Hi guys! Been a while. I've had a really bad case of laziness.. and writers block. And it sucks, because I have so much planed for this story. I even have the sequel's plot in my head! So, I hope I still got some readers left.

Thanks to everyone who read, reviewed and/or favorited the last chapter!

Well, without further ado, here it is! Enjoy!

Chapter 11

The rest of winter came and went. The snow was retreating slowly from the Washington landscape though the weather remained gloomy and maintained a steady flow of rain, as was the customary climate of said state.

Talae had settled into life quite nicely.

At school she held on to her little group of friends and went unnoticed in the crowd, once everybody got used to her presence. She wasn't anywhere near being a straight A student, but she kept her grades at an acceptable level and her parents were satisfied, as well as her teachers. Most days were just boring for her, taking up time before she could hang out with the pack or Sunday.

She and Sunday grew to best friend-status. They always had a good time when hanging out or doing schoolwork. Sunday always had time for listening, she always had a plan for them and her easy-going attitude always helped Talae when she was in over her head. But the she-wolf longed to tell her friend about everything, everything she couldn't, anyways. It wasn't that she was having trouble keeping her true nature from the blonde girl; it was just that she wanted to be herself always, to not hide from those she cared about. So many of the concerns she had she couldn't share since they were rooted in the supernatural world. And since Sunday wasn't family or an imprint she wasn't allowed to know, no matter how much Talae wanted to tell her.

On the other hand she had Leah. She probably would've lost her mind if she never had the chance to vent to Leah. Leah was biased on many points, but in return she was a part of 'the family' and everything she couldn't tell Sunday she could tell Leah. Leah became her rock, her crutch, her unrelenting, sarcastic support. And it went both ways. They became so close that they occasionally would finish each other's sentences or share one look and know what the other was thinking, annoying the boys to no end.

Falling into her natural place in the pack, she'd adapted quite nicely to being a pack-wolf, considering she'd been a lone wolf and her own master for so long. But it was what she was made for, and unlike some of her brothers, she had accepted that fact from the beginning. She reveled in being what she was and wouldn't change it for anything. She knew freedom like no human ever would.

The pack gained a few members over the months, a few young pups that wanted to join what they called 'Black's Pack'. A gangly girl with short, light-brown hair, 14 years old, named Charlotte, she phased shortly after their "Shape-shifter Bootcamp" in January, in a period where they had more than normal nomadic-vampire activity in the area. It was nice for Leah and Talae to have another girl in the club and they took her under their wings. She was shy and quiet but eager to learn and had a very gentle nature. In addition to her, two teenage boys joined as well, Aiden and Hunter. Both were 15 years of age but two completely different individuals. Aiden was a typical boy, loud and cocky, but a sweetheart when he wanted to be. Hunter was quiet, sweet to a fault and a hopeless romantic. All three quickly fell into the natural order of things.

The Cullens also became regulars in her life. Once she got used to mainly breathing through her mouth when she was near them, she began to see who they were underneath. She considered Esme a second mother just by the way she always had food ready for them and Carlisle like the down-to-earth uncle-type. She got along with Jasper and Emmett the best. Emmett's sense of humor was a mirror-image of hers. She couldn't count all the moments they had spent dying from laughter over something ridiculous while everyone stared at them as if they had three heads. He was a big teddy-bear in reality, despite his intimidating exterior. Jasper was friendly, talkative and ironic once he got used to her scent. They would sometimes sit for hours telling 'war-stories', Jasper's slightly more 'war-ish' than Talae's, but comparing scars they would and sharing tactics became their thing.

Alice was a little too... girly for Talae's taste, but she was nice to be around and upbeat. Rosalie warmed up, if only by a few degrees. The occasional 'mutt' or 'fleabag' was thrown around when she was in a foul mood, but other than that they got along well - with not speaking to each other. Bella and Edward weren't around as much, seeing as they had their own little family, which suited Talae perfectly. Firstly, because Edward's gift made her extremely uncomfortable as well as his stoic behavior. And secondly, although Renesmee was a peach, her intellect made her a bit creepy when she was supposed to look like an 8-year old. And thirdly, and most importantly, she felt slightly uneasy, even a little awkward, in Bella's presence after the conversation Talae and Jacob had had about his past feelings for the brunette vampire...

They were sitting at the bank of the river that split La Push and Cullen territory, Talae dipping her bare feet in the water, sloshing them back and forth while Jacob lied with arms behind his head next to her, looking up at the forest canopy as the last snow of the year began to fall in gentle waves.

It was Friday, two weeks after 'Bootcamp'. It was early evening and the last of the light was steadily fleeing from the sky, to be replaced by the midnight dark, grey clouds spotting the view. They had just finished patrol and were enjoying a quiet moment and each other's company.

Talae had been thinking, not constantly, about the thing Leah had said about Jacob finally getting the break he deserved. She couldn't pinpoint what she possibly could have meant by that. She and Jacob talked, a lot, and never had he mentioned anything that seemed to match up with what Leah had said. So, if he wasn't going to bring it up, she would.

"Jake?" she started, digging her fingers into the pebbles littering the shoreline.

"Mmh?" he hummed, unmoving.

"Okay, don't take this the wrong way, but, uhm... Did you have some sort of hard time before I moved here?" the words flew from her mouth, a slight blush in her cheeks as she realized that had definitely sounded better in her head.

He sat up slightly, leaning back on his elbows, "Huh?"

She bit her lip, turning to look at his face, "It… it's just something Leah said a while back that, kinda got me thinking…" she trailed off, looking at his defined collarbone instead of his eyes.

Snaking an arm around her waist he tugged her closer and kissed the top of her head, "What did she say?"

She rested her head against his shoulder with a sigh, "She said that recent years hadn't been kind to you, but things were looking up..."

Jacob frowned at the choice of words, though he couldn't argue with the truth they held, "Well, I can really only think of one thing that would apply to. Though it might be kind of a big thing."

Lifting her head, she looked at him with a raised eyebrow, waiting for him to continue.

"Uhm, just so we're clear, the only reason I haven't brought this up before is because, well, it's a long time ago and done with and was almost completely erased from my mind", she nodded and he continued, "When I was around 16, I had this huge crush on a girl. The feeling wasn't mutual, in fact, she loved someone else and I was kinda heartbroken. They were getting married and it just tore me apart."

A sad look appeared on Talae's face, the corners of her mouth tugging downwards as she thought of Jacob being hurt, something that tore at her heartstrings just imagining the possibility.

He gave her a reassuring smile and caressed her cheek with his thumb, "Making matters worse, she admitted to loving me back, but it just wasn't enough. She loved the other guy more. The killing-blow though, was when she decided to die for him, to become one of his kind".

Frowning in confusion, she took a deep breath to say something, but he gently pressed his index finger to her lips, silencing her, "Just, let me get this out". She nodded and he smiled at her before continuing.

"She decided to become a vampire. After their wedding, he would turn her himself. But this is all in the past, more drama happened that I'm not proud of, but it's done and over with. I moved on with my life, eventually, and then I met you", he grinned, making her smile," and everything just fell into place. End of story."

She rolled her eyes with a smirk, "Oh please. Who was it?"

Now he looked uncomfortable. He didn't really want to go down that road; he couldn't calculate how she'd react. No, he thought, no secrets.

"Okay, promise me you won't... kill me," he grimaced.

"Okay..."

"It… it was Bella," he spoke, flinching away from the fist he believed was coming. When nothing happened, he dared open his eyes and took a peek at her.

"You… what?" she breathed, "Bella? Isabella Cullen? How, wha-, oh dear," she rubbed her eyes with the heel of her hands, "I did not see this coming."

"Look, I'm sorry I didn't tell you sooner but I didn't think it mattered. It's all in the past, it's over, no big deal," he grabbed her shoulders, persuading her to look him in the eye, "okay?"

"I just... I kinda have this need to... hit her with something hard... repeatedly," she sighed, shaking slightly.

"That's what she said," he grinned, but quickly stopped and ducked his head in shame when she shot him a glare.

"Look, I'm not mad, I understand your reasoning, it's just the thought of someone hurting you... I-I can't... stand it," she murmured, tearing her eyes from his.

He smiled, tipping her chin up so he could kiss her. She responded, gently moving her lips against his, forgetting the pain.

"Talae, it's in the past. I know it doesn't make it right but what's done is done. And please promise me you won't kill Bella. I think it would be bad for, well, all of us if the Cullens became our enemies," he said as he pulled away, stroking her jaw with his thumb.

"I... Fine," she sighed with a smile, closing her eyes and enjoying the warmth of his hand.

"There's a good girl," he snickered.

Needless to say she'd beat him up for that comment but as far as the Bella-thing went, she learned to live with it. Even if she felt uncomfortable in Bella's presence. But she trusted Jacob when he said it was in the far past and that issue had been dealt with. He wouldn't lie to his imprint, right?

Other than the other little obstacles, like math and evil vampires, life was great.

March came around quickly and the snow vanished from the general landscape. Something Talae was a bit concerned about; no more blending in with the landscape. As a consequence, she was given patrols far away from civilization and was 'forbidden' from phasing too close to the cities. It bothered her a bit when these things were decided because of something she couldn't control; the color of her fur. But she adapted, as any animal would.

"Take the next right!" Sunday shouted in her ear, making her wince a bit. She nodded and Sunday's arms tightened around her mid-section as she turned the bike down the first road on the right, which then quickly turned into a dirt path. Good thing it was an off-road bike, with the Washington rain and mud making it difficult to steer otherwise. Trees shadowed their ride on both sides and not too far down the muddy-path a house came into view. Well, more like a cabin. Wooden exterior with vines growing up the sides, circled by the surrounding forest, completely isolated. And flowers, randomly scattered around the perimeter, not fully blossoming yet but well on their way.

She slowed the bike to a stop a few yards from the porch and noticed the wooden hanging bench there, with floral-patterned cushions, and she couldn't help but smile. This was so Sunday.

Turning off the bike and nudging down the kickstand, she felt Sunday remove her arms from around her waist and hop off. Dismounting the bike herself, she shook out her hair and then tried to smooth it down. Since she'd insisted Sunday wear her helmet for safety reasons, the wind had been free to tangle her hair as it saw fit. And so it had.

She gave up on the hair, pulling it into a loose ponytail instead, and hung the helmet on the handle as Sunday handed it to her.

"Nice place Sunny", she said, adjusting the shoulder strap of her bag as she tailed after her golden-haired friend up the porch steps.

"Thank you, I do love it something fiercely myself", Sunday said with a grin, fishing her keys out of her backpack and unlocking the door.

As the door swung open with a creak, Talae wondered for a second why she'd never been to Sunday's house before. With a mental shrug she stepped in behind the blonde girl, taking off her shoes as Sunday dumped her backpack on the floor and went into what Talae thought must've been the kitchen.

"You want ice tea?" she yelled, though Talae could hear her just fine.

"Sure!" Talae yelled back, dumping her bag next to Sunday's.

Stretching with a yawn, she took a quick look around. The house was small-ish and filled with what some people might call crap. Antique furniture everywhere, paintings of different sceneries on the walls taking up most of the wall-space, glass jars filled with... stuff, and plants. Plants to the fucking brim: big plants, small plants, green plants, plants with buds, blooming plants, cacti and orchids. She took a deep breath and got a total sensory overload. When she was done coughing, making a mental note never to breath that deeply anywhere near Sunday's house again, she noticed that the smell itself wasn't bad, and that she actually kind of liked it. There was just a lot of it.

She made her way to the room Sunday was in and stood in the doorway as she watched her fiddle around a small, cozy kitchen. Several herbs and spice-plants stood in small pots in one windowsill, jars of dried spices and old cook-books in the other. The cabinets and cupboards were a fresh mint-green with white leaves painted along the bottom rims. Even her stove looked old.

Sunday noticed her eyeing the cupboards. "I painted them myself", she beamed with a smile, presenting Talae with a tall glass of peach ice tea.

"Quite the artist, huh?" Talae grinned before taking a nice, cool sip of her beverage.

"I try", Sunday grinned back, motioning for Talae to follow her, two bags of chips and her own glass in her arms.

They entered the humble living room across from the kitchen and Sunday dropped the chips to an old, oak coffee-table with intricate carvings and sat herself in the beat-up, old leather sofa behind it. The only relatively new thing in the room, Talae noticed, was the flat screen TV and even that was a few years old. An ancient looking armoire desk stood in a corner, filled with stacks of paper and even older looking books.

"So, where's your mom?" she asked casually when she sat down next to Sunday, who'd reached for the bag labeled 'Cheetos'. Talae didn't know much about her home-life. The few times she'd brought it up Sunday would fiddle with her hair or clothes, answer in incoherent sentences and change the subject, so she'd learned not to push it. It was okay though, she didn't have to know everything about Sunday to like her. She'd learned enough to know Sunday lived with her mom and that said mom was working out of town a lot, leaving her daughter to fend for herself mostly. Sunday never complained though, sometimes it was like she forgot that she even had a mother.

"Uhm, away..." she nearly ripped the bag in her hand in half with a nervous twitch, "out on business." She smiled nervously before handing the now open bag of chips to Talae.

Talae nodded and didn't think more of it, happily munching away on the cheesy snack as Sunday grabbed the remote off the table and turned the TV on.

Even though it was her first visit to Sunday's house, this had become something of a routine of theirs. They'd hang out, eat snacks and watch TV, make an effort on doing some homework, then eat more snacks and watch a movie, or, more TV. They'd talk during it all of course, talking about boys, school, drama and the likes. Teenage-stuff.

Their friendship was such a normal and easy-going one, but Talae couldn't help but feel blessed nonetheless.

When they had watched their usual Thursday-afternoon shows, they started on the homework-part of the day. Though it wasn't surprising when half way through, Talae 'accidentally' hit the on-button on the TV-remote, and why they couldn't waste precious electricity now could they? Homework abandoned, Sunday fetched them another glass of ice tea and a packet of chocolate chip cookies and another few hours of TV-watching commenced.

When Talae finally made her way home, it was around half past nine, and dark out. The stars were, as usual, hiding behind a thick layer of clouds, and raining too. Good thing she'd brought her raincoat with her. Not hearing anything more than the gentle rumbling of the bike's engine, she drove more relaxed than she usually did. She'd been riding said bike for the last few months. The beginning was a bit rickety but, with a few lessons from Jacob and snow-free roads to travel on, her biking skills were nearing perfection. So much so that she'd agreed to go with the pack to a bike trail near the city of Joyce the very next weekend.

Over the engine she heard a warning howl in the distance, recognizing it as Embry. Frowning, she slowed down the bike a bit.

"Aaarh!", she yelped as a dark shadow skidded past her vision. Unintentionally yanking on the handle from shock, the bike wobbled and for a moment she thought she was going to experience her first crash.

In the last second, she managed to pull the bike upright and steady it. Taking a shaky, but relieved breath she turned her head in the directions of the shadow, relaxing when she saw the outline of a deer by the tree line, hearing it snorting shortly after.

Another howl joined Embry's, this one being his current patrol-mate, Hunter. Embry answered Hunter's call, and she noticed he was noticeably closer to her position. Just as she was about to pull the brake and go join them, she lost all breath in her body as something solid, cold and jagged collided with her, throwing her off the bike and sliding painfully across the road and into a tree. The bike ended up in a ditch as the 100 lbs rock that had hit her clunked on the asphalt a few times, before coming to a standstill.

Blacking out for a few seconds, her eyes flew open as the pain set in. She screamed until she had no more air in her lungs. It hurt too much to breathe, so her body wouldn't allow her more than a few shallow breaths at a time. She whimpered, tears coming to her eyes as she tried to sit up, finally managing to get herself upright and leaning against the rest of the tree she'd collided with, seeing as she'd cracked it in half when she'd hit it.

She heard several more wolves phasing and calling out and yelled out in pain, hoping they'd hear her scream.

The whole right side of her body hurt and felt like it was shattered. She couldn't tell if the pain was more intense than when Emmett had tackled her that one time.

"I got one Fedir, I got one!" a shrill voice rang through the darkness.

Panic clawed its way into her mind as the sickening smell of leech reached her through the rain. She gave a rather inhuman whine when she saw a small figure appear in the light of the nearest lamppost. Then Jacob's fierce howl rang a few miles away, and she couldn't help but wonder for a second, if he was going to make it before they killed her.

"Something is different with this one," it spoke out as another shadowy shape, twice its size, appeared beside it. It sniffed the air, "do you smell it Fedir?"

The unmistakable sound of paws thumping as they touched the ground at a furious pace, came closer and closer.

A few more seconds, please, she thought and whimpered again as the pain throbbed over her panic. She could barely see the leeches on the road, her vision was mostly made up of black dots and white prickles.

The smallest vampire took steps towards her, but as she felt one of the wolves close in, the big one stepped in front of it. "Get back Zoya", sounded a deep, heavily-accented voice.

She dared take her eyes off of them and look in the direction of the incoming wolf. Embry's dark grey wolf came out of the nearby foliage, his eyes shifting quickly and repeatedly between the vampires and her. She let out a mix between a dry cry and a relieved laugh when she saw him, fresh tears streaming down her face as she knew the others weren't far behind.

When Embry had established that she was still breathing his eyes focused on the vampires as he stalked towards her. Once he was close enough he whined and nuzzled her left shoulder.

"Ow, Embry, not so hard please", she whimpered and he immediately eased up on the pressure. "I-," she cried out as a particularly nasty twinge of pain throbbed in her hip, "I might need the 'good doctor', I think I might- ah! - have a more than a few broken bones".

"There they are, we found them Fedir," the smallest vampire said, "That was rather fast, don't you think?" It sounded terribly pleased, and it was then that Talae finally had a clear enough head to realize the voice was female and childlike.

Her ears picked up more thumping of several sets of paws closing in and for the first time in the last five minutes she felt like she might actually survive this. Leah came rushing out of the forest, growling and snarling something fierce in the direction of the vampires. She came to an abrupt stop half way between them and Embry and Talae. The hairs on her back stood up and if Talae hadn't known Leah she would have been terrified of her by the feral growls coming from her.

"I said back Zoya," warned the big vampire, the voice male and deep, and pushed the girl behind him before he snarled back at Leah.

More beating of paws and in a flash Hunter's black wolf stood besides Leah's, head down in a growl, back legs tensed in anticipation. The light-grey spots above his eyes, that matched the tip of his tail, made him look angry and intimidating in wolf form. Gods know, he wasn't in human form.

A coughing fit shook its way through Talae, and another pained cry flew from her lips once it was over. Something tickled her chin, so with a small effort she brought her hand up to get rid of it.

"Uh oh", she whispered when her hand was smudged with that oh so familiar metallic, crimson liquid. No wonder it hurt so much to breath. She squeezed her eyes shut and tried to focus on taking shallow breaths.

Within 30 seconds she was surrounded by wolves. She felt Embry leave her side, but he was soon replaced by someone else.

"Jacob," she breathed, recognizing his scent instantly. He whimpered and nuzzled her neck carefully. "Did you- ngh- contact the Cullens?" she asked, sighing in slight relief when he nodded.

Several of the wolves growled louder or barked, taking Jacob's eyes off of her. She followed his line of sight with barely open eyes. The one called Fedir, the big one, was pushing the girl backwards as Hunter, Leah, Embry and Seth were slowly advancing on them backed up by the rest of the pack. It seemed Jacob had given the kill-order.

"Nazad Zoya, my povernemosya," Fedir snarled, herding the girl further behind him when she hissed at the pack. She locked her bloody red eyes on Talae and smiled. An eerie, hair-raising, chilling, terrifying smile that made all the alarms go off in Talae's head. Talae bared her teeth at the vampire in a weak growl and narrowed her eyes in a glare.

The vampire's smile widened, before she was pushed into the opposite tree line by Fedir. The moment they stepped into the shadow the pack sprung into action and were off in a blink.

Jacob stayed at her side, lying down beside her.

"Jake, you should g-go with them", she groaned, going into another coughing fit, spitting up more blood. If she had a punctured lung, which seemed likely with the blood-spitting, then it was already trying to heal. So while she wasn't going to bleed out, she still had a broken-off rib lodged in her lung. And though she was keen on getting it out soonest possible, she was more interested in getting the bastard blood-sucker who'd put her in the situation to start with.

He gave her a seriously incredulous look and snorted. No way was he leaving her alone.

"Okay, f-fine. Is C-Carlisle coming?" her voice was barely above a whisper, she felt lightheaded and everything was fading a little too quickly.

He nodded, but that was about the only thing she could make out before her vision went dark, even with her eyes wide open. Damn, how many times will this happen? she thought. The warmth Jacob emanated disappeared, along with the soft brush of his fur, but soon after she felt his hands on her cheek.

"Talae? Come on, stay with me", she faintly heard his voice plead.

She tried answering him, but she felt another blood-trail escape her mouth. Well, rib in lung was definitely not healthy. If she wasn't so far gone, she'd blush at his nakedness, but alas. As it was, she couldn't really see anything, anyway.

Soon all sound faded too, along with conscious thought.

So... As it is, I already have the next chapter ready! So, depending on how many reviews you give, it'll be out fast, or slow… See, I can fish xD

Until next time!