup in for Sam. "Not really. I think we're just more concerned about making it to the wedding in one piece. Ness, where would you like to go?"

"Oh, um…I don't know. I've never really wanted to go anywhere."

Sam and Emily shared another look.

"That's probably a good thing," Emily murmured into her drink.

Jacob turned around to lean against the counter and crossed his arms. "You know something we don't?"

"Nope. Just sayin'."

"Uh-huh. Just lyin' is more like it," he said with a grin as he set Sam's mug in front of him.

I handed him my dark chocolate hot chocolate cup and he stuck into the machine.

She shrugged again. "I'm sworn to secrecy. But really, it's kind of good that you guys are comfy being here. Heck, a honeymoon locked in this cabin with Sam? I could so handle that."

Jacob and I shared a grin. Oh, yeah. I could handle a couple weeks holed up in here with him. The only problem would be that it would be so much easier for the others to bother us with us being so close. And now that I thought about it, I really wanted some quality time with Jake after our wedding. My hopes were kind of up now that Emily has said she was sworn to secrecy. Only one person would be thoughtful enough to come up with the honeymoon, but scary enough to make anybody keep that secret: Aunt Alice.

Jacob handed me the mug of hot chocolate that he had just mixed with crème brulee coffee creamer. Mmm, delicious. He popped in his own hot chocolate. He hated coffee, but found that he'd liked the way I made my hot chocolate. We kept the coffee for me when I needed something stronger and other guests.

We all sat around, chit-chatting for a good hour before Emily started yawning. About five minutes later, they said their goodbyes to us and Leila before grabbing Morgan and Lucas to head back down. Jacob got to Leila first to take her upstairs. He changed her, tucked her into the crib, and then came back downstairs with the baby monitor. He'd closed the door so that the TV wouldn't wake her up.

Finally, we were able to cuddle up and enjoy some TV and time to ourselves. After the episode ended, we went to check on Leila in person before we shut down the house for the night. She was still out cold.

When we went down to our room, Jacob built up the fire with the extra wood he'd brought in a couple days ago. He joined me in the bed, sliding skin against skin.

It had been a long day, and Luke's death seemed like it had happened weeks ago instead of just early this morning. Watching Walker and Caden shift had been a real eye-opener. Jacob's preventing Shelby from seeing it had been a good call. We didn't need her having hysterics with her pregnant. Bed rest would kill her.

From behind me, Jacob kissed my shoulder and squeezed my waist. "Quit thinking, and go to sleep. Leila will be up early."

His hands gently rubbing over my stomach and his heartbeat thudding against my back was the best lullaby. So, concentrating on all of him here with me, I fell asleep with my last thought being that I agreed with Jacob about starting our family soon.

I figured calm and quiet for the end of this one. The chapters have been kind of stressful. These guys just totally know how to stress me out, especially Walker. I just wanna smack him. Anywhozzle! Please review or PM me if you want. I will answer any questions you have.