Bella's POV:

"P-Paul?" I found myself stuttering as I stared at the silver gray wolf in front of me. He was massive but I could tell it was Paul. His eyes were the same colour as human Paul's.

The wolf took a tentative step towards me and I was suddenly overcome with shock. Couldn't I just have a normal life? Everything went black.

I opened my eyes blinking cautiously. I heard people talking around me and recognized both Paul and Jacob's voices.

"You should have just waited until we all were there to tell her!" Jacob's voice sounded angry.

"I just wanted to explain everything to her. Tell her how I feel." Paul's voice sounded weak and sad. I felt a hand caress my cheek carefully and knew instantly it was Paul's hot hand.

I let out a small moan and raised my hand to feel the back of my head for any damage.

"Bella!" seven voices called out at once.

"Are you ok?" Sam's deep voice asked over the ruckus of everyone else.

"My head hurts a bit." I admitted. I started to sit up with a bit of difficulty and felt a rush of dizziness and nausea when I was fully upright.

"I am so sorry I couldn't catch you" Paul said remorsefully.

"I'll be fine" I said honestly. A small concussion wasn't anything new just as bruises weren't. "However somebody had better start explaining how you changed into, of all things, a wolf!"

"You're not freaked out?" Jacob questioned "You passed out."

"Well it's not every day that a handsome guy changes into a wolf in front of my very eyes. It took me by surprise. But it is far from the strangest thing that has happened in my life" I chuckled softly.

This earned me a questioning look from both women present and half the guys. The only ones who looked unsurprised were Jacob and Sam.

"Bella do you remember when we walked down the beach and I told you the legend of the Quilete spirit protectors and the cold ones?" Jacob asked.

"Yes of course I do." I affirmed. I gazed at him with curious eyes before it hit me- the spirit protectors. I had read about them while trying to learn about the cold ones or as I came to know them the Cullens. I vaguely remembered the mention of wolves and it all made sense "You're werewolves!"

"Well that was easier than I expected it to be" Sam chuckled. "I thought we would have to do a lot more explaining!"

Everyone except Paul let out relieved laughs. Paul looked sad and hadn't pulled his gaze from his lap since I had sat up.

"I kinda just expected you to remember about the cold ones" Jacob admitted running his hand through his hair "Glad to hear that you actually listened to everything."

"Of course I did." I grinned widely. I remembered all the legends he told me because they fascinated me. They always had. Even if I hadn't been trying to figure out what the Cullen's were I would have remembered. "Does this have something to do with them?" I asked pointing my question more to Jake but Sam answered instead,

"It has everything to do with them" He said unable to keep a small amount of anger out of his voice "I changed when they returned here two years ago. Meant to keep our people safe. Paul was next almost a full year after I changed, Jarrod followed two months after. It was just the three of us for awhile but recently we've had two more additions to our pack. Embry three months ago and of course Jacob only two weeks ago."

"Oh" I said quietly "They're gone though so why are more people changing?"

"We aren't sure all we know is the pack keeps getting larger for a reason and hopefully we figure that reason out before it is too late." Sam said. He put his arm around a beautiful woman. Well one of the beautiful women in the room. Boy did I ever feel plain compared to these two. Even with scars running down one side of her face and making her grin crooked the woman under Sam's arm was drop-dead gorgeous. "Well we might as well finish introductions." Sam let a smile replace the worried look on his face as he looked at his beauty. "This is Emily. You know Paul, Jacob, Embry and myself. Jarrod is standing over there with his beautiful girlfriend Kim."

I smiled slightly shy at all the attention I now realized I was getting and waved "Hey."

"There is more to the legends Bella but this part you should really hear from Paul. So how about while you two talk here the rest of us go back to the bon fire. We will be sure to save you both some food." Sam said sternly as if his say was the final word on any matter. It probably was. He looked like the oldest in the group if only by a couple of years.

Everyone got up and left slowly and I was left alone with Paul by my side. He still hadn't breathed a word since I had sat up and I wasn't really sure how to start a conversation with him.

"I'm sorry I hurt you" He said suddenly. He looked at me and I saw that his eyes were glistening.

"It's alright!" I smiled placing a reassuring hand on his knee. As soon as I did I got a shock. "Like you said earlier no lasting harm, no foul!"

He laughed slightly and said "Ok what I am going to tell you may freak you out. I just want you to know right off the bat that you have all the say in this matter. It is all up to you" He took a deep breath and started slowly "There is another tribal legend. One where the wolf or spirit protector finds his perfect soul mate." His voice picked up pace and I could tell he was nervous "It's called imprinting and it's supposedly very rare. However it doesn't really seem all that rare to me. Over half of the pack has."

"Whoa slow down. Imprinting?" I asked interrupting his rant.

"As soon as a wolf sees his soul mate everything changes. His whole world starts to revolve around this one individual. He will be the perfect friend, the perfect lover. Whatever the imprint wants the wolf will be. His imprint's safety and happiness are all that matter to him" He continued explaining once again not really looking at me. I was thoroughly confused- why was he telling me all this?

"I imprinted on you Bella" He said so quietly I almost didn't hear him. I had a feeling he never acted like this and I have to say if I was shocked by the realization that werewolves existed than I was positively floored by this.

"So you're my soul mate?" I questioned confusion evident in my voice.

"You're everything to me Bella but I will be whatever you want me to be. I will be your friend, your brother, your lover. Whatever you decide Bella is what I will be. All I want is to make you happy." His voice had adopted a pleading tone.

Well this explained the inexplicable pull I felt towards him all day. The reason I felt so bad for hurting him. I just wasn't sure what to say. I knew I didn't want to hurt him but I wasn't ready for a relationship. Not after the hell Edward put me through. I was finally getting back to normal and I wasn't ready to give my fragile heart to someone else to care for.

"Can we try to be friends and get to know one another first?" I asked lifting his chin so his gaze held mine.

His face lit up "Yes anything you want Bella" He leaned forward and wrapped me in a warm hug. I could get used to this.