Hello! First, I want to thank you all for reading and reviewing my story. I enjoy reading your comments.

AN – I do not own any of the characters of Twilight. They belong to Stephanie Meyers.

Ch 26

Third Person POV

At the treaty line, the Cullens watched curiously as the wolves were having some sort of dilemma. For some reason, a howl caused one of the wolves to shift back into human form and had him lying on the ground in pain. A second howl was heard which caused two other wolves to whimper and growl. The Alpha's face turned dark and forbidding which was the only indication from him that something was wrong.

Carlisle finally spoke directing his words to the man that he thought was the Alpha, being the largest and most aggressive in stature. "Thank you for meeting us. I want to convey to you all that it is my family's wish to make sure that Bella is safe. We would not have contacted you otherwise. We consider her to be family and we don't take threats to any of us lightly."

The other human, not the Alpha, replied. "Yeah, well if it weren't for you bloodsuckers, Bella wouldn't be in this sort of trouble. We're her family now and she has no need for you, any of you." He snarled. The anger radiating off of him was palpable.

"Jacob, that's enough." spoke the Alpha. His face tight with tension, he turned to Carlisle. "Alice had called Bella saying that there was something that we needed to know about that bitch Victoria." The human named Jacob drew his lips in a hard line rather than say anything more, even though it was obvious that he wanted to do so.

Alice nodded her head in reply. She looked up at Carlisle before answering "Yes, I had a vision of Bella being attacked. This time, Victoria has help, lots of it. Newborns." Alice's mate, Jasper, raised his head to get a better look at the wolves, assessing them.

Jacob's eyebrows rose at Alice's statement. "So, we can shred them like any other vampire. Why should we care?" Sam glared at him for talking out of turn. However, the reaction of the wolves behind them mirrored Jacob's words. They were not concerned.

Trying to diffuse the tension that was rising, Carlisle answered Jacob's question. "Newborns are the deadliest of our kind due to the human blood still lingering in their system. They are faster than we are and easily twice as strong. Fighting them and winning requires special training. My son Jasper has experience in dealing with them. If you all are willing, I would like for him to train us all on how to defeat the newborns so that we may fight side by side against Victoria and her army."

Low growls came from the wolves showing their distaste at his proposal. The Alpha raised his right hand causing them to quiet down but in their eyes, their hatred still shone. After a brief pause, the Alpha had come to a conclusion. "We accept your offer for training and aid. This will be of great benefit to us all. When should we begin?"

Carlisle looks at Alice whose face had clouded over. "Alice has not been able to determine when they will attack so I would suggest that we start as soon as possible." Alice did not like not being able to be of more help but such was the nature of her gift. She just hoped that Victoria wouldn't change her mind about the upcoming attack at the last minute. Everyone's life was at stake if she did.

"Alright, let's start tomorrow morning. Should we meet here for training? The clearing is large enough for several of us to train at the same time." Sam adds. Sensing the continued unease of the pack behind him, he wanted to finish up this meeting to find out what had happened on the Res.

Jasper spoke up. "This area would work fine for the training."

Nodding in agreement, Carlisle adds "We'll meet you here in the morning, at 8 am. Tomorrow is going to be a long day. I think it's best to start early."

Sam nods his head once and looks over his shoulder at his pack. They are no longer growling but their stance is still tense.

Jacob could no longer keep his thoughts to himself. "Where is he?" he asked in a whisper knowing that everyone heard him just fine. "Where is Edward?" he spat. His face betrayed his feelings towards the missing Cullen.

Sighing, Carlisle faced Jacob. "We don't know where he is. All we know is that he took off after we moved away from Forks. We haven't seen him since; even Alice has not been able to see him." Esme's face showed her sadness at the reminder of the loss of her son and Carlisle placed his arm around her.

Jacob tore his glaze away from the Carlisle to see that Sam was glaring at him. Now was not the time to focus on personal vendettas; not only was Bella in danger, but the whole Tribe. Sam gave the Cullens one last look before raising his arm, giving the order to head out.

Sam POV

Phasing to wolf after the meeting had ended, I connect with the pack mind to see what has happened back home. I get immediate visuals of a small white wolf, as well as the disbelief of Embry and Seth and the sadness from Quil. Tia had shifted. Why didn't we see this coming? How are we going to get her trained in time before Victoria comes? Huffing in resignation, my week had just become even more complicated.

When we reached Quil's cabin, we find Tia in wolf form chatting with the guys. She wasn't shaking. She wasn't angry. She seemed to be as calm as she was normally in her human form. Her eyes were watching Quil closely as we approached.

Tia? I reach out to her through the link.

Yes Sam?

Are you ok? I ask curious at her calmness.

Other than feeling sore, I feel ok. Why? She tilted her head as she replied, still glancing at Quil.

Well most of us had a hard time calming down to this point after our first phase. We're all amazed at how you are handling it. I sit down in front of her to get a better look at her wolf. She was just a bit smaller than Leah but her body was long and lean. If there's one thing that I've learned from Leah's phasing, you don't underestimate the little ones. While they weren't as strong in fighting, they made up for it with their speed and agility. Unfortunately, I didn't have time to indulge in finding out just how fast she was.

Seth snorted at my reply. I hear it took Paul the better part of 2 weeks to be able to phase back his first time. Paul growled good naturedly at Seth in reply.

Ok, why don't we all phase back so that we can talk this over with Uma. Quil, I'll let you explain to her how this works while we go get dressed.

Quil POV

I turn to face Tia but her eyes had never left me the entire time since we arrived. I had my suspicions as to why she was behaving this way but we could talk about it later. The guys had all trotted off into the cover of the trees and I felt the familiar ripple through the pack mind as they phased out. Ok Tia, to phase back you need to think calm human thoughts…

Tia licked the side of my muzzle and before I could tell her about the need for being in the tree line, she phased.

TIA!

I growled at her as she stood completely naked in front of me. Holy shit! I jumped over to the back deck to grab the clothes that Uma had placed out for her, knowing that she would need them. Great, now I had Tia's body on my mind, which meant that so did my pack brothers if I didn't control my thoughts. Dammit.

Tia put her clothes on while I walked around the corner of the house to shift quickly. Thankfully the guys had given us a few extra minutes thinking that Tia would find it difficult to do so. Sighing, I rounded the corner to find her adjusting her shirt. I pull her in my arms. "I never wanted this for you Tia." I bury my face in her shoulder and tighten my arms.

"I'm still me, Quil."

Knowing that she was right, I raise my face to hers and she looks me in the eyes. I can feel that the pull of our bond has become much stronger, so much so that I couldn't help myself with what I did next. Pulling her to me, our lips crashed, diving deeply into a passionate kiss. Our hands were all over each other, not caring that we had an audience.

"Whoa there! Somebody get a fire extinguisher!" Jared laughed as he walked up. The others were behind him. Seth and Embry were chuckling quietly and Paul had a smirk on his face as they watched us. Leah leaned up against a tree with a snarl on her face. Everyone knew that she hated the fact that imprinting caused immediate love and obsession.

Sam put his hand on my shoulder, gently pulling us apart. "Does she know what happened Quil?"

Seeing Tia's confusion at this repeated question, I say pulling her to me, staring into her eyes. "Well, I don't think it's any secret." I bring my hand up to her face "You imprinted on me, love. There's nothing that can ever tear us away from one another, especially not now." The most beautiful smile I have ever seen on her face played across her lips as this realization sunk in. If there was ever any doubt in her mind as to our relationship, they were officially gone. We were meant to be. The Great Spirit had spoken…twice.

TPOV

Just after the pack left for the evening, Sam, Quil and I sat down with Uma to discuss my phasing. Sam had found it amazing that I was able to shift for the first time without showing the normal characteristics. It was Uma who pointed out that I had shown some but not all. I had aches and pains and a fever but it was harder to notice the physical development in my case because girls have a different muscular build. It wasn't until just before I phased that I showed any signs of aggression and anger which were so easily seen in the guys. I couldn't be compared to Leah in this aspect either because she had long had her own serious anger issues well before she ever phased. Uma's opinion was that I had been working on self-control through my training as a fire dreamer. She believes that this along with the fact that I was fully aware of the shifters within the Tribe that allowed me to have a much easier time today.

After our conversation, Sam soon left as he needed to head back home to talk to Emily about the pack's plans so that she could plan to house the imprints for their own safety for the upcoming week. He also took Uma home which left me alone with my Imprint. Quil was my imprint. I found this fact to be the most overwhelming aspect of my phasing. I am full Quileute which means that I most likely carried the gene so there was no surprise there. The fact there had already been one female shifter ruled out the possibility that I wouldn't shift. Then there's the fact that the pack and the Tribe would very soon be surrounded by vampires. The odds were sort of stacked against me in some ways, even if I am a girl.

I walked over to the sink to get a glass of water. Quil walked up beside me, wrapping his arms around my waist. Leaning my head back on his shoulder, I sighed.

"So what do you think now my wolf girl?" Quil laughed.

Taking a moment to think, I reply "It's definitely overwhelming but I'm kind of excited. I'm looking forward to it all. It means I might get to spend a bit more time with you."

Not expecting my answer, he became serious. "It also means that you are going to be placed in even more danger and I don't like it. Given the way I reacted today with your phasing, I can't imagine what will happen if you ever get hurt. What's worse is that I will see how you were injured and if I'm not there to help you, it will shred me." He leans his head against mine.

"Wait, you knew when I phased? How?"

"My imprint bond on you means I feel your pain and to some extent your emotions. It was like I went through your first phase with you. I guess the pain of your first phase is like what they say about labor pains, you don't remember the pain it causes once it's over, but I'll always remember what you went through. I don't want you to be in that sort of pain again, ever."

"You mentioned that you would be able to see me if I was injured?"

"Remember earlier when you could hear me in your mind as I helped you phase back? Well, the same thing applies to what the pack sees. What one wolf sees, we all see." He paused. "Even things that you don't want to share…"

"Was that why you were upset when I phased back so quickly?

Clearing his throat to hide his nerves, he answered. "Yes, unless I am very careful about replaying that mental picture in my mind, then all of them will see you naked."

Turning red from my toes to the top of my head, all I could say was. "Oh."

"That is one fact that you are going to have to get over. We see each other naked from time to time and up until now, there have never been any inappropriate comments or behavior towards Leah. She's our sister. However, with our double imprint, this could be very difficult, even more so for the others if we should let our desires or memories slip."

I nod my head in understanding. No impromptu phasing back to human for me and I need to be make sure that I always had my clothes with me. I hadn't thought about how being female would impact my shifting.

"I guess I need to talk to Leah about things." I sighed.

"I think it would be a good idea. I can text her to come over after dinner if you want. However, I'm willing to bet that Sam will want to do your first run this evening with everything that is going on."

Nodding, I start grabbing food out of the fridge to fix something to eat. Quil texts Leah and then lends a hand putting dinner together. We ate in a comfortable silence, which gave me time to consider how my day had gone, just another crazy day in the life of Tia Walker. Chuckling to myself, I found myself looking forward to this chapter.

Leah knocked on the door just as we finished eating. Waving her in, Quil said he would clean up so that I could sit with Leah to talk things through. She plopped down on the couch, looking at me closely.

"What do you need pup?" she teased with a small smile on her face.

Raising my eyebrow at my new nickname, I follow her into the living room. Sitting down in the recliner, I turn to face her. "I'm wondering how phasing works for us."

Nodding in understanding, she begins "Being a she wolf surrounded by the pack is definitely a challenge. You've already learned about being prepared to phase human. You'll need to keep a stash of clothes around the Res at strategic points so that you are never caught lacking." She chuckles.

"What about….our cycle?"

Quil's head perked up in the kitchen. I knew he could easily hear what we were discussing so I was trying to keep this as delicate as I could. However, Leah being Leah, she was her normal blunt self. I'm glad for Quil that he wasn't sitting here with us at this moment.

"Very soon after, your cycle will stop like mine did. I haven't had once since I phased. It's my understanding that as long as we are phasing, we go into a temporary menopause. When the time comes that we no longer phase, it will begin again like normal. However, I'm betting that first cycle will not be fun."

"What about being constantly surrounded by the pack mind?"

Leah's jaw tenses. "You're going to get mental pictures that you never wanted." Her hands clench as she thinks about Sam's visions of Emily. Sighing, she continues "They can't help themselves, especially after they've imprinted. With you and Quil, I'm sure that soon we'll get a double dose of you two and your bedroom activities."

I immediately look down, not wanting her to see my reaction to her comment. I did not want to share the fact that we were waiting. Swallowing my nerves, I ask "Do we see everything? Is there no privacy?"

"There's no privacy as long as you phase. The pack mind is a great thing when we are in protector mode or in a fight but it's our personal lives that suffer. You're lucky though."

"Oh, how so?"

"You found your mate immediately. You won't have to risk finding out that the person you love isn't really yours or experience the waiting until you do find your mate. It's not a lot of fun being the third wheel around pack members who are already paired up." She leans forward to place her elbows on her knees, looking at the floor to hide her feelings.

Her emotions were obvious in her voice. She had suffered a loss of love because of phasing and now as an unmated shifter herself, she gets constant reminders of what she doesn't have. I felt sympathetic towards her. I reach out to touch her shoulder. "I promise to keep my thoughts about Quil to a minimum."

She looks up at me with appreciation in her eyes. "Thanks but you don't need to do anything special on my part." The slightest smile played across her face.

"So what's it like to be part of the pack?"

Laughing, she says "You're constantly surrounded by your brothers with their crazy antics and testosterone. They'll say things without remembering that you're not a guy and then apologize after the fact…well, with the exception of Paul. He rarely apologizes for anything. Other than the fact that he can be an ass, it's a lot of fun. They'll have your back whenever you need them, in a fight or in real life. You've just become part of a large family."

Liking what I heard, I allow myself a moment to revel in the fact that I now have the family that I've always wanted and the knowledge that I will always have someone to lean on. My heart fills with happiness. Looking over at Quil, I see him watching me closely.

Leah stands. "Well, I have patrol in a few and I know that Sam will be here soon for your first run. I'll talk to you in the morning." She waves as she walks out the door.

Watching her walk through the door, Quil comes over to where I'm seated. He takes my hands, pulling me up out of the recliner. He sits down and then pulls me into his lap. Snuggling into his arms, I lay my head on his shoulder, reveling in the warmth of his touch.

"There's one more thing that we need to talk about with regards to our imprint." He says as he settles me onto his lap.

"Oh?"

With his index finger, he lifts my chin to look at him. "Our bond is even stronger than it was. It's going to make…waiting even harder." He traces my chin up to my ear with his finger, looking at me with his warm, chocolate eyes.

Confused, I ask "What do you mean?"

"Part of the imprint is the desire to …make more wolves. It's going to be more difficult to hold ourselves to our promise to wait until we're married."

Finding myself in yet another difficult conversation for the day, I gulp. "So we're going to want to…"

"Yes, Tia."

I look into his eyes and can see the desire and love that he feels for me. "Do you still want to wait?"

"Very much so, we're just going to have even stronger feelings than we had before. I will not try to persuade you or anything like that. Our "us" time might be more intense is all. You'll tell me if I do something that you're not ready for, won't you?"

All I can do is nod in reply. While part of me wanted to be with Quil, the other side, the human in me, was scared.

"Good,…now come here. I missed you today." He leans in pressing his lips to mine.

His original intent might have been a tender kiss but I wasn't having it. I ran my fingers into his hair pulling him in for a deeper kiss. He groaned, tightening his arms around me. Our mouths devoured, our tongues danced and our hands roamed. We were lost in each other or we were until…

*Ahem.*

Quil jumped and I pulled back from him. We looked toward the sound to see a smirking Sam standing in our living room. Quil's arms didn't loosen as he asked. "Don't you know how to knock?"

Laughing, Sam replied. "I did…twice. You two were in your own little world so I let myself in." He grinned understanding our situation.

Quil shifted in the recliner. "Ok…I guess it's time for Tia's first run." Sighing, his hands drop from my waist.

I would have preferred to stay where I was at that moment but I was also excited to see what my wolf could do. I gave Quil a quick kiss on the cheek before whispering in his ear. "Hold onto that thought until I get back." He winked at me as I stood up.

"I'm ready Sam. Let's go!"

Sam and I spent the next couple of hours running the border line and discussing how the pack worked as a team. He showed me through the pack mind the basics of taking down a vampire and things to look for should I get attacked or ambushed. I tried my best to absorb everything that was coming my way but it was difficult.

Stopping on top of a cliff that looked out over La Push, Sam stopped and sat down on his haunches. With a grumbling sound, he turned to look at me. Tia, I'm just going to be honest. I really wished that this had never happened to you.

Oh, why is that?

Well, the big brother in me wants you to always be safe and the Alpha sees that your connection with Quil, while it can have its advantages, is also a liability. I won't be able to put you together on patrols due to the possibility of you two becoming distracted with each other, and then there's the reality of what would happen if one of you were hurt. If that happens, the other will be unable to function which could cause major problems if you two are the only ones running the borders. I'm also unsure on what to do with you when Victoria attacks. We don't have time to train you properly in the basics before she comes at us. You would be in great danger if you fought with the pack. He huffed as laid down on the ground with his head on his front paws.

I wasn't sure how or if I should say anything to him at that point. He had some valid points. However, I knew that I'd meet these challenges head on and handle them as best I could. Long gone is the shy, quiet, passive girl that I was. I knew I had the support and love that I needed to make it through.