A/N: Any wolves you recognize from The Twilight Saga belong to Stephanie Meyer.

Basically everything else, including past and present wolf pack members, imprints, wolf families, and additional characters in this story belong to the universe created by the amazing, brilliant, and wonderfully talented yay4shanghai!

Sorry for the wait, I didn't get a chance to write while I was at home. I don't get to see my parents very often, so I was busy spending time with them or traveling.

Thanks for all of the reviews on this story and my new one about Taylor and Melody. Make sure you check it out if you haven't already!

I hope everyone had a great Christmas and that you have a great New Year's Eve!

As always I recommend you read the other spinoffs by liljenrocks, ari11990, AsagariMelody, Guzhong, and twihardcaligurl. They are fantastic and worth taking the time to read.

Thank you so much for being such a wonderful beta yay4shangai, you're the best!

Sparks

4 July 2041

The burning gases of the fiery yellow sun had just begun to mark its flaming descent from the high noon position, not that you could tell. It was too well hidden behind the extensive and impenetrable layer of towering storm clouds high up near the stratosphere. They had gradually lightened to a dull blue-grey after releasing a torrential down-pour around dawn this morning, but they were still effectively blocking the golden rays. Though I doubted it would rain anymore today, I was sure that the sun wouldn't reemerge.

The weather didn't act as much of a deterrent for us, just like it never had in the past either. It was an unavoidable occurrence if you lived or planned any event to be held on the Olympic Peninsula, including those for the Quileute's residing in La Push. I was at First Beach, along with almost every other person that knew the secret of our tribe, for the annual Fourth of July picnic and bonfire celebration.

Eli and Jordan were conversing next to me, but I wasn't actively participating. I was focused on waiting for the Lynch family to arrive and I hoped standing by Eli would alert me to their presence sooner, in case I missed it myself. He seemed to have a built in radar detector that let him know when Ava was nearby and I was ready to pounce once it was triggered.

I learned something this morning and I needed to act on it before I talked myself out of it. I let my mind wander back through the event while I waited.

Melody was waiting at home for Taylor and me to return from our camping excursion the night before. She even prepared breakfast and had it ready for us, if you consider pouring cereal into a bowl and orange juice from a carton making breakfast—for her, I counted it. She met us at the door, not letting us get inside before she roughly grabbed Tay around the neck. She pressed herself flush against him to plant a brief, but extremely heated kiss on his full grinning lips and their matching skin tones made it nearly impossible to distinguish one scantily clothed body from the other.

Releasing him, she squeezed past to get outside and sprung at me. I caught her around the middle and swung her around, spinning in circles as fast as I could until we were both dizzy and stumbled apart. Tay caught Mel before she could fall, but I wasn't so lucky. I landed in a muddy patch of grass, hard, splattering the other two in the process and grinned, looking up to see both of them laughing even as Mel's searching gaze assessed me.

I knew she was thrilled to see me looking so relaxed; meditating yesterday really had helped me release the mounting stress and anxiety I felt and allowed me to center my mind.

Following the pair back into the kitchen, I set about preparing omelets to go with the cereal while I watched Melody fidget from the corner of my eye. It was an interesting site. She was balancing on one foot and wobbling, strange considering she is one of the most agile wolves, after Freddie and Randy. I also thought she might be having a private conversation with herself as well based on the faces she was making and the little hand gestures; it was probably about how best to approach the confession she was about to give me. Deciding to put her out of her misery sooner rather than later, I wacked her arm with the spatula; that got her attention.

'Just tell me why you wanted me gone yesterday…I won't be mad—swear,' I signed, smiling to let her know I was serious and that whatever it was, I was fine with it.

'I hung out with Krista yesterday…don't be mad! I worked out this great plan for you—hear me out…you have to talk to Tara and Phil, see if they'll let you take the girls to dance from now on instead of Phil, because she'll be taking her sister.' She signed all this with an overly wide toothy smile, only her teeth were clenched so it made her look like a clown, minus the red and white make-up.

I gave her no reaction, letting her sweat it out as punishment for breaking her promise… again. It was actually a great idea and I couldn't wait to talk to them about it, but I knew there was more because Mel's nervousness was continuing to increase as she stood there. I raised an eyebrow silently asking for her to give me the "worst" of it.

'She's coming today,' Melody signed then immediately retreated to the safety of Taylor's lap where he was seated, eating at the table, and peaked back at me over his shoulder after nuzzling him and kissing his cheek.

I didn't move at first, just blinked two or three times at where my charming and clever sister had been standing while I processed what this meant, all of the possibilities it gave me and the fact that she would be getting to know the people in my world. Emerging from my stupor, I stalked around the counter and over to where they were sitting. Taylor tensed, but didn't move to stop me, knowing I wouldn't hurt Melody when I pulled her up.

Then, I shocked her by hugging her tightly. When she sufficiently recovered, she squeezed me back just as hard.

'Thanks…for caring,' I signed after pulling away.

Eli zooming past me, speeding as fast as his growing legs would carry him, pulled me back to the present and away from the rest of that conversation. Finally, they were here.

I made my way over to where Phil and a very pregnant Tara were standing with Solace, who was carrying Phil's currently youngest, Hope, and after barely pausing to greet them or exchange hellos, I used Mel's suggestion and explained what I was after. By the end of my request, I was practically begging them to let me drive the girls to class Mondays and Fridays from now on, while still trying to reveal as little as possible about my motives.

It used to be easy for Tara to get the Chloe and Ava to their dance classes because they lived a short walk from the studio where she taught all day, but after they moved into Phil's place, they had to make new arrangements. Their classes started at four, the last class of the day, but they didn't want to hang out there all day while she worked when they could be at home spending time with friends instead. Luckily, Phil didn't actually need to work, this allowed him to drive them there and drop them off, then Tara could just bring them home with her afterwards.

No one said anything, not even Solace and I had really expected him to call me out for not being completely up front from the start. When they continued to stare at me, it made me nervous, so I tacked on how much easier this would make things for Phil. Using the argument that pointed out how he was already taking care of Hope and preparing for the up coming arrival of their son, who they planned to name Harrison, and this would eliminate the hassle of loading them up in the car several times a week just to drive to and from Port Angeles.

All three of them were wearing identical knowing smirks directed at me by this point, but hadn't bothered to ask why I wanted to do this. My reasons must be pretty obvious; I thought rubbing the back of my neck and wincing a little as I prepared for the ribbing or worse—gushing, I was sure to get about this.

Neither came. Instead, Phil and Tara both nodded as one and let me know that it would be fine for me to do that and didn't make a big deal of it at all. They didn't even need to look at each other before their simultaneous agreement. I sighed in relief; this was awesome. Things were actually starting to work out and fall into place for me.

I stayed with them for a while longer and we worker out the specific details of when and where I would pick up the girls. Not much time passed before Krista showed up. I didn't need to turn around to know she was here. I could sense her presence long before I could smell or see her, an unusual occurrence for me.

I didn't even bother saying goodbye before I was gliding away, oblivious to everything except her. I slide from one small group of family or friends mingling to another, weaving past the rambunctious kids in between, and easing my way around the perimeter of each new circle. Staying on the edge, with my focus elsewhere, made it possible to never get drawn into their discussions, but still maintained the appearance of belonging as I drifted closer to her.

Her little sister took off the minute she set foot on the beach, just like usual, and I watched as she headed straight for Harley. It had been more than a week since they last hung out. Krista and her friend Sabrina stayed where they were, talking to each other and occasionally looking around at all the people gathered here, until Melody raced over and greeted the two girls with a massive bear hug that almost succeeded in tackling them both to the wet unforgiving sand.

I couldn't tear my eyes away from her endlessly long legs once I discovered her shorts were about as tiny as the pairs my sister typically sported. I kept my distance, but shadowed their progress towards the murky edge of the deep bluish-grey water as Mel dragged them over to where Jesse was splashing in the surf with her niece Sarah. It was extra foamy today because this morning's storm left the waves more turbulent than normal. Throughout their conversation, Krista kept sneaking glances around the beach. I didn't want her to see me, so I continued my solo musical groups routine, relieved that I blended in easier since I had foregone my recent tradition of solid black clothing and worn jeans and a plain white shirt instead.

Mel took off at one point and Krys joined them not even a minute later. I could see her confusion as she watched him interact with Sarah and question Jesse about it. Whatever Jesse said seemed to intrigue her, but I noted that it only served to bewilder Sabrina further.

I was fascinated as I watched Krista, absorbing every gesture she made and instance she spoke. I was trying to decode and interpret their meanings, although she didn't say much and she had her arms crossed over her chest. I hope Mel didn't force her to be here or abandon her when she was feeling overwhelmed or anything like that. She was biting her puffy nude lower lip too, which she usually did when she was nervous. I was worried about her, but I didn't really know what I should do, so I just continued to track her movements as she and Sabrina headed over to a vacant piece of driftwood positioned near one of the fires.

It was just getting dark out when I ran into my parents while doing what my dad termed as my vulture impression, considering I was repeatedly circling the fire pit at this point. When I admitted Krista was here, he and mom made me point her out from where she and Sabrina were now sitting with Mel and Annabelle in exchange for promising not to go over there tonight. They left me at about the same time Sabrina left the fire with Annie, but I didn't pay attention to where any of them went.

I had been standing alone for quite some time when Taylor joined me. He just stood next to me, didn't say anything, and stared at the two girls that had captivated my complete attention. I was so lost that he had to poke me to draw my eyes away so he could say something.

'I see you're really taking advantage of this opportunity to get to know her,' he signed with a chuckle and a little shake of the head.

'I'm working on it,' I signed back, looking past him to steal a quick glance at her again.

'And what? Avoidance is the best you could come up with?' He signed, highlighting the obvious problem with my preferred method.

'I'm considering my options,' I returned defensively with a scowl, not really appreciating his sarcasm at the moment or finding it the least bit useful. Sighing, because I knew he did want to help, I reluctantly admitted, 'I'm not really sure what the best approach would be.'

Nodding thoughtfully, he asked, 'so you don't want to try any of the things we talked about this morning?' When I shook my head, he shrugged before signing, 'alright. I'm going over there… and you're coming with me.'

'No,' I signed backing up a step and adamantly refusing, even adding, 'I can't,' to support my decision.

'I'm not asking you to talk to her,' Tay signed, not accepting no this time and explaining, 'all you'll have to do is sit there. We can roast hotdogs so we'll have a legitimate excuse to go over… we can even be nice and share,' he signed before pointing down at the supply of food and roasting sticks by his feet that I hadn't seen him carrying in the first place. When I didn't budge, he threw his hands up in the air dramatically, before asking, 'what have you got to lose?' He followed that weighted question by crossing his arms and staring me down.

I gave in. Of course I did. Trying to stay away from her was like trying to find Atlantis—impossible and a complete waste of time. As soon as he registered my defeated expression, he gathered up the dinner stuff and began making his way over, confident I would follow. Just before we reached them, a new thought occurred that made me panic and grab his arm, jerking him around to face me.

'Don't even think about leaving me here alone,' I signed forcefully, pausing between each word to make sure my meaning was perfectly clear.

'I won't, promise.' He reassured me, but I didn't honestly feel any more certain.

I managed to stumble forward another yard or two after that. Then, for the span of three heartbeats, I lost total control of the motor function potion of my brain and was no longer able to command my feet to continue walking. This realization became apparent when they brought me to a jarring halt without my permission and I fought to keep my feet stationary rather than let them carry me away into the woods where they longed to take me. I was shaking too. I had to get myself under control before I phased right here in front of everyone.

I concentrated on the mental exercises I did with Tay the night before that had worked so well to channel my energy. They didn't help. Desperately, I started a breathing exercise and focused only on the sensation of the damp salty air heavily infiltrating my lungs. This allowed Taylor to catch me off guard enough that I was no longer in danger of phasing when his blistering steel grip discreetly encircled my forearm, locking like an unbreakable band. This worked to chain me to him, so that I was forced to follow as he dragged me towards whatever Fate decided to throw at me tonight. Each step got easier as I ignored the warring feelings of self preservation.

Then suddenly I was sitting next to her, as close as I dared, just to her left with less than a foot between us and leaning back against the same piece of driftwood. I was so nervous I had to keep taking deep breathes to stay calm. I let her heady floral scent fill my head and swirl around until it had saturated every corner of my mind. The potent mix of her natural fumes kept me grounded and managed to suppress my inner wolf's demands to either take off again or grab her and mark her as mine.

She smelled different, so I thought about that to distract me. I closed my eyes to concentrate on identifying the subtle alterations of her unique blend. All previous traces of coconut were diluted almost beyond detection and the wildflower component was becoming more dominant with every passing second.

Trying to understand why it was changing, I studied her from the corner of my eye. She was purposely staring at Mel and not at me or Taylor, even though we had just sat down next to her, with Tay adjacent to me and across from Mel. Krista's breathing was shallow and very rapid. She was likely to start hyperventilating if she didn't get it back under control soon. And our proximity had made her tense—more so than me even. She was strung tighter than a guitar string and I half expected to feel musical vibrations caused by the wind plucking at her taunt form. I felt an incorrigible sense of elation knowing that I was responsible for affecting her to this degree.

Mel caught my attention to say hi and I grinned back at her, not trusting myself to respond with something more coherent than that.

The burning alerted me to Krista's eyes blazing a trail from my chest to my eyes, pausing to linger on my mouth during their ascent. So, like the obedient slave I have become, I looked to my master, my only desire to do her bidding and fulfill her every need.

She was wearing a curious half smile with one side stretched up farther than the other until I met her stare. Then it became a real smile, one of the rare ones that showed the dimple in her left cheek and teased of one in the other. The smile, which I had so far only seen her bestow on Sabrina. Her bowed lips, pinker than I had realized, curved to frame her straight, white, glittering teeth and reached all the way to her eyes, making them sparkle and shine with such invitingly open friendliness and warmth that it made my insides all gooey.

Her eyes were so clear, pure green without a hint of gold or amber flecks. They were a deep forest green, like the leaves on my oak tree behind her house, thickly rimmed with a darker green that reminded me of pine needles. And radiating from the iris, like a thinly fingered starburst, was a lighter mint green.

I was falling, hurdling into the fathomless abyss of their green depths. It wasn't that she was my sun, the center of my universe, but that I was with her—joined. We were connected as a single entity so that I was just along for the ride as she spun.

Her faced flushed the most endearing and brilliant shade of scarlet imaginable and she buried it in her knees. Not wanting to embarrass her further or prolong her suffering, I turned my head back to Taylor. He was giggling quietly as he looked on, so I quickly told him to shut it.

After that, Taylor kept up a steady stream of signing in an effort to keep me distracted so that I wouldn't have to think up something to say myself in order to not feel awkward sitting over here. He also never once commented on my jumbled, incomplete, or delayed replies. Although I do remember that I did somehow manage to get the conversation started by asking him about how work was going, but I only caught a few words saying something about a new guy being transferred from Seattle later this month following his probation period.

It was during this answer when he realized that I was unsuccessfully trying to read Mel's lips since she wasn't signing and I had been trying to eavesdrop on her conversation with Krista. He offered to sign everything they were saying because she wouldn't know anyways, but I refused. I explained that it seemed wrong, comparable to if I were to listen in on a phone call, since she was less likely to censor her words because she knew I couldn't hear what she was saying right now. Tay nodded in understanding then changed the subject again as we started cooking.

I carefully made the first one for her, and when I offered it to her, I was rewarded with another real smile that left me feeling completely boneless. I ended up charring the next several that I cooked and didn't even notice as I was eating them until Tay mentioned something about it.

Sabrina came back after a while and sat on Mel's other side so that when she turned, she was almost directly facing us. I roasted up a hotdog for her too, making sure not to burn it, and was the recipient of the most breathtaking smile yet from Krista for doing so. It was so amazing that it left me feeling so stunned and dazzled that I knew I couldn't even attempt anymore cooking because I'd be a fire hazard the rest of the night. It was so bad, that I almost missed seeing Sabrina's eyes repeatedly dart back and forth between Krista and me, and how she was forced to stifle a grin whenever one of us glanced her way. Her reaction gave me hope that Krista did feel the imprint and Sabrina's response was at least partly generated from some kind of secret, best friend only, insider information.

Several others stopped by throughout the evening, but they never stayed for more than a couple of minutes and neither Krista nor I really acknowledged them.

I couldn't believe how well the evening was going. I had made more progress tonight than I had in almost a month. It was so incredible just to sit with her that I almost didn't mind that it was pretty much the only progress we were likely to make considering communication was still a major issue. I was also reluctant for anything to happen that could alter the relaxed state we had finally settled into next to one another, but I knew the fireworks were about to start any second. I could smell the burning sulfur from a match tip being lit.

The shimmering display across the infinite night sky surprised me, because it actually worked to my advantage. Krista would flinch about a half second before I would see the burst of color slash onto the empty canvas leaving a bright splash like a drop of falling paint impacting the floor. During her distraction, it went unnoticed when I scooted a fraction of an inch closer, slowly working my way towards her.

Then, a particularly colorful firework lit up the sky causing Krista to start so violently she jumped a good five inches off the ground and landed with her arm flush against mine. When she didn't move immediately, I leaned closer causing a larger area of our sides to press together. She still didn't move, so we stayed that way for the rest of the show. Her cringes were virtually nonexistent after that, identified only by the gentle shift of her shoulder nudging lightly into me or her sheer sleeve gliding up her arm slightly, allowing the exposed skin to brush against mine. Each new contact sent a pulse along my nerves that felt reminiscent of the current Taylor's police taser produced.

No one was willing to leave once the last glowing ember had faded leaving only wisps of grey smoke as evidence of the elaborate patterns that had burned above us at all. The peaceful atmosphere was sedative, encouraging all of us to carry on our idle banter a while longer, despite the hour growing later.

Krista kept dosing off, her head tipping sideways to rest against my shoulder. She didn't even notice when Sabrina jumped up abruptly and took off. I looked at Mel for an explanation.

'She is going to find Beth. She didn't want to wake Krista yet… we can wait with you, if you want.'

I smiled and gave a single nod in response, not daring to move enough to sign something more in case I disturbed her any. I watched her peaceful content expression, savoring every stolen second I experienced during this intimate moment, while waiting for the girls to return and sprint the sleeping girl home and away from my side where I could already feel that she belonged.

A shiver racked her slight frame and I couldn't resist the instinctual urge to wrap one of my strong, warm arms around her narrow shoulders to protect her. She snuggled closer when I did, burrowing into my side so that her head was resting on my upper chest near my shoulder and one of her delicate arms was draped across my stomach with her hand over my heart. My own long limb curled all the way around her so that my massive, long fingered hand could easily trace patterns along her forearm. As I drew the infinity symbol I had grown up seeing on my parents, my uncles, and as of a couple years ago Melody and Taylor, I felt her heart rate speed up. I marveled at being able to inspire such a reaction in her even while she was sleeping and wondered if it was the same when she was awake and others could hear the change in her heartbeat when it happened.

She made me deliriously happy. I wanted to stay awake all night just holding her and watching her sleep in my arms as the blue tinted flames danced, casting shadows over her sun-kissed skin. Unfortunately, I felt such intense and powerfully consuming peaceful emotions that they relentlessly sent lethargic waves crashing over me until I was soon drifting off as well.

My next conscious thought took place when I was jostled awake by the light weight of a warm body leaping from my lap. I'm not sure when our position shifted and I don't remember if it was me that pulled her even closer or not; I could not care less how it happened. All that mattered was that it did, because now every inch of my body that had been in contact with hers was tingling and seemed more alive than it ever had before. It had felt right to hold her that close and it took every bit of self control I possessed to wrestle and restrain the wolfish urge insisting I grab her and haul her back into my lap where she so obviously belonged.

But I didn't move, afraid to scare or embarrass her further, considering her reaction upon waking up to the sight of me. I raised my eyelids just enough to peak through my dark lashes searching for her and was surprised to see a colorful and brightly lit sky. It was already morning. She moved into my line of sight then and I had a front row seat to watch her urgently whispering to Sabrina as she shook her sleeping sister awake. She looked freaked, panicked, and horrified all at once. I didn't know what to think or do, but it didn't matter because she was already running to her car with Sabrina and Beth only a step behind.

I opened my eyes fully and locked eyes with Melody over the twisted and scorched ruins of last night's fire. I stared at my rumpled and sandy companions for a minute hoping someone else would start.

'It's not what you're thinking,' she signed immediately, sitting forward from her seat between Tay's legs so that she was no longer leaning against his chest and watching me earnestly. I didn't know what I was thinking right now so I waited for more.

'It's not. She bolted because her parents are probably freaked they stayed out all night without letting them know,' Taylor explained after shifting to the side of my sister so that his hands were free to sign.

'Oh, and she was responsible for getting Beth home early last night… she's just worried about their reaction.' Mel added, then with a sad smile, 'it's my fault. I was supposed to wake her after an hour or two if Bree nodded off first, but I accidently fell asleep too.'

'You're fine, Mel. Hopefully she won't be in too much trouble,' I signed, brushing off her concerns. I just hope that really is all she was upset about and not our sleeping arrangement.

~*~ ∞ ~*~