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!

Thank you everyone who reviewed, I love getting feedback and hearing what people think, hope you enjoy this! This chapter isn't the greatest, sorry :( Next one should be better.

I added some new pictures, so look on my profile for the link to check those out.

Also, Happy Mother's Day! Thanks for, well, everything... I love you, Mom!

As always I recommend you read the other spinoffs by liljenrocks, ari11990, AsagariMelody, Guzhong, twihardcaligurl, intiMACYx33 and TwilightHeart21. 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!

Pillow Talk

18 December 2041

I must have dosed off because I was slightly disoriented when I heard a startling rattling sound. I was still curled up against Levi's side, our bodies molding together like he was a lock and I the key that fit it, his fingers gliding gently over my side in long, tender strokes. Opening my eyes to glance towards the noise without actually moving, I noticed the blue and white flashing lights coming from his cell phone where it was vibrating on his bedside table and I nudged Levi to point it out, his attention so riveted on me that he had missed it himself.

He lazily grabbed the phone with his free hand and swiftly pushed a couple buttons, reading a text message and grinning at its contents before handing the phone over for me to read it as well.

Mel said to tell you, stop stalling! Soli gets back today and the girls are getting together. She wants to take Kris. The text was from Taylor and I looked up at Levi in question to see if he had any objections to me responding for him, but he smiled and nodded, indicating he didn't.

He told me. Tell her I said sounds fun. I was going Christmas shopping with Bree tomorrow, but I had nothing else going on today since Levi and I hadn't made any concrete plans. Plus I really did want to get to know some of the people around here better if they were all privy to this exclusive… club, for lack of a better word, that Levi belonged to.

Good, she'll swing by for you in an hour. His reply came right on the heels of mine, only a second or two later, so I had a feeling she would have been coming by in an hour regardless of whether he'd told me or not.

At least there was no rush to get ready if we had an hour because I didn't particularly care to get out of bed quite yet when doing so went hand-in-hand with the conclusion of this perfect morning with Levi. He did not seem to be in a hurry to end things either as he pulled me tighter against him after replacing his phone on his nightstand. Though judging by the nearly blinding brightness of the sunlight pouring into the room, it was already sometime in the afternoon. I must have slept longer than I realized.

I thought about what Taylor had mentioned in his first text about staling and wondered if that was why Levi had kept his distance from me, physically at least, since that day in my bedroom, never letting us get to that point again or farther until earlier this morning. It must be terrifying to share something so unusual and personal to someone you're only just starting to get to know, to put that much trust in another when you couldn't possibly anticipate what their reaction would be. I'd put off telling someone too if I were in his place. I'm not quite sure why, but thinking he'd wanted to wait until he told me to become intimate was profoundly touching.

Instead of idly pondering the subject any further and musing over his motives, I asked him straight out.

'Were you scared to tell me? Is that why we didn't do this before?' I'd sat up, bringing the soft midnight blue sheet with me and tucking it under my arms to secure it across my chest before signing my questions, wanting to see his face when I asked. His face revealed so much more of his thoughts than his words did, though those were always honest and very forth telling as well because he never held anything back when I asked him a direct question, something I greatly appreciated and tried to reciprocate.

Running a hand through his short onyx hair, making it adorably more rumpled as he sat up to face me as well, he signed, 'sort of.' The sheet had slid down the deep copper skin of his sculpted abdomen to pool low across his lap, only just barely covering him and leaving his hip exposed making my breath catch like it had encountered an unexpected block in my throat when I inhaled. The sight was momentarily distracting as the desire I'd felt for him this morning came back in full force and I unconsciously shifted closer to him.

He didn't seem to register my reaction, however, so I locked those thoughts away when I saw his head fall forward, chin dropping dejectedly to rest on his chest and shoulders slumping heavily. It was a sight I was all too familiar with, but one I had not seen since this summer and I felt his reluctance to state the actual cause of his hesitance as he tiredly rubbed the back of his neck.

Though I was exceedingly curious now, I regretted asking because I didn't want to force him to tell me something he didn't feel comfortable sharing. I could wait; there was no need to rush things anymore. It was just like this morning and I was more concerned about his struggle and making things easier for him than I was about the actual topic at hand.

However, before I could tell him to forget I asked, that it wasn't important and didn't matter, he signed, 'mostly I was worried I would not be able to stop and would force you to do more than you wanted to,' wincing throughout his confession.

I honestly found it impossible to believe he would ever do that, no matter what the provocation was, but he obviously did think himself capable of it, so I didn't argue. Instead, I pointed something out that, for whatever reason, he still wasn't getting.

'I want to be with you. Whatever you are ready for, so am I. There is nothing to force because if you don't want to stop, neither do I.'

Awed is about the only way I could describe his expression in that instant. Levi's massive warm hand came up to cup my cheek, engulfing the entire side of my head, his long fingers threading into my wild unbound hair while his eyes drifted shut and a small serene smile settled across his face. I knew then he believed me and that this would never be an issue with us again.

When he met my eyes again a silent understanding passed between us, accompanied by a thick, growing tension and sexually charged undercurrent that rippled around us, pulsing like a living thing or the changing tides though neither one of us moved an inch. It was like we were stuck, frustratingly glued in place, each forced to wait for the other to make the first move.

I almost did. I almost grabbed him, wrapped my arms tightly around his neck and kissed him, taking the initiative to get things going. Before this morning I wasn't completely certain I was ready to have sex, but now I think I am. I loved him entirely and I have no idea how I ever survived without him before, because I knew now I needed him. He was a part of me and I was incomplete without him.

I wanted to make the first move, my fingers even twitched at the thought as if intending to involuntarily act out my heart's desire completely independent of my mind's rationalizing and hesitation, but I didn't. I waited too long internally debating the issue and ended up psyching myself out as I often did thanks to my exceedingly shy nature, over thinking and over analyzing until the opportunity passed as if subconsciously sabotaging things.

'Tell me when you want to have sex?' He signed it as a question, the arch of his left eyebrow becoming more defined as it inched slightly farther up his brow than the right, but it had an underlying offer that I knew was valid anytime, even now.

At least this time when I let the chance go by, I was given a fresh opening because Levi didn't change the subject and while unlike him, this morning not withstanding, I wasn't all that surprised by the question given the atmosphere in the room. What did surprise me was that he appeared torn, as if half of him longed for me to say now while an equal part of him was desperately hoping I didn't.

My initial impulse had in fact been to say now and to hell with thinking about it first, but the vibe I felt from him made me rethink things, yet again, just as it occurred to me why he was probably hesitating. We had maybe twenty minutes until Melody showed up and the idea of rushing our first time did not sound appealing in the least. Sex could wait. Neither one of us was going anywhere.

'I will,' I promised, both of us releasing the breath we'd been anxiously holding at the thought of doing it now with a pair of relieved sighs. Another thought occurred to me as I watched him relax and quickly signed the question. 'Why worry then and not earlier today?' He sighed again, a weighty gust of air as he glanced away briefly like he knew we'd get to this eventually and was resigned to having this discussion.

'You were in heat.' His answer was the last thing I expected. The only way I could make sense of it in relation to him being distant for fear of forcing himself on me, was if he meant what female cats or dogs went through when they were ovulating and their every male counterpart in like, a fifty mile radius flocked to them for sex.

'Like a dog?' Before I realized it, I had signed the question, looking for confirmation of my thoughts. Levi didn't look all that thrilled with my analogy though he didn't deny it either, so not wanting to push the subject he was clearly reluctant to talk about, I simply finished with, 'interesting.'

'I'm sorry. It's a wolf thing,' he immediately apologized with a grimace and I hated that he felt the need to do so about something he obviously couldn't control. My stomach clenched, twisting painfully at the sight of his self loathing and ashamed attitude.

'Don't apologize, its part of who you are and I love all of you,' I insistently signed and his response was instantaneous, a relieved smile taking shape across his face before he kissed me. I could still feel his grin when our lips molded together and I wore a matching one. Once the kiss ended, he seemed more receptive, so I asked, 'what does it do or what happens when I am?' I got the gist of how the heat thing worked for dogs, but I honestly did want to know if it's the same or exactly how similar it is when I am.

'Really…' he paused to contemplate the best way to explain in a way or maybe with words I was likely to understand, running a hand through his messy hair before finishing with, 'makes you even more irresistible to me.' We shared a heated look, and I remembered how much I wanted him earlier, still did actually, and I could not imagine having these desires magnified or how he could have possibly dealt with it so effortlessly. 'It's more important later,' he added, redirecting my thoughts.

'Why?'

'Best chance to get pregnant,' he signed candidly. Kids. Wow, okay that was good to know. I guess it is like dogs then, only I just attracted Levi. A million screaming thoughts and questions started buzzing chaotically through my mind and I didn't know where to start.

Thinking about getting pregnant and kids was like getting doused with a bucket of ice water, successfully banking the flames of my desire as nothing else had this morning. I was now exceedingly grateful we hadn't rushed into having sex earlier because this brought home that we weren't quite ready yet.

We had never discussed this, the consequences of having sex, kids were a big deal and we should know where we each stood on the subject. There were a lot of things to take into consideration before jumping in, the majority of which had eluded me though before this as I sat in his bed with him, painfully aware that both of us were naked under the thin sheet, which even now was doing little to subdue the distraction that knowledge presented.

'Do you want to have kids?' He looked surprised, taken aback even so I quickly amended, 'not now—future, later.'

'Only if you do,' he replied immediately, but he must have interpreted something in my expression as dissatisfied or disapproving of his answer, because he continued, 'I've never thought about it, not really, but… it would be nice.'

'Yeah, very nice,' I agreed happily picturing a future with him that involved building a family. I wasn't ready now, but I definitely wanted that someday. His wistful expression faded after a few seconds, replaced with a much more serious air and I noticed his hands fidgeting a bit. He wanted to say something, but wasn't sure how to bring it up. I was not entirely sure what though, so I tried to help by signing, 'we should talk about this more.'

'I should warn you, condoms don't work—the heat.' His face had two brilliant scarlet splashes across it that I'm sure mirrored the ones on mine and he had to sign it twice, the first time being too fast for me to follow. It was a little embarrassing to be talking about this, I was simply too shy for it not to be, but it was refreshing to know that we were already open enough with each other to be able to discuss these more sensitive subjects and I loved that.

'I'm on birth control,' I admitted with a shy smile that he returned. My mom had started me on it when I turned sixteen for just in case and now I was very thankful for that.

'It doesn't always work,' he pointed out with a sheepish expression, giving me the impression that because he turned into a wolf, the standard 92-99.7% clinical numbers reported for its effectiveness weren't quite the same as they were for normal people.

"Oh…" I breathed aloud, forgetting myself as I took in what his words were implying. He was right, accidents happen and it was nice, not to mention reassuring, that Levi was thinking ahead and being so responsible, but I really wanted to know what he was thinking because if this made him want to wait, then that was fine, no rush. He already promised this was forever, so again, we didn't need to hurry.

As if in answer to my thoughts, he carefully signed, 'we can wait if you don't want to risk it. It's still not likely to happen, but know that no matter what, I want to marry you someday and if it did happen, it—I would be happy.' I loved him more than ever right then, his sweet reassurances and his obvious love for me. I honestly doubted we had anything to worry about, but simply having this conversation made me feel more prepared to be with him than I had earlier. It also felt incredible to have opened up and participated in a discussion regarding such a significant matter with him and to discover we were on the same page about well, everything, was amazing. We were building the kind of relationship I always dreamed of having.

I kissed him then, pouring all of the passion and love I felt for him into that kiss and he responded with an equal intensity. He lay back, pulling me atop him as he did, his hands settling low on my waist and one of his long, lean legs was wedged between mine. Just as my hands began to wander down the ridges of his abs, he stopped us, stilling my progress and breaking the kiss to gaze into my eyes while our rapid, shallow breathing returned to normal. When he pulled me upright again, I knew what he'd sign before he did. 'We have to get ready, Melody will be here soon.'

I'd started keeping a couple extra changes of clothes in my car and a few necessities like a toothbrush in my purse for occasions like today when I wouldn't have a chance to run home after spending the night over here. I brought one of the outfits in with me last night, so I got dressed, pulling on a white dress with tiny purple flowers, a white hooded sweater and green tights that matched the leaves on my dress then throwing my hopelessly tangled hair up into a messy bun after giving up trying to work out the knots while Levi got dressed as well, slipping on a pair of dark sweats and a white t-shirt. Each of us spent more time exchanging the occasional shy glance as we dressed than we did getting ready since this situation was still so new for each of us.

When we eventually emerged from his room, the first thing I noticed was something dark soaring through the air, heading straight at Levi's head before he plucked it effortlessly from the space in front of his eyes like it had been hovering there instead of hurling towards him. The object was limp, hanging shapelessly from his closed fist and I realized they were the shorts he'd been wearing earlier. Looking up, I saw Melody sitting on the back of the family room sofa watching us with a knowing smirk.

'You forgot those outside,' she signed casually like it was normal to discard your clothes outside in winter and walk around naked or with fur instead, but maybe for her it was a commonplace occurrence. I stifled a giggle, thoroughly amused when Levi shrugged and winked at me, despite the bashful blush painting my face with fiery red strokes. 'So you know,' she signed, aiming the words at me. Even when she was trying to appear cool, calm, and collected as she was now, she looked about ready to burst at the seams, a bundle of uncontainable glimmering energy like a force of nature.

'I told her,' Levi interrupted to sign proudly and I wanted to kiss him for being so adorable.

'Evidently,' Melody sassed nodding to indicate the shorts before continuing, 'you did more than just talk.' Levi was blushing now too, though he looked no less pleased as he stepped closer so our sides were pressed together and Mel turned her attention back to me with an inquiring glance.

'Yeah, he showed me,' I confirmed leaning completely against Levi when a beaming smile came over her face and she hopped up excitedly, even clapping twice as she spun in a giggling circle.

'Told you she would take it well,' she signed smugly once facing us again.

'I forgot, you are always right,' Levi conceded, bowing regally as if he were gracefully admitting defeat rather than sarcastically mocking her.

'You think you would remember that by now,' Melody signed seriously, shaking her finger in a scolding manner afterwards, her dark shining eyes wide with a feigned disbelieving air like he was a hopeless pupil.

The urge to laugh at their teasing banter became irresistible at that point and when I gave in Mel joined me while Levi took my small hand in his, bring it to his lips where he placed a sweet kiss on the back of it. My laughter died at the intensity in his eyes, it was enough to leave me weak at the knee. This was happiness in its purest, truest form. Reality interceded when I heard Melody's thrilled, cooing sigh.

'What are you doing tonight?' Levi asked her while I pulled on my boots, which Melody had kindly gathered for me along with my coat and placed by the couch.

"Gossiping about you," I heard her announce clearly causing me to look up startled from my task, but she barely spared me an impish grin before I watched her sign, 'she will be fine, Levi. I won't let Soli corrupt her too much.' Melody's joking (I hope) response surprised me, and not in a good way, more a what-the-hell-am-I-getting-myself-into way and I think the same thought occurred to Levi because he looked like he was now debating if he should either grab me and bolt or drag me back to his room and refuse to let me go. Personally, I would have been alright with either one of those options happening, but alas, neither did.

Mel started muttering under her breath, but the volume was so low that the words were indistinct. They sort of faced off; communicating with looks alone and I decided it was best if I stayed out of it.

'Maybe I should—'

'Hang out with the guys. Randy is having dinner with his parents then meeting Freddie at First Beach, Taylor and Mark are stopping by later, Collin and Brady probably will too. Go have fun like we plan to,' Melody commanded cutting Levi off, her hands moving to rest on her hips when she was done, the stance more than anything declaring she would not back down on this.

They continued their stand off for perhaps another minute before Levi sighed nodding, accepting defeat then before I knew it, Mel had whisked me from the house and we were driving off in Levi's car, which she had "borrowed" the keys to since the car she'd recently purchased with some of her savings from working for Annabelle's catering company wasn't finished yet.

She told me about her new car on the way to her friends' shop and the apartment located above it that we were meeting the others at. It was her first big spend, though she hadn't actually spent much because it was a used car that didn't run anymore, an old Audi R8, but her dad and a couple of his friends were good with cars and they were fixing it up for her. Before now she hadn't needed a car very often and when she had, she'd just shared with Levi.

She didn't stop talking until she pulled into an empty space and put the car in park, trying to put me at ease I think because it was probably blatantly apparent how distracted I was. I knew she was practically dying to know what I thought about the wolf thing and what happened with Levi afterwards, but thankfully she didn't bring it up again after her first questioning, "well," went unanswered other than a softly hummed, "hmm," on my part. My head and well, my heart, were both still back with Levi and I wasn't really feeling this as much as I had been when I first saw the text message. His disinclination for me to attend this tonight had me partially wishing I wasn't, for more than just the fact I'd rather be with him because now I was tremendously nervous about ending up the center of attention when meeting and getting to know these people.

"This'll be fun, just you wait. You're gonna love them," Melody swore cheerfully, chuckling a little when I rolled my eyes, trying rather unsuccessfully to hide my smile, especially when in the next breath she playfully commanded, "now come on, let's get going!"

End note: No, they won't get pregnant while still in high school, this was just about them trying to build a mature, responsible relationship.