A few hours later, Paul had asked Embry to stay and got him a shirt to wear while company was over. It had only taken a few moments of Embry trying to leave before Phyre phased into wolf again. So, as long as Embry could help her stay calm enough not to turn wolf in front of the social worker, he was staying. Though Paul felt the need to remind them that there was no PDA allowed in front of the guests.

The pack had started to arrive first and set up in the backyard to generally be available and show community support.

Phyre appreciated a chance to finally meet Brady and Collin. It had been hard for her to get used to random voices in her head. Putting real faces to the voices and names helped a lot. She also found out that they were seniors at the school there on the reservation. So, once things were settled and Paul was able to get Phyre transferred, she would see them there. They quickly became friends and asked her to sit with them at lunch. It was nice to have something to look forward to. Even Embry seemed to relax at that, joking that they had better keep the other boys away from her.

Seth and Leah arrived. It was awkward, but Phyre made her apologies. Seth grinned and told her that it was the best mistake of his life. She had wanted to hug the guy for his ability to not make her feel so bad for everything. But, Embry and Paul both growled when she got closer to him. Seth rolled his eyes and said that he was flattered that they even saw him as a threat at that point. Leah smacked him upside the head for the comment. Phyre did get to hug Leah though.

Others arrived in quick succession. Quil, Jared with his wife, Jake with his girlfriend...

Then, Sam arrived with his wife Emily. Emily quickly swept Phyre up into a tight hug and welcomed her to the family. Then, she quickly stepped away to leave Sam to eat some humble pie.

"Phyre." He took a deep breath. "I didn't mean to hurt you. I swear, I didn't. I was just in shock. I am sorry."

She didn't know how to react. Instinctively, she knew he was her alpha. Her wolf was submissive to him. But, the pain was still there. The hurt at watching him turn away. Then, later, he still had not talked to her. Hell, that apology was the first time he had spoken to her. She had been wolf for over 12 hours and it was the first time her alpha spoke to her. Her emotions started to run ragged again, and Embry was there. His warm arms wrapped around her and he growled at Sam.

Sam straightened at Embry's response.

"Sam." Paul called over cautiously. "There a problem?"

Sam raised a brow at Phyre and Embry. "I don't know. Is there?"

Embry's eyes narrowed. "Now you want to play alpha." He scoffed. "Where was that alpha when she first phased? Or last night in the garage when I calmed her yet you didn't talk to her at all? You didn't just turn your back on her during a conversation Sam. You haven't accepted her as pack yet!"

Phyre's wolf howled in pain at the words. He was right. Individuals had accepted her, but her own alpha had not. She did not belong yet. And, she knew that forcing it publicly would not change his heart. She tried to pull away, but Embry would not let her. She wanted to run, to hide from the eyes all watching.

Sam spoke through gritted teeth. "Phyre, why don't we talk alone. In the woods." Yet,when Embry started to protest, Sam continued. "Embry, she is not just an imprint. She is a wolf. This is between me and her, without you right now."

She cautiously followed Sam further away from the collection of wolves and their imprints.

Once they were out a ways, Sam stopped. "Take off your clothes and phase." He ordered.

Phyre looked back toward the house, very nervous without Paul or Embry there.

However, Sam held no patience. "I will order you to phase if you don't. Your wolf will have no choice but to comply. But, I am giving you a chance to save the clothing to put back on later."

"Aren't you gonna turn around?" She said meekly. Her emotions starting to fly away from her limited control.

"No. I am going to make sure you comply."

Phyre didn't know what else to do. Her wolf wanted to follow orders. But, he sounded like her father. She didn't want to be alone with the man at all.

"Now."

Her wolf took over and she quickly pulled off the cotton dress and shifted into her wolf form. Sam followed after he dropped his pants and shirt to the ground. He was a massively large, pure, black wolf.

"There, now we can talk more privately." Sam said calmly.

Phyre just watched him nervously.

Sam took a deep breath. "Run with me." He turned and took off at a moderate pace. Phyre hesitated. However, ultimately she followed just before she would have lost sight of him.

"How are you holding up?" He asked.

"I don't know yet." She answered honestly.

Sam stopped and turned to face her. Phyre's anxiety increased quickly. Sam closed his eyes and shook his head.

"Phyre. I know what Embry said hurt. But, I am not the one delaying your acceptance into the pack. You are."

She tilted her head at him. "How?"

"I screwed up. I know that. And, I know about your father. He was an asshole, just like his brother. But, in wolf nature, there is a hierarchy. It is not just me that has to claim you, but you must submit to me. You must trust me and follow orders. There cannot be a weak link in the chain of command. Without your submission, I can't claim you. For now, as you are new, you still join into the pack mind and relationships. But, you must choose. If you submit, I can claim you. If you don't, you will loose the connections."

Phyre wanted to cry again. "Why? Why does everything have to change all at one time?"

Sam shook his head. "I know it is not fair. You are the only one in the pack that did not grow up on the rez. The others naturally submitted up front. And, I felt it in you when you walked up. You were ready to when you first approached me. But, I screwed up. That was my mistake. But, it opened wounds that I can't heal and your heart is connecting me to those. So, now it won't let you submit quietly. I created that tear, but only you can put it back together enough to make this choice."

"But, what does it all mean? My submission."

"I am not Thomas." Sam stared her down. "I am not going to make you cook or clean. Though, I am sure Anna would appreciate the help around the house since you will be living there. That is just polite responsibility. But, that is not my role as alpha. My role is to command a fighting unit. To set patrols, to mediate or eliminate conflicts, to lead a hunt for our enemies. We have to trust one another with our lives. Know that we will fight together not against one another. And, not waste precious time questioning orders when given."

"You wouldn't even talk to me in the garage." She accused.

Sam tilted his head. "Because you had Embry. You wouldn't have listened to me or forgiven me while everything was so new and raw. And, Embry would not have been willing to let you go to make your own decision at that time."

"So, what, I am supposed to become some mindless soldier. Nothing more?"

He scoffed. "Have you see the pack and everything that has happened since you phased? They are hardly mindless. And, they do stand up to me when they feel what I did was wrong. But, I also trust them to go left when I need them to go left to catch a fucking leech in the trees. We are a family. A real family. Not by blood per say. But, by bond. We fight, we argue, but we eventually forgive, and always fight to the death to protect each other and our people."

Family. She had never had a family that was like that. Well, her brother, Jax. But, no more than one person. Would they really accept her like that?

"Yes." Phyre had forgotten the fucking pack mind thing again. Oops. Sam shook his head.

"Phyre, you have to decide."

"How?"

Sam stood tall. His tail high. His ears perked up. He bared his teeth. "Let go of your pain and fears long enough to give in to your wolf. Let instinct guide you." Phyre felt the intimidation, the pressure.

Then, when Sam snarled and snapped, she found herself on the ground, rolled over to her side. Exposing her vulnerable belly to his possible attack. He stood there for a few minutes, letting the her wolf accept it's place. Once his role as alpha was established, he turned and walked back toward Paul's house. Phyre was quick to follow.

As they quickly re-dressed in the trees, Sam lifted Phyre's chin. "I really am happy you came to La Push. You are family. In more ways than one. Please don't let my mistake keep you from opening up to me. I am here for you kid." He gave her a tight hug and led her back to the comfort of her imprint and brother.

Phyre was nervous as she waited. What if they tried to take her way? What if she lost control and phased? What if... Her thoughts were cut off with the knock at the door.

"Sheriff Call." Paul greeted.

"Paul. This is Ms. Pullman. She is with the Tribes office for Human Services. Here to meet Phyre." Sheriff Call introduced.

Paul extended a hand. "Nice to see you again Ms. Pullman. Come on in. Phyre is in the living room with Embry and the elders." The elders had arrived shortly before Social Services had.

The Sheriff rolled his eyes.

"Is something wrong?" Ms. Pullman asked.

"No ma'am." The Sheriff answered. "Embry is my son remember. Finding out he is here just explains why his mother was calling me this morning."

Embry scoffed from the kitchen where he started to take out stuff to make everyone sandwiches. "I had patrol with the neighborhood watch this morning. Came to Paul's to get food." He said with a wide grin as he grabbed another slice of bacon. "Now everyone is here. I am just that popular."

Phyre smirked at Embry's cheekiness toward his step-father. She got the impression that the Sheriff still didn't approve of her and Embry together. But, he did not bring that up in front of Ms. Pullman.

"Ms. Pullman, I am sure you already know Billy Black, Sue Clearwater, and Quil Ateara. They, came to show support through this. Also, the neighborhood watch group is out back." Paul introduced.

"Thank you all for agreeing to let me come here. As you all know, the state has no official authority to conduct home studies without the Tribe taking jurisdiction and that cannot happen until Monday at the earliest since it is a court matter."

They all shook hands and nodded cooperation. Billy spoke up. "I think we can all agree that the Tribe will request jurisdiction. We have four of the six Council members here and I already talked to the other two."

Paul then closed it up for everyone. "Look. I realize that Phyre left Spokane under abrupt and questionable circumstances. And, it is your job to make sure that she is okay and taken care of. So, as long as you understand that I am doing this voluntarily, I want to help put the states mind at ease so we can move matters along and this can all be put behind us."

"Thank you Mr. Lahote." Ms. Pullman sat down in a chair that was offered to her. "Hi Phyrianna. Why don't you call me Grace?"

Phyre rolled her eyes. Paul squeezed her shoulder carefully. She wasn't alone. "Fine."

"How about we just start with you telling me what happened the night you disappeared?" Ms. Pullman prompted. Phyre really didn't want to talk about it all. It was hard enough to face the memories, but to put it all into words... She took a long slow breath and let it out. She started with describing how she had been sick with the flu. Obviously, she was not going to say it was a transition to becoming a wolf. But, before long, she had explained how she made her way to La Push and why. Sheriff Call appeared to relax when she had said that she had never stolen anything before, she just couldn't find any money in the house before she left. She had just wanted to find her mother.

Embry had made sandwiches for everyone and then sat down next to Phyre as Paul continued to caress her shoulder supportively. Sue Clearwater sat on the other side from Embry, she held Phyre's hand as she talked.

"And, have you seen a doctor for your flu?" Ms. Pullman asked. Sue answered about her visit to the clinic the day before. She said that once Phyre got a solid meal, sleep, some antibiotics and Tylenol; her health improved quickly, though she still ran a bit of a fever. It should all clear up in a couple of days.

Ms. Pullman smiled. "It looks like you found a brother instead of your mother. How do you feel about that Phyre?"

Phyre looked up at Paul who still stood behind her and smiled. "It is weird. But, I think that I kind of like it. Paul has welcomed me into his home and family. So, has my cousin Sam."

"What about you Paul? Are you prepared to take on a teenage girl in your home? As I recall, Anna gave a child up for adoption."

Paul smiled. "Circumstances were very different before, I am sure you remember the details of her case well enough to understand. For this, now, here... for family, I would do just about anything. And, yes, my wife and I are prepared. I own the house out right. We have a spare bedroom that Phyre can set up as her own. Anna and I have stable jobs to be able to provide financial support. We have medical care at the clinic. On Monday, I can call her old school and get paperwork started for her to transfer to the school here on the rez. And, since you are Quileute, you know that we have an extensive community of friends and family that can help with anything else needed. I am a part of the neighborhood watch group. Phyre's cousin, Sam, runs it. They are all in the back yard goofing off and setting up for a barbecue tonight to welcome Phyre."

Ms. Pullman grimaced slightly at the mention of the neighborhood watch. Most of the reservation did not have a good opinion of the group because they did not understand it. But, since the Council members were there, they obviously supported Phyre staying with her family. The woman paused and tilted her head as if she was shifting gears mentally. "I know this is a difficult subject, but I must ask. What about mental health services? Phyrianna has been through a lot. I would strongly recommend counseling."

Phyre scoffed.

Paul chuckled at her reaction. "Don't worry Ms. Pullman. Our mother had type of man. Phyre and I may have had different fathers, but they were very similar in parenting styles. We have similar difficulties with anger and such because of it. I understand her." Mr. Pullman started to speak about how it was not what she meant, but Paul lifted a hand to stop her and let him continue. "Listen. What I am saying is that I already attend semi-weekly counseling sessions over the phone with a therapist out of Seattle. She is also my wife's therapist. It took a while to convince me, but I can see some benefit in the process. Dr. Brighton is very comfortable to talk to and very experienced at digging into trauma in a way that helps rather than causes more problems. I understand that Phyre would benefit from having sessions as well. And, in addition to the counseling, Anna drives to Port Angeles once a week to join in Karate and Kickboxing sessions. We have even converted the garage into a personal gym to hit the bags in between Saturday classes. It helps to get the anxiety out, helps to bring focus, and gives my wife confidence in being able to defend herself. I already talked to Phyre about giving it all a try."

Ms. Pullman smiled. "Well, it looks like you are rather prepared. But, where is your wife? It is Saturday, is she in Port Angeles?"

"No. She went to Redmond for the weekend to visit family friends. Phyre was an unexpected surprise." Though Paul tilted his head slightly as he spoke.

Embry reached into his pocket to pretend to check his phone. "Well, looks like the Mrs. is coming home early." He held his phone up as if he was showing Paul a text. Phyre listened. Paul's house was right off of the main road through the rez, so cars and trucks were always driving by. She could not tell just what sparked their reaction, but she trusted them to be right. Though, the smoothness of Embry's acting was quite remarkable. It took all of Phyre's focus to not grin with pride at the man next to her. Ugh! She barely knew him, she reminded herself. How could she have pride in a man she barely knew?

Paul grinned. He opened the door just as a small red Subaru pulled in front of the house and parked. His muscles visibly relaxed as he saw his wife. Phyre had not seen him that relaxed yet. Maybe Anna did have a huge impact on his moods. He ran down to sweep Anna into his arms for a deep and passionate kiss. As the others gathered around the porch and the door. Phyre was kind of nervous about meeting Anna.

He lowered his head to speak in the woman's ear. "I thought I asked you to stay a few extra days to give Phyre a chance to get control?"

Anna whispered back, the conversation too low and far away for the humans to hear, but Phyre could hear it all just fine. "I know that me being away makes you anxious and angry. That girl doesn't need that. You don't need that. So, I will stay at my uncles for a few days. Here, on the rez. Where you can find me and make sure Rory and I are safe. And, relax. But, next time, you must go with me, the kids really miss you."

He growled playfully. "I don't deserve you."

She scrunched her nose. "We'll agree to disagree. But, I think I'll keep you anyway." She kissed him again and turned to get their daughter out of the car. The baby was sound asleep.

"I will get your stuff in a little bit. Why don't you put Rory down in her crib before I introduce you to Phyre and Ms. Pullman."

Paul asked Ms. Pullman to just follow them upstairs while they put the baby to bed so that she could look over the house and see the spare room for Phyre. Then, he gave proper introductions on the way down and led the woman out the back to the garage to see the gym and meet some of the other members of the extended family.

"Well, I have to say that I am quite impressed that Phyre found her way to such an appropriate environment to meet her needs." Ms. Pullman stated as they re-entered the house. "As long as the Tribe takes jurisdiction over Phyre's case, I will probably take over the case from Spokane. I will check on you once in a while. Just to see if there is anything else that we can do to help. But, it looks like you have everything under control. I will let you know that we do have to search for Phyre's mother and give her a chance to come forward to be a parent. Because of the time needed to do that, it is unlikely that we will be able to move toward you having legal guardianship Mr. Lahote, Phyre will turn 18 before that process would be completed. So, most likely, the state will maintain legal custody while she remains living with you. It will add a few complications, but I will help you through that process."

Ms. Pullman stopped in front of Phyre. "Sweetheart, I really do hope that you take advantage of the support you are being offered. I know that you have gone through a lot and I won't pretend to know how that feels. But, you have a fresh start and a chance to heal, with family. Good luck to you." Then she left.

Once the door was closed, Phyre dropped back into the sofa. "If only I could have reached her all those times that I called Social Services and the Police."

Sheriff Call stiffened. "You called Social Services and the police?"

She rolled her head and glared at him. "Yeah. Fat lot of good that did. My brother was 15 and being bullied at school, beaten at home, and my father was always drunk. So, I tried to do what I could to protect him. Yet, no one ever came. Apparently no one cares when the gay native boy is abused. Only the rich little white girls. Hell, I had one officer call instead of show up. And, they told me that me being a straight A student who never missed school was indication that my home was just fine. Yeah, cuz my dad had anything to do with that. I got us up for school. I did the grocery shopping on food stamps. I did the cooking and the cleaning. I studied hard and tutored my brother. My dad just drank away his disability check, passed out and took out his insecurities on us when he was awake." Phyre had started to shake in the emotions before Embry pulled her close to him and ran soothing circles with his hands over her back.

The Sheriff looked at her intently. Whatever, she didn't care if he liked her. She was done trying to ask police for help.

Sue Clearwater placed a hand on hers. "I am sure you did everything you could. I am very sorry the system didn't work to protect him."