Caroline made it a mile past the border when she stopped for Sam on the side of the road. Sam had seen the Cullen boy's car trail off after Caroline had crossed the line to safety. He didn't know why she was being followed and it turned his stomach.

"Was that a Cullen following you?" He asked after the general chatter of 'how was your day'.

Caroline nodded her head, "Yeah. I swear it's like every time I turned around today one of his siblings was behind me. It's creeping me out."

The pair had parked at Sam's house and walked towards the door. Sam told her with a stern tone he had never used on her before, "They're dangerous. It would be in your best interest to stay away from them."

"Dangerous?" Caroline snorted, "Creepy, snobby, and self-righteous maybe, but I wouldn't go as far as saying dangerous."

Sam sighed. It was time. He wanted to wait but like so many other choices this one was taken away too. Not knowing the truth about him or the Cullen's complicated her safety. And Sam would not fucking stand for that.

He led her through the house, picking up a waste basket, and sat her down on his back porch stairs before stepping into his secluded back yard.

"I'm sorry about this." He told her before morphing into the giant wolf.

Caroline was...surprised to say the least. She didn't throw up. Instead she looked at Sam, mouth agape as he trotted around the back yard and slowly up to her. She gently raised her hand to his snout and pet his face. Then she threw up. Sam went back to human and guided her back into the house. He sat Caroline down on the couch and waited. It took her ten minutes to finally say something.

"Well shit."

"Yeah. That was my reaction the first time too." Sam chuckled lightly.

"If you could explain that would be nice."

So Sam did. He told her everything. The Cullen's, the pack, the imprint, the old legends. She only threw up one more time during it.

"So we're 'bound for life'?" She asked, her head in the waste basket.

Sam paused. Even with his stomach in his ass and his heart in his throat he remained n his air of Alpha professionalism. "Not exactly. I have to be whatever you need. Friend, brother, boyfriend. It's usually boyfriend. At least in the legends that's what it is. Nothings permanent until I mark you."

It was Caroline's turn to pause. All she said was, "OK. What does that mean?"

"Ugh well," Sam finally stuttered, a small blush climbing his cheeks, "It's something that would happen as we mated, if we mated. Ugh had sex."

Caroline nodded but kept her eyes on the ceiling as she had now rolled onto her back. For a long time there was no talking until she gave a laugh and said, "Want to watch a movie? We could watch The Wolfman."

Sam laughed and then she laughed again and pretty soon the room was full of laughter and jokes. Later Jared and Paul came over and they all laughed some more. Sam thought it went better than expected. In that moment, with his pack and his imprint he felt very at peace and it was easy to forget the dangerous world outside his walls. Easy until the night wore on and it was time for Caroline to return home.

"You're safe here. Once you pass the treaty line it's harder to protect." Sam told her. Quietly he added, "You should stay."

"Sam, I can't. I wish I could but I can't." And she couldn't. She had her sister and her mom and friends that could easily be in just as much danger as she was. She understood that now, that the Cullen's were a danger. She kissed him goodbye and as she rode off she could see a wolf running through the trees until she passed the treaty line.

Caroline had dreams of claws and teeth that night. She thrashed in bed until finally, at three in the morning, she went down into the kitchen to drink some tea. Her mother came in later and sat with her. Caroline's mother, Andrea, had once been very beautiful but time and sorrow had caused the beauty to fade some. Before her father died Caroline could remember that her mother seemed to have a permanent smile and joy radiated off of her. Andrea had lost the love of her life and it wore her down to the ground. Now it seemed only her daughters and her work brought her joy. Caroline didn't think it seemed like a happy life.

"How was your date?" Andrea asked.

Caroline gave a small smile. "It was interesting."

Andrea returned the smile, "Ah, good interesting or bad?"

"Just interesting. I like him a lot and I think we're going to be spending more time together."

"Don't tie yourself down to young. You seem to have another suitor." Andrea gave her daughter a pointed look. "A mister Edward Cullen came to the door asking for you today. He's very handsome, although I'm sure this Sam boy is too."

Freezing with her cup brought up halfway to her mouth Caroline asked her mother with the utmost seriousness, "What did Edward Cullen want?"

Mistaking her daughters fear with embarrassment Andrea continued, "Oh nothing. Just to see if you were busy. He said something about an English project you two were working on together."

"Oh." Was all she could say. There was no English project; they didn't even have English together. Caroline wished desperately that she could tell her mother what was going on but she knew that not telling her would protect her more. Already she missed their open relationship. She missed blissful ignorance to the world around her. She missed the security of a door with a lock. She felt like she was going to miss a lot of things.