A/N: Hey guys, Sorry for the excessively long wait, but personal issues had a lot to do with my bout of writer's block.

In the space of 4 months my family has lost 2 much loved members to Lung Cancer. Neither one lived in the same country even, and the only symptoms they displayed was a prolonged cough. They both passed within 2 months of their diagnosis because it was too far gone already.

So this extremely long Author's Note is for one reason only; if you, or a family member, is suffering from a cough for more than a week, please, PLEASE see a doctor. It could be your life on the line.

As always, your reviews have brightened up my day when I desperately, desperately needed it.

Loves

And now, on with the story. I hope you likey!

This chapter starts out in Seth POV, but that will change about halfway through.

"Hey Munchkin… Long time no see…"

All of us just stood there, frozen in shock. We heard what the man on the porch had said. We had also 'heard' what Kaia had told Embry that day under the bleachers. We all knew her brother's nickname for her. But we had just come from his funeral. It was surreal, the way we all just stood there, watching, waiting for something to happen.

And then, Rachel seemed to gather her wits and croaked,

"Michael?"

That seemed to change everything. The atmosphere shifted. I knew we had just come from Jason Reynold's funeral, but there had been a slight tinge of hope, when I had figured out who the car belonged to. A small wisp of wishful thinking, that maybe he wasn't really dead. While my practical mind said this was not possible, I hadn't been able to stop myself.
The way Kaia slumped a little when she heard Rachel's voice made me realize that she too had nursed a momentary hope that her brother was still alive.

Rachel seemed to be in a daze... Still holding on to Paul, she took another stumbling step forward, before realizing that holding on to her boyfriend's bulky frame was at cross-purposes with moving any more. She met his eyes, letting him know with that one glance that she was ok.

It always amazed me to see how easily the wolves and their imprints could communicate with just some eye contact and barely any words. But then I realized that it wasn't just them. I had seen my parents do it multiple times. I had seen it happen with Collin and Brady's parents too. But with the imprints, it was just like we flash-forwarded past the time it took for them to get to that level.

Forcing my mind to concentrate on the present, I saw Paul's forehead tighten, and then relax as he realized that Rachel was going to be fine. But the man on the porch was still a stranger. An unknown entity. And while he might have trusted his imprint's instincts to speak to him, he didn't have to like it too much. So he let her walk forward, he let her step onto the porch. But he was exactly one step behind her the entire time. I could almost see Rachel's eyes roll at his possessive streak.

"Michael?" she reapeated. "Is that really you?"

Finally the man standing in the shadows stepped forward, just as the lights came on. Billy must have turned them on from inside. "Its me Rach. I was there... in Seattle... this morning... I .. I followed you back here. I didn't want to talk to you guys there... I was worried maybe I would draw attention... I had to come... I had to see for myself that K was ok. That she was safe..." he trailed off as Rachel didn't seem to register what he was saying.
He was frowning, trying to make her understand his disjointed explanation. Just then Collin shifted his weight from one foot to the other and that movement caught his attention. His eyes immediately zeroed in on the girl in my arms. His eyes widened slightly at the protective stance I held her in; the defensive position that Collin and Brady had taken up. But all this was my brain noticing and cataloguing automatically.
I was still too focused on the reactions of my imprint.

When she had first realized that it wasn't her brother standing on the porch she had lost a little of the stiff stance she had adopted, but she was still not breathing. Not much anyway, just barely there, shallow breaths that were probably just about keeping her from passing out. Before I could even ask her what was going on, she moved.
It took everything in me not to grab her and hold on for dear life. My brain was screaming at me to stop her. I didn't know who this 'Michael' was. I didn't know why he was here. I didn't know what he wanted. The one thing I DID know was I didn't want my imprint anywhere near him. But then again, when did any of our imprints just lie down and take orders from us.
Stubborn women seemed to be the norm for this wolfpack.
The spirits had a mean sense of humor.

Dragging my runaway brain back to the present, Kaia had already taken 2 steps forward. It was all I could do to stop myself following on her heels the way Paul had with Rachel. I knew she wouldn't stand for it. But she looked so heart-breakingly fragile right then, that I was scared she might just collapse. And then something about her changed.
She stopped at the foot of the porch stairs. Her spine straightened, and her breathing pattern changed. She seemed to take deeper breaths, almost… almost like the kind some of us took when our tempers were getting the better of us. She was angry? And then I noticed she was glaring at the man 4 feet away from her, her hands clenched into fists at her sides.
Wow.
I had never seen her this mad. Except for Collin and Brady's memories of the infamous Diner episode.

A couple more deep breaths and no-one had moved, watching this play out like some kind of horror movie. I was willing to bet our expressions were the same as well. Everything from downright worry to barely held back annoyance at this intruder. And that's when it happened. "Kai…" he said, in a voice barely more than a whisper, staring at her face. She snapped.
Fury filled me, and since I wasn't particularly angry with anything at the moment, I knew it was an overflow of her emotions that I was feeling. Faster than any one of us could move to stop her, she was up the stairs, and the couple of feet to him and a resounding 'Thwack' rung out into the darkening night.

Standing and staring seemed to be the consensus everytime Kaia took it into her hands to do something. Even though I would have taken her side, I had no idea what this guy had done for her to hit him, in the face at that. I could still feel the rage that had overtaken her, along with what I thought might be hurt, but she didn't show any of it on her face. Her expression was still cold, almost unconcerned.
"What the HELL are you doing here Michael?" she hissed. "Did it take my brother dying for you to remember who I am? And why the hell was it so important for you to know I'm ok now? Huh? Where were you all this time?"

All the while she shouted at him, I saw the pain that filled his eyes. Rachel had tears streaming down her face now, as she watched them face off. Finally Kaia came to the end of her tirade, and I finally saw tears start to form, "Where were you when I tried to contact you Mike? Where were you when I thought you were dead too… just like Jason?" and then she seemed to crumple.
I started forward to catch her, but the subject of her rant stepped forward and grabbed her in a bear hug, as she began sobbing in earnest. "I'm sorry baby girl… I'm so sorry. God knows the last thing I wanted to do was hurt you. I'm so sorry," he murmured against her hair.

I had had enough of some stranger holding her by then, so I took her by the arms and helped her up from the half-kneeling position they were in on the porch. She turned her face into my chest and wrapped her arms around me. While a part of me was hurting because she was in pain, a small part of me rejoiced that she already trusted me enough to find comfort in me so readily. I held her close and rubbed a hand up and down her back to soothe the shaking.

Rachel's voice interrupted his staring at Kaia in my arms. "Michael, I think we deserve an explanation… all of us. But can we do this inside please?" she directed that last part at Paul, who simply nodded and held the door open for her. Without looking at each other, we all followed one by one, except for me and the girl I was holding.
Looking down at her, now that the tears had stopped, I asked, "Kai… do you want to go inside?"
She was silent for a few seconds and just when I thought she may not have heard me, she answered. "Will you stay with me? Please?"
Heart swelling, I just nodded my head and replied, "As long as you need me."
With that, she dropped a quick kiss on my lips and then turned to follow everyone else into the house. Serious as the moment was, I couldn't stop the smile from covering my face, at least for a few seconds, when I noticed that she was still holding my hand.

End Seth POV

They all sat around Billy's tiny living room; Billy himself had taken one look at the looks on Paul's and Jacob's faces and mumbled that he was going to bed. Awkward tension seemed to permeate everything there, until Rachel finally huffed and decided to make some coffee. The speed with which the rest of the packs decided that they needed caffeine as well was practically Mach 5.
Rachel set the coffeemaker going and stayed in the tiny kitchen. Barely 30 seconds later, Paul got up and joined her there. From his vantage point Jake could see Rachel leaning against the counter, until Paul stood just behind her, drawing her back against his chest and holding her there.
Satisfied that his sister was in good hands, Jake transferred his attention to the girl he, and the rest of the pack for that matter, thought of as an honorary member. Whoever this Michael was, if he said or did anything to upset this girl, Jake himself would have to take a number behind Embry, Collin and Brady. If Seth left anything of him for the others to have a go at.
Somehow Jake doubted that. Mild-mannered and easy-going Seth might be, but if it came to his imprint, he could be worse than Paul, and if there was anything he had learned from Leah, it was how to fight.

The awkwardness hadn't dissipated from the time Rachel had left, and when she walked back into the room with an assortment of mugs with coffee in them, she rolled her eyes at the scene. Michael was in a chair in the corner, staring at Kaia, who was wrapped in Seth's arms. She seemed to be looking anywhere but at him, and Seth kept murmuring to her in comfort.
Embry, Collin and Brady glared at Michael, although they didn't really have an explanation as to they they were doing so. His presence had made Kaia angry, and so they felt like they should be angry as well. 'Juveniles… Like toddlers,' Rachel though to herself. Jake looked around and once Rachel had sat down, Paul on the floor next to her, he cleared his throat to break the utter silence. "Maybe its time we had some explanations?" he said, in a low voice.

Rachel nodded at him and then looked straight at Michael. "Yeah, explanations would be nice Kid. I deserve one, and you know as well as I do that Kaia does too." Michael's head jerked up at the nickname Rachel had used, and the pack noted this. Meanwhile, Jake looked from his sister to the stranger in the corner and exclaimed, "Wait a second… This is THAT Michael? The one you told me and Paul about… that day on the beach?"
Surprised that he had remembered, Rachel nodded and then turned her attention back to the subject of the conversation. He finally looked away from Kaia curled up next to Seth, and took a deep breath. "Finding a starting point is tough…"
"Try harder," Paul sniped from his seat on the floor.
The look Michael sent him was pure venom.

But then he shook his head and seemed to focus on something the others couldn't see. "From your earlier remark, I'm going to assume that you know about what we were involved with in the last year," he began.
When Jake nodded, he took it as a sign to continue. "You know the night Jason disappeared… they were suspicious then. They wanted to send us a warning. Jason became the warning. You can thank that cold you caught that it wasn't you."
Ignoring both Rachel and Kaia's wincing, he continued, "So once you moved back here, I couldn't go back to my apartment, it had been… compromised…" everone in the room noticed the way his lip curled over that word. "Mike said that they had tracked me from my records. They found my place… trashed it too. It wasn't safe anymore. So they stuck me in a safehouse. When I asked about you, they told me that they had contacted the police force here and they said you had adequate protection."
The wolves in the room looked at each other and couldn't help but smirk. Rachel was MORE than adequately protected on their lands. "I had no outside contact, no way to get messages to anyone… and no way out. Basically a very pleasant jail sentence."
His jaw twitched, fists clenched on his knees. "The second they let me out, I tore up there, but they were burying him. I got to my best friend's funeral… and not even in time to say goodbye." He stood then, and looked down at Kaia, still wrapped in Seth's arms.
"The only thing I could think of after that was making sure you were ok… If you had been hurt too.. if they had found a way to get to you… then I would have had a little more blood on my hands…"

Rachel's head snapped up at that last statement, "More? What the hell does that mean?"
He levelled an icy gaze at her, blue eyes as cold as the arctic. "Remember I said they compromised my apartment? I was still in it. I might have been responsible for some broken bones…" only the pack heard him mutter, "or a broken neck" under his breath.
"That was why they couldn't let me out. Mike managed to get it fixed so that it went down as self-defence. Being outnumbered counted in my favor for once. I just needed to know that you were alright."

Kaia looked up then, "How long are you staying?" she asked, watching him carefully. "As long as I need to," he replied looking straight in her eyes. "You are pretty much the only family I have left Kai. I'm sticking around… at least as long as you want me around." She watched him for a few seconds longer, then stood and walked into his outstretched arms.
"I thought you were dead too… when they found Jason… and we hadn't heard from you in so long… Michelle refused to believe it though.. she said you would be fine… that there was probably a good reason you couldn't contact us." Ryan's head had jerked up at the mention of his imprint.
Hugging Kaia, Michael spoke into her hair, "I missed you Munchkin… I was terrified that something would happen to you, that someone would hurt you… "

Embry interrupted with a derisive snort, "You really think we would have let anything happen to her?" he asked. Michael looked at him with a slight smile on his face. "Well if I had known that Kaia had moved in with Bigfoot's spawn, I wouldn't have worried so much"
A heartbeat of silence followed, where Kaia wondered what their reaction would be. And then there was a general outburst, as they all started to laugh. Sighing in relief, Kaia held out her hand for Seth and turned to Michael. "Mikey, I want you to meet Seth, my boyfriend. Seth, meet Michael. Jason's best friend and my honorary older brother."

Grinning at the title, Seth reached out his hand to the newcomer in front of him and said, "Seth Clearwater, welcome to La Push." Gripping his hand, Michael replied, "Michael… Hunter," although nobody except Kaia noticed the momentary hesitation before he gave his surname. She raised her eyebrow at him and he shook his head minutely. She would wait until later to ask him why he hadn't given his full name. Jake interrupted then, introducing everyone else as Rachel sat back, waiting for the pleasantries to get done. "Where are you staying Kid? In Forks?" she asked.

"Yeah" he replied sheepishly. "I saw a sign for a motel when I drove through, so I'm hoping they have a room." He missed the look Jake sent Embry and Embry's nod of approval. Clearing his throat, Jake spoke up, "Actually, you can crash with us if you like… we have a place down the road… and there is also a fold-out couch that is pretty comfortable."
Michael looked up in surprise, "Umm that would be great actually. That way I can drop in and see you tomorrow right?" he directed this last question at Kaia.
She smiled and nodded, and Jake directed him to follow them out, since it had been a long day, and everyone needed some shut-eye.

After hugging Kaia and then Rachel, Michael turned to the door, only to come face to face with Sam & Leah, who had decided to come find out what exactly was holding up Jake. They hadn't heard anything from him since he had phased back, the last thing they caught was him picking up a strange scent. Leah froze as soon as she Michael, with a funny look on her face. He in turn just stared past Sam right into her eyes and seemed to turn into a human statue.

Seth and Jake both looked at each other and then at Sam in bewilderment, only Rachel catching on. "Oh Holy Hell…" she hissed. "Leah imprinted on him."
But then things got more confusing, when Leah didn't move, but Michael dropped the jacket he had picked up, stepped towards her, and then whispered, "Its you!"

A/N: The next chapter will NOT be so long in coming. I promise!

Review!

Loves