Charles Swan was by no means a small minded man, he had been on the police force since he was out of school and he was now approaching retirement, he had heard it all... or at least he thought he had. One day everything had changed though, he was at Billy's like normal for the game with Harry Clearwater when they heard an argument outside. They all went to the porch to see what was happening when Jacob's cousin, Brady, exploded into a wolf, a freakin huge one at that. He at first thought it was a prank except Jacob who was standing by looking distressed stripped and also changed into one. Phasing, he learned later was the correct term for shifting. That had been years ago, it was around that time he also learned that his daughter had taken advantage of Jacob and placed on his emotions to get a child because her… husband couldn't give her one. Then not even hours after Mackayla was born Bella was turned into a… vampire, it was still difficult for Charlie to say that word even around fourteen years later.

Now his granddaughter was supposedly running feral around the La Push reservation as a wolf, he shook his head. Why couldn't things be plain black and white? He looked out the window and saw that night time was well and truly on them, he was just sitting down for his dinner of overcooked beef patties (most people would call them burnt) when his mobile phone rang. He pulled it from his pocket with a sigh and answered;

"Hello Chief of police speaking." he answered trying to keep the annoyance out of his voice

"Chief, sorry to interrupt your evening but we just received a call from a bunch of teenagers on first beach in La Push reporting an animal attack. It was dark so they didn't see the animal but they think it was a bear, none of their friends are hurt but they think it might have gotten someone else who was out for a walk along the beach. All they said they heard was a loud growl followed by the yell of someone then a scream of pain then a few ripping sounds then everything went quiet." Barbra said, she was the receptionist and took all after hours calls for a little extra cash from the government

"Anything else they said?" Charlie asked scribbling on his police note pad so he had evidence of his call out even if… 'Nothing' presented itself or the trail went 'cold'

"Yes," Barbra said pausing for a minute "Jacob Black was in hospital earlier in the week last I heard of it. I heard he had a heart scare, it seems a bit odd though don't you think?" she prattled on "I mean he is middle aged and still very fit working at the garage and in construction. I thought that you might want to know if you didn't already… I know his family is very close to you."

"Thank you Barbra," Charlie grunted, pulling his coat on and shutting the door "You have outdone yourself again, now I suggest you get some rest."

"Night Chief. Call me if you need anything else." And with that the line went dead

He climbed into his cruiser and drove at a brisk pace to La Push, not expecting trouble but going quickly enough so that if there was he would be in good time. He pulled up at the beach and saw the bunch of teenagers throwing worried glances towards the forest looking spooked as hell. They rushed over to him and he took all of their reports and gave them a pat on the back for calling triple 000 (emergency line in Australia) and suggested them to go home and get some sleep and avoid going into the forest without deterrents for animals.

When they were all gone he went down to the dying embers of their bonfire and kicked some sand over it so if in the unlikely event the sparks spread. He looked around in the sand and no unusual tracks until he hit the tree line, there were two human feet indentations with deep gouge marks behind them. He knew this mean that the animal/Mackayla had attacked from behind and thrown him backwards. He shone a beam from his torch around the forest, listening for any unusual sounds that might present themselves. He heard an extremely quiet whimper and heard a rustle of bushes around to his right. He spun and held one hand over his pistol just in case he might actually face a bear. He walked forwards slowly, making sure not to make any sudden movements to cause the mystery animal to lunge…

Charlie's Pov

I progressed forwards into the forest quietly with my hand hovering over my hand gun, cursing myself that if it was an actual bear that I left my shot gun in the cruiser. I highly doubted that it was given the lupin whimper and hoped that it wasn't a hoax and a dog was just lost and cold. I heard a quiet twig snap and tried my best to follow the sound with my dull human senses, I heard another whimper and whispered, knowing that if it was Mackayla that she would hear me;

"Mackayla… If that's you can you come out?"

When nothing presented itself I tried again. "I know about wolves' sweetheart, don't think that you could… frighten me away"

I heard a whine and saw a dark nose present itself followed by the rest of the wolf, I could tell that she was crouching so she wouldn't seem so intimidating and she just took my breath away. She stood slightly away from me, just giving me time to adjust to her presence but that was when I noticed that she had blood over her and her muzzle was coated in it.

"Oh sweetheart" I whispered feeling so bad for her, maybe if I had taken her in then… maybe this wouldn't have happened. I could trouble myself with 'what ifs' later but right now my granddaughter needed me and my love, to know that I still loved and she was still wanted her no matter what she was.

"Come here" I whispered to her, watching her human yet lupine eye widen slightly in surprise before she stood up to her full height and move over to my slowly, I noticed a pronounced limp on her rear, left leg.

She stood in front of me, her shoulders hovering above my head and her head dipped so she could see my face more easily, I lowered my torch slightly.

"Is that you Mackayla?" I asked, just checking that it was actually her and not some other kid from the reservation

She nodded her great head, still watching me out the corner of one eye, gauging my reaction I was guessing. I felt my heart bleed for her, she had such a… difficult upbringing, living with those… things, not getting to see the other side of her family often, I shook my head to clear my thoughts. She lowered her head further and I brushed my hand over the top of her head, gently and tentatively stroking her head before proceeding to scratch gently behind her ears. I heard a rumble in her large barrel k9 chest and couldn't help but smile at her, this was probably the first human interaction she had for a long time. I was contemplating my next move when I just did it, I gingerly wrapped my arms around her neck in a version of a hug, burying my shoulder and face slightly in her large fluffy ruff on her neck. That was when I remembered that Jake had a heart scare and thought when I worked out what to do with her I should call in and see him and Billy to make sure they were okay.

"My next question is what do I do with you?" I asked her giving her a playful shove and watching as she watched me with fascination and… something else I couldn't quite decide…