Hello darlings! I know I haven't given you much time to read the first chapter, but I was excited to continue with this one, so I decided to upload the second chapter... I will probably give you time to read this, give it time to settle, and come back to it next week with more Sam/Bella :)

BTW, Silver got nominated for the top ten fics completed in January, if you want to go vote, please go to www . twifanfictionrecs . com. (obviously, without spaces)

Hope you like this chapter... This one is a bit slow, but from the end of this chapter I think the story will pick up the pace and make some jumps, but I wanted to make a solid base before jumping there.

PACK SOULS

Black Wolf: Part 2.

The next morning, she woke up feeling rested. Her mood was already light as she realized that she had had a dreamless night. Dreamless meant no nightmares, which meant better sleep quality, which translated to her brain being sharp in the morning.

She showered and dressed slowly, paying attention to what she was wearing. She noticed with a frown that the black jeans that had formerly hugged her legs in a tight (but not vulgar) embrace were looser, in an unhealthy way. She sighed; there was nothing to do but get better. Things could only go up.

Where had she heard that?

She shrugged while brushing her hair. She didn't want to blow dry it, so she decided to let it naturally dry. She went downstairs, finding that Charlie had left a post-it on the fridge's door with Sam's address. She pocketed the small paper before opening the fridge and getting what she would need to make the cookies and her breakfast.

She settled on a bowl of cereal for breakfast and chocolate chip cookies as a thank you offer. Everyone loved chocolate chip cookies.

…

…

…

She breathed in and out a few seconds, willing her nerves to go away. She was sitting behind the wheel in front of Sam's house. It was small, all red bricks, with a neatly kept garden. It screamed 'man cave'. She liked it.

With one last deep breath, she climbed off the truck and walked towards the front door. Balancing the tupper full of cookies in one arm, she lifted the other, fisting her hand and knocking three times.

The door opened, revealing a tall man, clearly native, with short hair and gray eyes. She smiled politely. "Are you Sam Uley?" She congratulated herself in her mind. Her voice had sounded so clear and clean, no traces of nerves.

"I'm Jared Cam." He offered simply, eying her up and down. But not in a vulgar way, not in a 'checking her out' but more like assessing her. As if he was trying to decide if she was worth entering the house. Like a bouncer in a nightclub checking for people's attires and deeming them good enough to fit the dress code of the place.

"Oh, is this not Sam's house?" She asked, confused. She was sure she was at the right place.

"It is Sam's house." Again, he didn't move, nor asked her anything. Why was he being so rude to her? She didn't even know him.

She frowned, getting mad. "Is he home?" She ventured again.

"He is."

Bella shifted her weight, getting aggravated. "Would you mind telling him I'm looking for him?"

"I do." Bella's frown deepened, and her aggravation grew.

"Look, Jared." She all but spat the name. "I don't care what you think of me, but I didn't come here to see you." Jared tried to hide his amusement. Feisty girl. "Now, step aside, and let me in." She actually stretched herself as if trying to appear taller than she was.

Jared was amused, noticing his wolf's appreciation of her strength, even if she wasn't particularly feeling strong right now. She put her distress aside, and instead of fighting him, she asked politely to see Sam. She would make a fine Alpha girl if she were always like this.

Jared opened his mouth to tease her again, but a voice next to him beat him to it. "Jay, stop teasing her and let her in." Another tall guy stood next to him, his shoulders were slightly broader than Jared's, but he sported the same buzz cut.

Jared smiled hugely, dimples and teeth and all. "Come in, Bella." She huffed, realizing he had been messing with her the whole time. He knew who she was. She resisted the urge to call him an asshole.

…

…

…

Jared and Paul pretended not to hear a thing about the conversation going on in the kitchen. Bella explained to Sam why she was there. To personally thank him for rescuing her, and to bring some cookies as an appreciation token. He assessed her discreetly. She appeared to be thinner, her jeans hung loosely from her legs and hips, but her eyes seemed bright. She smiled occasionally, but when she did, it was genuine. He was glad to see her better.

Billy had been passing on health reports to him, knowing that he cared enough to know how she was. Not that he was in love with her, or he was dying to ride off to sunset with her right at this moment. His wolf was content with the spirits' choice of imprint, but the man knew little to nothing about the girl.

"You didn't have to do this, but I appreciate it." He pointed to the cookies.

She smiled timidly. "Chocolate chip cookies seemed like a safe bet."

He nodded and invited her to stay for a while. They had been planning on watching a movie. Bella accepted the offer, even if the three guys made her nervous.

A voice in her head told her to get out of her comfort zone, to do things she wouldn't normally do. To be brave, to accept the company of others.

Sam carried the tupper with the cookies to the living room. Jared sat on the floor at Bella's feet, while Paul and Sam kind of sandwiched her between them. Sam grabbed a cookie and offered the tupper to Jared and Paul.

"Mother of Taha Aki!" Paul groaned with his eyes closed.

Bella looked at him, raising an eyebrow and feeling a laugh build up inside her. Paul devoured the entire cookie in one more bite, moaning once more. Bella let it go then, getting his attention.

"What?" He asked her.

Bella calmed herself down and shook her head. Clearly, the cookies had been a hit.

"You were sounding like a porn star." Jared informed him good-naturedly.

Sam snorted, amused. Bella only kept her smile. Jared had spoken her thoughts.

Paul didn't seem to care about the teasing. He grabbed a few more cookies and shoved one into his mouth.

The rest of the afternoon passed smoothly. Bella enjoyed the movie and the good ribbing the guys gave each other. They seemed close. It made her nostalgic for that kind of friendship. She had had something similar with Alice. She could tell her everything, and she knew that despite Edward's abilities to read minds, Alice could keep a secret. But her mind drifted rapidly to another person who was a friend to her, in the good and the bad: Angela. That was a friendship she wanted to recover. She made a mental note to go to her house the next day and have a candid talk with the girl.

"I have to get going." She announced, getting up from the couch and gathering her things, including the empty tupper. Sam had discreetly forced her to eat a few more than she would have eaten on a normal day, with the excuse that Paul was a pig and likely to eat them all by himself.

Paul and Jared kissed her cheek, a lupine gesture that she still did not know, but Sam recognized. The three wolves considered her pack. She got along with the three of them was sweet and feisty. He looked forward to getting to know more of her.

"There's a bonfire on Saturday if you want to come." He offered the invitation and the choice to refuse it.

Bella thought about it. A bonfire sounded interesting. She had never gone to one. If she wanted things to keep getting better, she needed to go out and make good things happen. If you didn't rescue yourself, no one would.

"Can I bring a friend?" She asked, considering asking Angela to join her. Perhaps a bonfire/party could be a good second step into mending the bridge of their friendship.

"Is she hot?" Jared smacked Paul in the back of the head. "Dude." He complained.

"Dude, you're a pig."

Paul seemed to take offense to that and was quick to answer. "Like you didn't think about it." Sam rolled his eyes.

"Yes, you can bring whomever you want." He answered.

Bella nodded and walked towards the door after waving Jared and Paul. "Thank you for allowing me to stay. I had a good time."

Sam smiled briefly. "Thank you for the cookies. Drive safe."

…

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…

The next day, Bella was less nervous about this endeavor. Having had the day before as practice. She knocked on Reverend Webber's door, praying that Angela would be the one to open the door.

"Hey!" Angela greeted enthusiastically and surprised.

"Hi." Bella answered shyly.

Angela stepped aside immediately, allowing Bella to enter. She let her friend know that they had the house to themselves since Angela's parents were at a birthday party and the twins were at a friend's house. Angela had always been a perceptive girl, knowing when someone just needed company and when someone needed to vent. She tried to be a good friend to those who deserved it. And Bella definitely deserved it.

Bella took a deep breath and started talking. Letting Angela know that her friendship meant a lot to her, even if she didn't appreciate it until recently. She let her know that she knew she had been dropping off her homework for the last month. That she knew she had been talking to her. She also admitted to not knowing what exactly was it that Angela had said. Her friend chuckled at the admission. She hadn't been saying anything remotely important, just small things here and there about school. Things like Mike and Jessica's relationship, Lauren's awful haircut, or her own break up with Ben. How she thought she liked him but turned out that they worked better as friends than as a couple. She shared the twins' mischief, like hiding their dad's glasses or changing the location of their mom's phone when she wasn't looking. Other times, she told Bella it was ok to be sad and angry. But things would get better.

"I appreciate your apology Bella, even though it was completely unnecessary. We all go through hard times. It's ok to disconnect and navigate through them. I'm not gonna lie and say that I understand what you feel because I have never been in love. But it's ok to be sad." She grabbed Bella's hands. "It's ok to be angry. To cry, to scream. It's all part of the process of healing." Bella's eyes filled with tears.

She realized her friend was right. It wasn't the end of the world. Sure, her dreams had been shattered into million pieces, along with her heart. But her heart would recover.

"We had plans, you know. Long-term plans. I had dreams." She voiced her thoughts, letting the tears flow.

"You can have new dreams. It doesn't mean that they're better or worse. But they'll be different. And they'll fulfill you differently." Bella nodded, knowing her friend was right. She could have new dreams. She could mend her heart. "And, most importantly. You'll learn to love again." That was the scary part. "It doesn't mean you're replacing him." She added quickly at the doubtful look on Bella's face.

"Do you really think I'll be able to fall in love again?" She whispered.

Angela smiled sweetly. "You will. And it will be beautiful." She winked.

Bella wanted to believe in that. That she could love again, in a different capacity than she had loved Edward. "The show must go on." She mumbled.

Angela laughed. "More or less."

"You should be a counselor." Bella added, sniffing and wiping away the tears with the back of her hand.

Angela shrugged. "I have read my mom's books." Bella snorted.

"Thank you." With those two simple words, Bella said everything. Thank you for being a friend when I needed one and didn't know it. Thank you for going to my house, knowing that you would be having a one-sided monologue. Thank you for not giving up on me. For not believing I was broken, for helping me be strong.

Angela hugged her tightly. "That's what friends are for."

"Speaking of friends. This Saturday there's a bonfire at the Quileute Reservation, and Sam, the guy that rescued me, said I could bring a friend."

Angela resisted the urge to snoop in her business with this Sam guy. Instead, she chose to agree to go with her. "Is it like a party?" If it were, she would gladly be her wing woman. This business with this Sam guy sounded promising. The fact that Bella had spoken to him and agreed to go to a bonfire where he would be present showed that she was more advanced in her healing process than she knew. It didn't mean Angela thought she liked this Sam guy or that she was ready to start dating him when it was clear that she still had some thinking and mourning to do. But it was a step forward in the right direction.

"I have no idea." They both laughed at how dorky they both felt at that moment. Neither of them knew much about party scenes or when an invitation was inclined towards a party or not. They'll play it by ear.

…

…

That week had been a hectic and emotionally exhausting week. The doctor gave her the green light to go back to school. He scolded her for her weight loss and gave her a rigorous meal plan to gain back the weight. Luckily, it hadn't been that much, but enough to be worrying.

Her defenses were back to their normal level, and there was no risk of relapsing. She was as good and healthy as she could, given the circumstances. The doctor made her book an appointment for a month from now to keep track of her diet plan.

Things were starting to get better already. She had made amends with Angela, made three new friends, had been invited to a bonfire/party, and Charlie had been looking better.

Charlie kept thinking of Harry's words whenever he wanted to push Bella for more. Baby steps. She was getting back the control of her life. She had gone to the doctor and got a clean bill of health. Her heart would take longer to heal, but he had faith it would heal.

…

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…

Saturday came unceremoniously. Bella wandered around the house doing some laundry, organizing certain things for the week, and simply being. Her mind wandered, and she allowed it for the first time since her eighteenth birthday. A life without Edward. The hole in her chest was no longer consuming her. It was a nuisance of which she wanted to get rid.

She sat at the kitchen table pondering about her lost dreams. More than being a vampire, what she had dreamt of was being with the one she loved forever. Even a human dreams of that in terms of mortality, being with someone forever, as long as that lasts. She sighed sadly. It was not only the loss of love or dreams; it was the loss of a second family, of friends. She couldn't understand abandoning someone without saying goodbye first.

But wasn't that what she was going to do to Charlie had everything gone different? She shook her head. She hadn't been planning on abandoning without a second thought. She was going to say goodbye, that much she knew.

But no point in dwelling on that anymore. It didn't happen, and it was not going to happen, ever.

Bella sat upright. The strength of that thought had surprised her. As to yesterday, or even last week, she had sworn up and down in her head that if he showed up again, she would forget everything and take him back. But now...she wasn't so sure that was what she wanted anymore.

She had liked being normal, getting to know new people, seeing them enjoy new things. Open up to new people. As short as her afternoon visit had been to Sam, and to an extent Jared and Paul, she had liked the feeling of naturality.

Without going further, she had liked being home to receive Billy, even if Jake had been behaving weirdly at first. She liked confiding in Charlie, even if she didn't tell him anything remotely close to what had occurred.

Had she been blind during her relationship with Edward? Had she been enamored by all the things that having a first boyfriend and a first love entailed? Was she more in love with the idea of love than with Edward himself? No, she had been definitely in love with him, very much so. But it was possible that she hadn't seen very clearly, focused on his virtues only, choosing to ignore any possible flaws.

She only wished it hadn't cost her her heart and her ability to trust blindly again in people.

She stood up, finishing with her chores and deciding to kill some time by showering and then maybe watching some tv or some series as her homework was all done.

She settled for something not focused on romance. She settled for The Flash, the tv series. It seemed good enough, and it was a recommended series.

She managed to watch three episodes before having to stop to get dressed. That was another dreaded task. Her clothes were loose on her and didn't look flattering at all. She rummaged through her clothes, trying to find something she could wear now that seemed party-worthy. She had never been a party person, preferring to stay home with a book. Therefore, having to shop for more...fancy clothes than the normal ones she would wear to school hadn't been necessary.

She found a pair of white jeans she didn't even know she owned. Rennee must have put them in her luggage before she moved from Arizona. She put them on, noticing that they were tight on her like her black jeans had been. Then came the hunt for a shirt. She stood there in a bra that was also a little loose on her. But nothing she could do there at the moment. She settled with an emerald green shirt, a compliment of Rennee, as an extra gift on her birthday.

She looked at herself in the mirror, liking what she saw. Despite knowing that she was too skinny to be considered healthy, she liked the resolve she saw in her eyes and her posture. At least she didn't look sickly as the clothes were form-fitting. She applied mascara and nothing more. Despite owning makeup, that was something she still didn't feel like doing yet.

The doorbell rang, announcing Angela's arrival. "Two minutes!" she yelled, putting on her black ankle boots, getting her cardigan, her purse, and rushing down the stairs.

Angela smiled appreciatively at her friend. "You look very nice."

Bella smiled timidly but accepted the compliment. "Let's go before I change my mind."

…

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…

Angela whistled when they approached the beach. It was more of a party than a bonfire. People were already mingling, nursing different colored plastic cups with what they assumed was also different alcoholic beverages. They closed the distance, going directly for the cooler, choosing to forego the alcohol and settling for sodas. Bella didn't drink alcohol, aside from the occasional beer, and Angela was the designated driver.