Book Two: Kim and the Wolf that Loved Her

Chapter 4: Jared- Welcome to the Family, Kid

"Phil make six, Jared, you can't tell me nothing's going on!" Kim howled.

I nodded grimly, unsure how to proceed without lying and without breaking Sam's command.

"There are six new fucking wolves in this pack and I know the Cullens are making their house out to be a fucking vampire hotel. You can't tell me they're just in town trying to see a baby. I'm not dumb, so don't even try to fucking lie to me!" She screamed, pounding her little fist on my chest.

Our newest wolf, Phil, phased just yesterday. He was Solace's third cousin, best friend and the only person he seemed to talk to. Phil was slightly mischievous and scrawny and hopefully the last new wolf for a long time. We were setting out to war but with six new untrained wolves it was more of a hindrance than a help.

Kim stopped beating my chest and almost lovingly caressed the spot as if to heal a wound, though I hadn't felt it. I hated when she was mad at me and it wasn't a small argument, I was lying to her, something I hadn't done before, and never wanted to do again.

It felt uncomfortable not just because she was my imprint but because she was my best friend and I wanted so badly to share all of the stresses of our impending battle with her, but Sam forbid it until he felt it necessary.

By Alice's vision we would be going to war soon. The Cullen house was filled with vampire sympathizers, come to prepare for the arrival of the Italian Mod Squad, but none of could us be sure how many of them would fight if it came down to it.

We were bound to protect Jake's imprint, we had no choice but with total of six new wolves, the oldest only fifteen and none of them particularly ready, this battle was very ominous. All six of them would die if it came to a fight and we didn't hold much hope that it wouldn't come to blows. Vampires couldn't be trusted and even two of the Cullens had jumped ship. I was determined to survive no matter the cost, but the psychic leaving was a very bad sign.

It was Christmas already and with only days of preparing left, Sam didn't want us to tell the girls until the very last minute. This wasn't like the newborns we last fought and we didn't have Jasper this time round, none of us were excited for this battle.

Preparing meant runs and strategy stimulations with the six new wolves and what we had left of the original pack. Embry and Quil left to join Jacob and the rogue pack after the Thanksgiving which we knew would happen eventually but it still caused friction. With Jake gone I was made Sam's second, so on top of a full time day job I was also in charge of the new wolves while Sam finalized preparations for the worst case scenario: Money for Emily and his future offspring, a van to get select inner circle out of town, scholarship opportunities for Kim and Claire, letters to those in the know and cover stories for those who weren't in case of mass death.

"Kim, I don't want to lie to you, so don't make me, baby. Please, you know I can't tell you, it's an order," I pleaded, she dropped on the couch pulling her knees up to her chin.

"Just tell me if you're in danger," she said hugging herself tightly.

"I'm always in danger, I track and kill vampires," I said avoiding the question.

"Dammit, you haven't been home before 2am for the last week! You think I don't know something's up Jared? I miss you," she started off with a scream but her voice dropped to just barely a whisper. I missed her too. I missed her so much it physically hurt, a constant throbbing in my stomach.

"I miss you too. I'm sorry I'm not here for you, I want to be," I couldn't say anymore or the fear, this fear in the back of my mind that I would die and never see my Kim again, would burst through and I wouldn't be able to stand.

"What are you doing? What are you guys preparing for?" She asked looking up at me past her thick tear soaked lashes.

"I'm training the new guys—wolves," I corrected myself.

It was difficult getting adjusted to a new female wolf, mostly because this time around we really wanted her to fit in, we needed her to fit in, not like Leah. We couldn't stand to lose another wolf. We all liked Anna, we knew her before she phased because of her relationship with Solace but it was still a challenge censoring our thoughts out of consideration. We were all trying to make her feel comfortable and other than the realization that we were preparing to fight monsters she'd only dreamed about before she was handling it pretty well and she'd made quick friends with Paul.

"Can you tell me about it? What are you training for?" She asked, then shook her head. "Nevermind."

I wanted to tell her, my new job was hard and draining. I trained the wolves for hours every night, with an over enthusiastic Paul used as a sparring partner. I kept mental note of all of their strengths and weaknesses, and came up with plans to improve them as quickly as possible.

I sidled in next to her and she climbed into my lap, burying her face in my neck. We had one day rest and I wanted to make the best of it.

"Can you at least promise that you won't do anything stupid or brave or stupidly brave?" She whispered, her lips brushing against my neck.

"Do you want to go to my parents or Emily's, we're invited to both?" I asked looking at the time but most importantly avoiding the question. Just going to this potential blood bath was stupid and getting so attached to these baby wolves was another strike against me.

It was 4:45pm, about time for eating and Kim was still in pajamas, having stayed up all night waiting for me. Matty wasn't here, he hadn't come back to La Push since Jordan shot him down, meaning our tiny family dinner was abandoned, replaced with whichever house we decided to crash.

"Can we just stay here? Watch a movie…I don't know when I'll have another day with you," she said turning her body to straddle me. I loved when she was this close to me and I could look at her face completely, follow the curve of her cheekbone or the perfect double arches of her lips.

"Yeah, I'd like that," I sighed giving her a soft kiss, her lips were cool and had a kiss of spearmint. "What movie do you want to watch?" I asked as she used her thumb to trace my bottom lip.

"Tell me about training," she said wrapping her arm around my neck so that she was completely wrapped around me.

"It's not really that exciting."

"Okay, tell me about the new wolves then," she said pulling back with a smile. She hadn't smiled for two weeks, so I gave in. I texted my mother we weren't coming over and spilled my guts.

"Okay, umm… Solace is quick, really quick, but he has no strategy he can't think more than one move in advance?" I said it like a question, I honestly didn't know what she was asking. I could talk about their fighting technique for hours, but no matter how much I knew she loved me, I wasn't sure that'd be too interesting for her.

"Is he faster than Leah?" She asked and I smiled. I had spent weeks keeping quiet about the training and my new responsibility and like my savior, she was sitting in my lap willing to listen. Sam's command forbade us from telling anyone about the Volturi but he said nothing about training.

"He doesn't run faster but he moves faster. No one can pin him." She pulled me down onto the couch so we were lying face to face.

"And what's he like? He doesn't talk, so does he have like a whole running dialogue going on up there or what?"

"No… or at least not that I've seen. He's got really good mind control, it's kinda zen. You get whiffs of his emotions and once a little info on his mother but other than that it's mostly calm. He seems cool and all the younger wolves like him… he's not too upset about the wolf thing," I explained, kissing her plump lips again. This was the most I had physically spoken in two weeks.

"How about Jordan and Michael? Are they okay with the wolf thing?" she asked nibbling on my ear as she spoke.

"Jordan's strong, stronger than me but he overthinks everything. Michael's a terrible fighter, he's too distracted and way too docile. I don't think either of them are too excited about being a wolf," I admit.

"Wanna hear some hot gossip?" She nodded fervently so I continued. "Michael has a major crush on Anna, but she's still with Solace."

"Oooh, has Solace said anything about it?" Kim asked her eyes lighting as she smiled.

"Naw but I think she likes Michael too," I gossiped watching her eyes shine. With a rush of much younger and closer wolves inner dialogue and deep dark secrets were a lot juicer than crushes on Bella and the mystery of Embry's father.

"So cute…for Michael, not for Solace. What's Anna like? Is she a better fighter than Michael, at least?"

"Not really, she's smart though and she has the best sense of smell I've ever seen," I added more importantly. It was the one thing that put her ahead of the game. She was small and not entirely powerful but she could smell any vamp in a ten mile radius and she was crafty too.

She had the same problem most of the new wolves had though: fear. She was afraid, terrified of the fight to come. She was too young to die… but weren't we all? And now because of Bella we were in danger of being exposed to an army of ancient royal vamps. Would the curse of Bella Swan ever end?

"How about her third or fourth cousin or whatever he is?" Kim asked, casually trailing her hand up and across my bare chest.

"Krys. I think he's her third cousin twice removed," I giggled, her soft fingertips tickling my pecks. If someone made a family tree of the pack we would probably find we were all somehow related but our youngest wolf Krys was connected most closely to Anna.

"Jared… he's like twelve, he was in Matty's class. This is serious shit, isn't it?" Kim asked, biting her lip nervously. He phased the day we found out about Alice's vision, just three days after his thirteenth birthday. He was small, the smallest wolf in the pack—even smaller than Anna, but he was strong when his mind was clear.

"He's fucked up about it, poor kid. His life sucks already and he doesn't really wanna talk to any of the other newbies," I said quickly, so distracted by her circular massaging of my chest that I couldn't continue.

"What do you mean by poor kid?" She asked seriously.

"He lives with a drunk gambling addict," I said quickly trying to get her back on the road to Bone Town by nibbling on her ear.

"Jared," she moaned and I massaged her breast through the soft cotton of her t-shirt, her nipples hardening against my palm.

"Ja-jared. Stop."

"Kim," I whined but she slapped my hands away.

"How can you be so casual about him living with a drunk?" She asked incredulously, urging me off of her with tiny hands. I rolled off so she wouldn't strain herself and she crossed her arms in front of her chest.

"Baby, I have a lot on my plate. What am I supposed to do about it right now?" I asked, fidgeting with the unsatisfied erection in my jeans.

"Well, is he being abused?"

"He's not hitting him, from what I can see."

"There are different kinds of abuse. Is he happy? Healthy?" She asked following me into the kitchen.

"I don't know babe, he's as healthy as the rest of us I guess," I snapped. I hadn't had or held her in weeks and now she wanted to discuss a boy she didn't even know on my only day off.

"Well you should! He's your brother, and he's just a baby, Jared. You saw what me and Matty went through," she howled stomping her foot.

"Okay. Well, then let's just go find him now, cuz Lord knows we're not going to have sex until you've gotten to the bottom of it!" I shot back, entering our bedroom and searching for a shirt.

I thought she might stop me, tell me I was being silly and let us get on with our day but instead she quietly dressed, in her signature jean skirt and furry snow boots.

We didn't know where Krys lived so our first stop was to Emily's to ask Sam, Kim was determined to meet and interrogate him today. To our surprise he was already there, standing alone in a corner eating quietly his dark eyes scanning the room curiously. Without introduction, Kim went to talk to him and I found Paul pawing at Rachel in a hidden corner of the living room. He stopped as I approached with a grin that said very clearly he had no shame.

"Bout time, Cameron," he jeered, slapping me on my back, I rolled my eyes at him and he didn't notice, but Rachel did.

"What's up?" Rachel prodded, swatting Paul's hand away from her ass.

"Not much, Kim is here to play Oprah," I explained, nodding to Kim and Krys who continued a hushed conversation I couldn't hear over the cacophony of laughter.

"Is she giving everyone cars?" Paul chuckled.

"No, she's saving all the children," Rachel guess knowingly. With catastrophe after fiasco hitting La Push in the months since Paul had imprinted I didn't get much time to get to know Jake's big sister Rachel but I liked how well she knew Kim and how much calmer she made Paul.

"Oh yeah, that makes sense. Kim always sticking her nose where it don't be—" Paul was cut off by my swift elbow to his gut as Kim approached, towing Krys. He looked nervous and his lightly tanned skin was flushed with pink in his face. He stared nervously at his oversized feet as Kim came to a stop in front of me.

"He's moving in with us," Kim said simply. I knew it was not a request or a question so I didn't protest, we had a spare room and with my new construction job, we weren't living on ramen anymore, so I had more important things to worry about.

"I don't wanna impose on—" Krys began to protest, but Kim put up her hand to silence him and he obeyed.

"Okay. Welcome to the family, Kid," I sighed patting him on the back and heading to the makeshift buffet Emily had set up in the living room. She was huge now, so pregnant she was walking funny and holding her extended belly as if it would tip her over. Those babies were going to be huge.

I hadn't even placed a roll on my plate before Sam's deep voice rose above the crowd.

"All pack members outside!" It was pitch black at the edge of the forest where we convened and the lightest dusting of snow glittered the skies.

"Take another day off tomorrow, rest up and settle your affairs. The Volturi should be here new years eve. You are tell your loved ones… only tell them the important information and only if you feel it's totally necessary," Sam said scratching nervously at the back of his head before nodding and walking off.

He wasn't exactly the best communicator, so I was left looking around the circle at our growing family, Phil looking pale and tired at Solace's side. Solace holding Anna by the waist, Michael and Jordan silently watching on as Krys stood silently outside the circle. Collin and Brady stood shoulder to shoulder looking grave. Paul and I exchanged a meaningful look. Both of us had kept the secret from our imprint but we also dreaded having to tell them.

"Hey, Jared?" Krys called, as the rest of the wolves headed back in the house.

"Yeah?"

"A-are you guys serious about me moving in?" He asked, still avoiding my eyes.

"Yeah, man, if you want to—don't let her force you if you're not really interested," I said, looking through the windows in the front of the house trying to catch a glimpse of her.

"I-I want to," he said quickly, nodding then dashing in the house. I followed his path slowly, dragging my feet up the stairs past a round bellied Emily and straight to Kim.

"I'm sorry," I whispered in her ear from behind, she was chatting with Emily's sister Jo.

"No, I'm sorry I ruined your only day off," she turned into my arms, wrapping herself around me.

"I'm off tomorrow, too," I breathed in her ear, using my middle finger to make circles on the soft satiny skin of her upper thigh.

"Good," she whispered biting her lips before she launched herself at me.

"I have something to tell you."

"After sex," she commanded, hopping into my arms and pointing to the door. Cars and human speed was not an option.

We got to the apartment in under a minute, but only made it half way up the stairs before I pushed her purple cotton undies aside and made the plunge. She shuddered, unbuttoning her coat so I could rub and nibble on her breast as I fucked her on the stairs, me holding her furry boots up high to get a better angle.

"Umh, uh!" She thrashed under me, pulling at my hair and clawing at my chest. When we were both finished, I carried her the rest of the way up the stairs, laying her on the bed and fully undressing her. I knew I had to tell her, but thought it best to do it while she was distracted, so while running my tongue up and down her slick folds I told her.

"This is the second fucking time these blood sucking demons have asked you to save their ass, Jared!" Exactly the reaction I expected.

"This is for Jake, baby," I sighed, lying back and embracing the déjà vu as it washed over me.

"It was for Jake last time because he was in love with the danger magnet, and now it's for her mini freak of nature!"

"This is part of the job, you know that, Kim. I don't have a choice," I said pulling her back to me.

"You do have a choice. Don't go!" She was still naked and her round dark nipples were hard from the cold room. We had only done it once and now I was going to be in the wolf house for the rest of the night.

"I have to."

"Jared, this isn't game night with the Cullens! You aren't going to be playing Hungry Hungry Hippos, you're putting your life in danger, again! You can die! And you're mine! You said you were mine and you're endangering yourself again!" She screamed pulling the flat sheet off the bed and wrapping herself like a burrito.

"That's exactly why I'm doing this—why I'm okay doing this because I know if it were you, if an army of them were coming for you, Jake would be there," I sighed pulling her down and onto the bed with me, attacking her neck with kisses. The first moan that passed her lips was my green light to go, ripping the sheet off of her and making up for weeks of busy patrolling.

Her phone rang as we finished our fourth round, and she answered right away. I knew she was expecting word from Matty any minute so I headed for the bathroom, but her shocked gasp stopped me in my tracks.

"Where are you?" I strained to hear but the caller was too low. She nodded, repeating an address and for the second time today, we set off to find Krys.

The apartment building was just outside of reservation territory, it old and dilapidated. I used his scent to lead us to him. This was one of the many low income housing solutions built by the government on the outskirts of the rez. The native children in these complexes went to school on the rez but they were outsiders, the poorest and most desitude. Solace, Phil and Krys all lived in this maze of buildings. Near the entrance there were two groups of men standing together, from the smell of them, it was a drug deal and I pulled Kim closer shooting them a warning glare as we passed.

These were the parts of the rez the handful tourists didn't see, the parts my parents had always kept me from, the parts you didn't drive into once the sun went down. I didn't know Krys well, but I was suddenly happy to be taking him out of this place.

Krys was waiting for us in the stairwell with a small bag and sad smile. Kim pulled him down, intertwining their fingers and leaving me to carry his stuff, all the way home.