Thanks for being patient with me guys! College is exhausting, and you never really realize it until you're actually there, you know? Here's the next chapter! This is dedicated to my lovely reviewer Eve Of Faith, who faithfully (get it!?) has reviewed almost every chapter Thank you so much! Without further ado . . .

And I've been a fool and I've been blind

I can never leave the past behind

I can see no way, I can see no way

I'm always dragging that horse around

And our love is pastured such a mournful sound

Tonight I'm gonna bury that horse in the ground

So I like to keep my issues strong

But it's always darkest before the dawn

- Shake It Out, Florence + The Machine

Chapter 18

My eyes involuntarily widened. How the fuck does he know? He CAN'T know! My eyes shifted to look at something, anything but him.

Quick, think fast! "Oh, do I smell funny?" I sniff the air. "Whew! Did I fart? My bad." I took his hand. "We need to go. You know I need to buy some jewelry before all the fun starts." I tugged him towards where I could see the bonfire was already being prepared.

He yanked me back so hard that I collided with his chest. That was now shaking. "You know DAMN well what I'm TALKING about! Look, I know you live on a rez where you can't avoid hanging around the natives. But if you see a group of male stripper wannabes with tattoos who look like they're hopped up on steroids, walk AWAY. They're dangerous." He looked like the Energizer bunny now, and my hand felt scorched.

"Please Yana, please just calm down. You can't phase here."

He had a wicked grin on his face. "Ha! I knew you knew! Now tell me how the hell you came in contact with fucking shapeshifters!"

I shook his hand free and slowly backed up. "Okay, okay. I'll tell you if you PROMISE to calm down. Alright?"

He was still shaking for a couple minutes, and I started to panic. Stop. Stop. STOP. You can't phase here! The blind rage slowly left his eyes, and just like that, the old Yana was back. "Look, I'm -"

I held up my heat-free hand. "Don't say it. I've heard enough of the word 'sorry' to last me a whole lifetime. And, plus, I'm used to the whole 'explode into an animal' thing."

Some of the anger came back into his eyes. "So back to my original question: Why do you smell like shifters?"

I started twisting a strand of hair that fell in front of my face. "Um . . . well? It's really complicated . . ." I offered up a smile. "Why don't you go first?"

He crossed his arms in front of his chest, sporting the playful grin I loved so much. "Nu-uh. I asked you first."

I sighed, shooting him a murderous look. "Fine." I huffed. "Thisguythatiknowwellthisgroupofguysthatiknowturni ntowolvesandoneoftheminprintedonmewhichbasicallyme ansthatwe'llbetogetherfortherestofourlives."

He leaned in. "Sorry, couldn't hear you. Speak up."

I rolled my eyes. "My. Boyfriend. Is. A. Werewolf. Happy?"

His eyes turned furious, "Ce, you can't hang out with them! They -"

I interrupt, "Are angry, strong, and eat everything in sight? Yes, I know. But they're . . . like my second family, ya know? They would never hurt me." My mind briefly drifts to Sam and Emily.

He grumbled, "Cece, they may never intend to hurt you! I don't want you hanging out with them anymore. Surely there are some nice normal, Native Americans on this rez of yours?"

I narrow my eyes sarcastically, "You mean like you?"

He rolled his eyes.

I rolled mine right back.

"I can't just stop seeing them. My boyfriend is one of them! And you're a shifter too! Am I supposed to just stop seeing you too?"

He grabbed my arms, "But I would never –"

I stopped him, "Hurt me? Shifters have tempers remember? You may never intend to hurt me. Plus, Jacob imprinted on me. I can't leave him." The finality of those words sank in. But, for some reason, it didn't scare me as much as I thought it would.

He sighed, and slowly sunk to the ground. "I guess I understand. I just can't wrap my head around the fact that there're more of us out there."

I joined him. "So you're pretty okay with the fact that you morph into a giant animal; it's the numbers that blow your mind?"

He let out a harsh laugh. "Yeah; I guess that nothing should surprise me anymore, right? So . . . I have so many more questions! What are these other shifters like? Do they have the crazy body temperatures? Do they phase when they get angry? And what the hell is imprinting? Cecily!"

I sigh, "Yes, yes, and imprinting is this crazy shit that happens when a shifter looks into the eyes of his or her soulmate for the first time. You're tied to her forever, nothing else matters anymore, yada yada yada. Did I get everything?"

He rubbed the back of his neck. "Yeah I guess."

A question popped into my head. "Well on that note," I clap my hands together. "What do you turn in to?" I asked in child-like excitement.

His eyes lit up. "Wanna see?" I nodded. He ducked back behind some trees, and a shirt and pair of pants flew over my head. He walked out soon after.

Standing in front of me was a gorgeous black bear. On all fours, his head was level with mine. I reached out my hand and stroked the soft fur on the top of his head. I couldn't help but laugh a little. He didn't look nearly as ferocious as the wolves. "Yana, you look so cuddly. Like a giant teddy bear!"

He growled at that and suddenly stood up on his back, now at a staggering 11 feet. He playfully slapped at my cheek and let out a quiet roar. "Okay, okay! I guess you're not so cuddly."

He huffed, satisfied, and got back down on all four paws. He walked back behind the tree and in a couple of minutes, emerged fully clothed. "So, what do you think?"

I thought hard for a couple seconds, "Well, I'm going to have to quit calling you Yana . ."

He murmured, "Sweet Jesus, thank you."

I continued, "And start calling you Teddy! Your family will love me. And the name suits you perfectly I think."

He groaned. "Cecily Humphrey, why do you have to make my life so complicated?"

I gave his head a noogy. "Because I love you so damn much. Now PLEASE can we go back to the partay? I want to watch the dancing!"

Yana rolled his eyes, "Yeah, yeah I guess." He held his right elbow out and I hooked my left arm through his. We slowly started to make our way back. "You know, you should probably get that farting thing taken care of."

I push his shoulder away. "Shut up, Teddy."

"Don't call me that!"

*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*

We rejoined the bonfire. I pushed past a couple people to get to a good spot, yelling, "I'm WITH THE CHIEF!" to make them move. I think they got the message. But then Yana gave me the glare of death. So I stopped shouting.

As I listened to the legends I'd grown up hearing, I reveled in the fact that I was one of the few that knew their real meaning. After the storytelling and dancing has finished, I dragged Yana back into the woods and demanded that he give me a piggyback ride as his alter-ego Cuddles the Bear. Five minutes and much eye-rolling and swearing later, I was flying through the woods on the back of a six-foot-tall bear.

You know the little moments in life when you close your eyes and know that, in that moment, you couldn't be more happy?

Well this was one of those moments. As I was shutting my eyes, I saw a blur out of my peripheral vision. Before I could scream, I was knocked off Yana.

Wonder who that is? If you have a guess, or any comments or criticisms, or just wanna talk, click that little review button! Thanks a million! By the way, Yana's full name (Yanaha) means 'bear' in Cherokee!