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Billy leaned back, and took a good look at all of us before he began to tell the stories.
"The tales I am about to tell you all are not as much legend as they seem," he warned us. "They contain more facts than fiction. These are not simply folklore told to entertain our tribe. This is our history, as unbelievable as it may seem. Are you ready to face the truth?" He asked loudly, looking directly at me.
"Yes!" the tribe chorused.
"I said, are you ready to hear the truth?" he boomed, looking at everyone yet again. The response was more enthusiastic this time.
"Yes!" The tribe said, breaking off into howls at the end.
"Then," Billy started, "Let the first story be told." He went off into the tribe's long history, beginning with the tale of how the first werewolf came to be. I was shocked at the tribe's bloody beginning, and how at first, the transformation had not only frightened most, but it also wasn't believed at first. As the stories went on, I noticed avid interest around the fire circle. Leah and Seth were bending forward, to better hear Billy, and Jake even had slowed stroking my hair to concentrate on the stories. Then, Billy came to one of the biggest subjects of interest to me. Imprinting. As soon as he said the word, I noticed Jake wince slightly and look at me worriedly.
"An imprint," Billy said softly, "Is easily one of the most blessed parts of being a werewolf. To find your true love, and be with them no matter what. However," he said looking directly at Leah, who was no longer looking at Billy, but rather at the ground, a tear falling from her eye and rolling down her cheek. "An imprint can also be one of the most horrid things anyone can go through if they are already involved with someone." Jake tightened his grip on my waist. "Most werewolves go through with an imprint when they turn 16, and they then discover their true love. Upon seeing each other, the bond is instantly formed, and there is very rarely any break in it. It's inescapable in a sense. It is one of the things that most werewolves go through, and it is a wonder."
Leah looked up at this, and Billy gave her a sympathetic look, and she smiled weakly. She looked across the group to one guy with another girl bitterly. The guy didn't even look at her, he just stared straight at Billy, and Leah looked back to the ground. I'd have to ask Jake about that later, since I had no clue what was going on. Suddenly, Billy clapped his hands. "That concludes our story telling for tonight. Now, we must have the ceremonial change." I looked up at Jake inquisitively. What the Sam heck was Billy talking about? Jake kissed my forehead.
"I'll be back soon baby. You'll see what's going on." He whispered. He got up, along with over twelve other teenagers, including Seth, Leah, Quil, and Embry. I shivered in the night air. Without Jake there next to me, it was much cooler than I was used to. The night's temperature had gone down drastically, without me noticing it.
Suddenly, I heard one single howl. It was then joined with a chorus of other howls, each distinctive and a different note than the original. The howls began getting louder, until finally there was a line of wolves, of all different colors facing the fire circle. One was the grayish wolf that had attacked Jake; Paul, I think. One was small and sandy colored, standing next to a more feminine looking gray wolf. There was a range of colors of fur, from pure white to deep brown, and black and red and any combination. Then there was Jake, standing directly to the right of a black wolf, who was enormous, but not as big as Jake.
"Our newest generation of the tribe," Billy announced proudly. The wolves stood proud and strong, looking at all of us. I rose along with the rest of the tribe, and I then watched them rush to whatever wolf that was dear to them. I obviously went to Jake, with Billy. Jake looked at me; his eyes still the same even in this wolf body. I wrapped my arms around his neck and hugged him. He nuzzled his head into my hair. Even when he was a different species, we still acted the same way. Billy smiled at us, but didn't say a word.
Jake whined, and looked at Billy.
"What?" Billy asked, crossing his arms. Jake whined in a series of tones. "We're not done yet; you'll just have to wait to transform again." Jake whimpered and Billy sighed. "You are ridiculous. Fine. Go transform back into human. See if anyone notices. Not like I'll get in trouble or anything." Jake had a coughing bark, which I assumed was a laugh, and then went into the forest. He returned as a human, and promptly picked me up. I was thankfully warm again, and of course, happy that my sunshine had returned.
"Thanks Dad." He said, looking directly at me, instead of creating eye contact with Billy like he most likely should have.
"Yeah yeah," Billy grumbled, and then muttered something as he went off to go talk to another family.
"So," Jake started to say, "You're not totally turned off by this whole 'I can turn into a wolf at any time' thing? I gotta say, most girls would totally flip out." I laughed and kissed him.
"Of course not." I said confidently. "I mean, most girls always want a dog or a boyfriend to keep them company when they're alone. I'm lucky enough to have both!" He threw his head back and laughed.
"You are silly." he said nuzzling my neck, and holding me closer to his body. I wrapped my arms around his neck. We just cuddled then, him holding me, the rest of the tribe closer to the fire, and a bit further away from us. It wasn't exactly the epitome of privacy, but it was private enough.
The rest of the night flew by, and before I knew it, I was giving Billy and Jake a lift back to their house. Billy went inside first, and left me and Jake outside, just talking next to truck.
"So what did you think? Am I a bonafide freak?" Jake asked me, brushing a strand of hair out of my face. I caught his hand, and held it in my hand.
"Not at all." I reached up on my tiptoes to get a kiss.
"That's good to hear," he murmured, before bending down and kissing me on the lips, his hands wrapping around my waist, and my hands entwining themselves around his neck. When the kiss ended, I smiled, happy to be able to have spent such an extraordinarily long amount of time with him today.
"We have got to do this more often." I said, leaning my head on his chest.
"What part of it?" he said, stroking my hair, and holding my hand. "The kissing or the spending the entire day together? Personally, I think both should be incorporated into daily life more often." I laughed and looked up to him.
"Both sounds good to me." I said. He chuckled.
"Me too." He kissed me on the forehead, and sighed.
"What is it?" I asked
"Nothing. You've just got to go home or Charlie will probably get a bit annoyed." I frowned. Jake had a point. He saw my pout and smiled. "It's okay hon. We can hang out tomorrow. Like always, okay?" I looked up to him and smiled.
"Alright. I love you babe." I said, giving him a hug with all of my strength. He embraced me tightly.
"Love you too Bells." He gave a short kiss, and I got into my truck and back on the way to Charlie's. He was waiting on the couch, and after I relayed how much fun I had had, I said goodnight and got ready for bed. I took a shower and quickly fell asleep, tired from the long night outside, but blissful from the fun I had had.