Author's Note:

This chapter is a long one, almost 5K words. It's the chapter Winnie is finally told what an imprint is.

Though a lot of Stephenie Meyer's "lore"is unfortunately used in this chapter to continue to be cannon with the actual books/movies. Let's remember how Meyer has culture vultured actual Quileute history, profiting off a warped narrative she never paid homage or respect to. I also fully respect anyone who skips this chapter.


Winnie's POV

At this time of night, La Push is cold and black.

During the day the res is woodsy, with the beach making everything scenic. Then night hits and the fresh salty air freezes over, and it gets so dark on the res the only light around is the moon or whatever house has their lights on. Yet, it's these little moments when the res is at its most peaceful.

I wait outside on the front step for Embry, weather proofed from the cold in a thick parka, and a knit hat. Usually I'd wait inside, where it's warm. But the idea of seeing Embry change was too exciting to miss. I haven't seen much of him since he told me the whole truth, promising me he had more to tell me with the pack. Yesterday I found out that tonight was the day I was going to get all my questions answered when Embry invited me to a bonfire the pack is having out on the cliffs..

It's crazy how just a few days ago they all were simply Embry's friends, just a group of guys. Now when I face them tonight they'll be a pack of werewolves.

"You're gonna freeze out here." Embry makes himself known as he walks up the path from Enola's yard. Not wearing his usual cut off shorts gives away Embry didn't run here. The light flannel jacket pulled over a gray hoodie with a navy blue beanie confirming he in fact drove.

"I was waiting for you," I explain, as he crosses over in two strides to drop his jacket around my shoulders. It's still hot from Embry's searing body heat, like a blanket right out of a dryer. While bent down, Embry pulls me by his jacket to give me a peck hello, too concerned to try for another kiss.

"Am I late?" Embry glances at his phone, seeing he's right on time as he promised. "Winnie, you could have waited inside. How long were you waiting for me?"

"Just ten minutes." I shrug off.

"Why are you out here?" Embry asks in that smooth, calm voice of his.

"I wanted to see if you'd run here as a wolf." I admit under my breath, which makes him chuckle. The sound ebbs away any feelings of doubt or insecurities I had.

"I can't believe I thought you'd be afraid of me." Embry laughs softly. "If you like, I'll run here everyday so you can see me as a wolf."

"Will I see the other guys transform too?" I can hear how curious I sound, like I'm in the middle of a gripping novel or some science experiment.

"Hmm, maybe. If you ask really nicely we can probably get Quil to show you. Or maybe if you pay Jared five bucks he'll do it." Embry suggests, standing up to offer me a hand. "Let's get going before you freeze."

"Not likely since you're a constant 108 degrees." I stand up, pulling up my snacks with me. "You think this is enough?" I didn't want to show up empty handed so I bought the biggest bags of marshmallows and hot dogs I could find. Though I'm pretty sure this wouldn't even feed Embry let alone eight werewolves.

"Don't worry, Sue Clearwater gets everything wholesale price. While Emily cooks in bulk." Embry explains, buttoning me into his coat. "I'll drive," Embry offers just as Enola's back door opens and she whistles sharply at us, the loud kind of whistle that uses her fingers.

"You're driving me." Enola decides, dressed in an army green barn coat with a brown collar that matches her brown boots and homemade knitted gloves. Her gray braids are under a wool lined flannel trapper hat, the ear flaps looking they'll swallow her whole. "Can't have a council meeting without all the council members."

"Happy to," Embry calls back, looking over at me like I knew this. I just give him an amused look, knowing I'll have to drive us because there's not a chance Enola will ride in Embry's van. Though she probably already has when she was our age back when Old Quil first drove it.

"Embry, come on in. I need you to carry my seafood boil out to the car." Enola waves him in.

"See, you don't have to worry about the food. With Enola's boil, it'll be more than enough." Embry grins, rolling up his sleeves. He runs inside, having to duck his head to fit through the door. He looks bigger than usual next to pint size Enola, whose barely 4'11.

"You drive," Enola tosses me the keys to her Subaru, telling Embry to load up a massive pot into the trunk. She turns back to Embry, aching a brow at him.

"You running there or riding with us?" I almost belt out a laugh at Embry's face. I know Enola's been sitting on that joke for a while. I'm impressed she manage to keep the secret from me as long as she did.

"Depends." Embry thinks something over. "Is the machete in the car or in the house?"

"The what?" I bulk, pausing halfway into the driver's seat.

"In the house," Enola smirks as she gets into the passenger side. "Smart boy."


We could smell the smoke and scent of meat cooking from the car. Cars and trucks lined on neatly in rows are parked on the grass, Paul's bike on our right with Leah's orange Jeep Wrangler on our left. The chilly sea air brings over the chatter of people when we climb out. Enola unpacks a pile of fleece blankets and a folding lawn chair that I hadn't seen her pack into the car.

"Did you bring recreational grass?" I ask Enola, the smirk on her face telling me she in fact did. "No sharing tonight, Quil asked me to remind you how his grandpa, Quil Senior, can't have any due to his heart medication." I remind Enola with a look.

"Billy is on the same crap, when did everyone stop smoking and start taking medication." Enola grumbles, walking off. There's a chorus of greetings for Enola, some unmistakably sounding nervous. Funny how a pack of werewolves are scared on a little old lady.

"Hey Winnie?" Embry hovers by the trunk, his shoulders a bit tense. His swallows thickly when our eyes meet in the dark. "I just gotta be clear about something."

"You okay?" I can already tell by the set of his jaw that Embry wants to talk about something serious. His eyes flicker back and forth from the bonfire to me, the look in his black eyes anxious. I'm already walking over, just wanting to figure out what's making upset and how can I make him feel better.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm okay," He visibly relaxes when his hand mindlessly takes mine. "I know I told you that the pack will answer all the questions I couldn't answer. But I have to give you a heads up, they're going to tell you something important tonight—something that's going to change us, change everything."

Whatever Embry sees on my face, it tells me it must be a frightened express from how it makes his face sink even further into a frown.

"That... that sounds scary, Embry." I silently kick myself. Despite how hard I tried to dull the immediate impulse to blurt out 'Embry, you're scaring me,' I still didn't say anything comforting. "Should I be worried?" I do a double take over my shoulder at the bonfire, seeing the orange hue of the blaze and some shadows moving around it. It was all fun up till a moment ago.

"No, no..." Embry's throat bobbles as he answers. "It's not all bad, Winnie. It's something that I've been meaning to tell you, but there just isn't a right way to explain it. After we break the news, you and I should talk everything out..." He sucks in a deep breath, doing his best to give me a wobbly grin. "Till then, let's go make s'mores and listen to the folklore and just have a good time?"

"And we'll talk after." I repeat back. Embry's nod isn't comforting. His usual calming presence is replaced with something nervous that makes his body tight and his dark eyes bright with uncertainty. He's trying his best to be worry free in an attempt to reassure me, because Embry is always comforting someone, doing all he can to make anyone—especially me—feel better. So I'll be the one who makes him feel better instead.

"Of course we're gonna have a good time. There's gonna be s'mores." Embry's arm landing across my shoulders seems to make him breathe easier. He gives my shoulders a squeeze, a comforting touch that eases both of us.

"I thought you were nervous when you told me you're a werewolf." He grins at my remark, my words seeming to chase away the last of his nerves in his shoulders.

"I was more nervous when I asked you out." Embry shrugs jokingly. "Then even more nervous when I had to ask you again since—" Maybe I did it to shut him up, or because he's already feeling pretty low tonight. My hand grips him at the collar of his hoodie to pull him down while I'm already on my way up on my tippy toes. I catch a quick glimpse of his brash smirk before he kisses me.

It's the boldest move I've ever tried.

Embry's big hands land at my lower back and at the back of my neck, pressing my body against his in a way that has my head spinning instantly. So happy I decided to be bold.

I'm backed up into the car, the cold metal of the car contrasting Embry's searing body heat and sending excited shivers bolting up my spine. With the car at my back, he presses into me more and I can feel every inch of him. I lean up on my tip toes to respond to his 'You're right where I want you,' With my own 'Then come over and get it.'

His tongue runs along my bottom lip, and he lets out a groan when I open my mouth to deepen the kiss. His hands grip me at my back pockets, pulling against with an excited jolt and I have to tense my muscles to keep my head dropping back and completely interrupting our kiss. Just when our tongues meet, Embry jerks back to suck in a hazard breath.

"Still nervous?" I ask lowly, grinning into his chest.

"No," He blinks his eyes open with a cautious shake of his head. "But now I'm a bit frustrated."


There's a roar of greetings when Embry and I join everyone. The bonfire crackles in the middle, a tall pyramid of sticks surrounded by skinny skewers of hot dogs and marshmallows. My eyes take everyone in as if I'm looking at them for the first time. Days ago they were just guys I went to high school with. We've all known each other our entire lives, and now they're the very legends we grew up with; they're werewolves...

Yet, through all the muscle and massiveness I still see the boys I grew up around.

Paul and Quil are having a small game of soccer, kicking a ball off to the side. Jared is spooned around Kim, the two sharing a spot on a log and the same skewer for two marshmallows they're roasting. Leah is on the far end of the bonfire, sitting with earphones jammed in her ears with her hood pulled over her head to give clear signals she doesn't want to be bothered. Her mom Sue, brother Seth and cousin Emily Young work around Leah, fussing with passing out paper plates of pasta salad and buns. Sam sits off to the side with the town elders Old Quil, Enola, Billy and the two other members Opal and Isidor, talking something over that seems important. Taking another look around, I realize I only see Billy—not Jacob.

It'a not till now with the blaze of the fire that I realize we're on a cliff overlooking the beach. I figured we were nearby, but it's La Push, the beach is always nearby. I haven't been this close to the beach in years. There's instant prickles of nerves over my skin as I take in the shore, nerves that I refuse to let bother me, especially with how something is bothering Embry. I'll make sure I'll sit with my back to the shore, so I don't have to stare down and remember anything I don't want to. It'll just make whatever I'm suppose to listen to that much harder to focus on.

"Emily, where do you want this?" Embry gestures to the pot full of Enola's boil tight in his hands. Just as Embry said, Emily likes being in charge of the food. She's passing out plates with one hand, then boxes of graham crackers with the other. Emily makes sure everyone is eating, that every cup is filled and everyone has a stick for roasting. While Sue and Seth man the food table, which is a cluttered if not intimidating spread to feed the werewolves.

"Seth will help you," The second Embry walks off to put the boil down Emily comes over. At first I was anticipating a hug hello since she's the hugging type, but the look in her eye is determined.

"Hi Winnie, did you eat already? Want me to make you a plate?" She guides me by the shoulders, bringing me right to the food table while tucking utensils and a napkin into in my empty hands. Sue and Seth give me a such a nice welcome I forget we're even near the beach all together.

"Oh," I take a moment to remember if I ate my usual bowl of cereal or granola bar or bagged salad. Also I'm just not use to someone asking me other than Embry or Enola when she orders me to eat her vegetable soup. Just being taken care of in general is something I've never really been use to. "No, I haven't eaten yet." Emily's smile spreads all the way to her ears.

"We got it all but vegetarian options. We're meat eaters around here." Sue sweeps a hand over the spread. There's Mac n cheese, chili, Hot Dogs, pasta salad, burgers, sweet potatoes, baked potatoes, corn on the cob, ribs, and now seafood boil.

"I'll have whatever Embry is having, then just divide that by half." I suggest, my eyes reaching around them to find Embry loading the pot at the end of the table. As if he can feel my gaze, he meets my eyes halfway and gives me a smile that makes me happy I came, happy that he let me into this world fully.

"So, a bit of everything for you, then two of everything for Embry." Sue is already piling food onto a paper plate, while Seth makes two plates for Embry. With my waitressing skills, it's easy to balance all the plates over to a log. The second I lower down, I manage a breath to settle the nerves from earlier. Then Paul drops down next to me and takes my plate.

"Finally, you know everything. That took forever." Paul says around a mouthful of food.

"Hey Paul," I offer him a napkin, feeling a bit like a mom. "It feels good to know."

"So how are you taking the news?"

"Much better than expected." I nod along, feeling a hint of a grin spread across my face. "At first, I was just about a state of shock. Then it just didn't matter, because it's Embry. No matter if he was Mothman or big foot, it's Embry."

"I figured you'd take it well. All imprints feel the pull."

"Imprint?" I repeat back. Paul's brown eyes go wide, his jaw going slack and threatening to drop his food out. "What's an imprint? Is that what we're talking about tonight?"

Paul doesn't answer, instead just twists around to look back at Embry with a horrified look. Embry is frozen, every muscle in his body tight, his jaw, his fists, his face. Seth looks just as shocked, his eyes staring up at Embry with big waiting eyes. I wait for someone to clue me in, even hint me in but everyone seems to shell shocked.

"I'll see you after the bonfire." Paul dismisses himself, bolting to the other side of the fire. And he runs off with my dinner.

"What's an imprint?" I ask Embry as he slowly remembers how to move, forcing his way over to me one step at a time. The look on his face makes my stomach turn. The nerves from earlier have turned to complete dread. Finally Leah takes pity on me, ripping out an earbud with an irritated sigh and a nod in my direction.

"Yeah, that's one of the things we're going to talk about tonight." Leah sums up, shedding just enough clarity for me but not enough to explain a thing. Before I can ask her another question she stuffs the earbud back in and faces front.

Enola's the one to break the silence.

"Quil, you better start." Enola lights up her weed before leaning over. "I'd offer you a puff, but you're gonna need to be sober for this." Enola warns.


There's this effect Old Quil has, whenever he speaks it makes anyone go quiet. Just about everything stops when he stands at attention; the roasting of s'mores, the soccer game, the jokes and smiles. The group hushes over, the only sound for a long moment being the crackle of the fire and the waves below as Old Quil gathers his thoughts.

"There are some histories we don't teach at the tribal school." Old Quil starts, and I can feel Embry tense beside me.

This is it. This the exact moment he's been keeping me from.

"We tell you the beginning of chief Taha Aki. We teach you how he was Taha Aki The spirit man, Taha Aki The Great Wolf, but we do not teach the full history of our once great chief." The group murmurs in agreement.

I've heard of Taha Aki my whole life.

They taught us Taha Aki was how he merged his spirit with a wolf. The histories says the chief of the Quileute tribe had left the tribe, the human world and his body to join the spirit world. He found peace in nature, in the shore lines and the forests. But then Utlapa, a disgraced spirit warrior who was exiled from the tribe, betrayed Taha Aki by possessing his body. Abusing his identity, Utlapa went back to the tribe and took Taha Aki's place as chief. When he realized, Taha Aki had called upon the Great Wolf. Taha Aki figured that the wolf had a body and therefore a soul, so he asked the Great Wolf that he would make room in his body for his spirit and share the physical form.

The histories tell us that Taha Aki didn't only win against Utlapa, it granted Taha Aki and the spirit warriors of our tribe great powers and they were able to change into wolves.

"This story of Taha Aki does not end with him entering the spirit world once he concurs over Utlapa. It continues with how Taha Aki bore both the powers and the responsibility of the Great Wolf. He became immortal, never aging as his first, then second wives lived full lives then died of old age. He buried friends and family, bore more children, remarried, but continued to lead the tribe." The way Old Quil's eyes runs over Sam and Emily, Jared and Kim, then Embry and I makes me feel heavy—no important.

"Then Taha Aki meets his last and third wife. A bond like nothing previous. It was a union not for children or for convience. The Great Wolf inside Taha Aki had granted him a miracle, something more than a wife or a companion or a mate or a true love. Taha Aki had found his true soulmate; his imprint."

The way Embry's arm gently lands across my shoulders feels forced, heavier than usual. As if he's making sure to keep me at his side as if I'll take off running. I'd look at him but the little prickle of unease at the pit of my stomach rushes up my spine, and by the time it reaches my head it turns into a panic that has me staring down Old Quil like something bad will happen if I look away. Without looking I can feel everyone's eyes on me. Their gazes are heavy on me, prodding, pinching, rubbing on my skin that only makes me feel like the world is about to close on me.

I didn't even realize I stopped breathing till Embry's hand finds mine, and I take in a quick relief of air.

"An imprint bond is unlike anything else. It is a life long friend, a soulmate, more than simply an other half but a spirit warrior's whole world. With one glance the wolf will know, and the bond is instantous. With one glance, their world shifts and the imprint is the new center. Nothing feels more right than to be with them and nothing feels more unbearable than being apart."

It's Embry's eyes that feel the heaviest. They're boring into me, weighing me down as they practically shake me at the shoulders and beg me to look at him.

"Then their son, Yaha Uta was born then imprinted on his own mate. And so on with the spirit warriors imprinting on their imprints." Old Quil continues, and I focus on that. Just trying to make it to the end of this story.

"Then the Cold Man attacks." Whatever I was feeling earlier pales in comparison to the fear that bursts into my chest then lodges itself at my throat. The type of fear that just hearing of it invokes instant fight or flight preservation. My eyes finally tear themselves from Old Quil and go straight towards Enola. She stopped smoking her grass, the look on face is so fierce and vicious it makes me wonder for a spilt second maybe she's a werewolf.

"The Cold Man looked like a man." The Steel in Old Quil's voice is hard against my ears. "The Cold Man was beautiful in a way so unnatural it was impossible to look away. Though it was obvious he was not human. Taha Aki and the tribe knew immediately this was no man, but a monster. The sun would not let him deceive us, it revealed him but could not kill him. The sun did not let him walk among humans in daylight without making his skin glimmer in the truth. His skin was white, whiter than the white man before him, white with no hint of pink or yellow, just unnaturally white. His teeth were that of a predator. It stunk of death under a heavy stench of sickly sweetness. His eyes were red as the blood he ripped out of innocents. He was something of stone, and nearly impossible to kill."

Vampires.

I was suddenly glad for Embry's arm around my shoulders. I lean into him, feeling the worry constrict in his chest with his sharp sigh. I had asked him if vampires and mermaids existed too, as if it was a fairytale. To my complete horror and realization, they do exist.

"The Cold Man had been killing native women. Causing fighting between the tribes as they blamed each other for the deaths. Taha Aki and the Spirit warriors hunted the Cold Man down, and soon realized even though they were stronger and faster, only fire could truly kill him."

Just when I breathe easier Old Quil continues, circling the fire in his slow but steady pace to make sure we all hear him.

"The Cold Man had a mate. Not an imprint, but a she-demon. The Cold Woman came to avenge her lover, and like the evil before her, she was the most beautiful creature to be seen. A child from the village was the first to warn the tribe but stating how her smell hurt his nose. By the time an elder called for help, the Cold Woman had killed the little boy. She went on a rampage. She would have slaughtered the entire tribe for one damned soul. Yaha Uta, one of the last protectors left, died trying to save our people. Taha Aki, now ancient was the only spirit warrior left, but he was not alone,"

"The Cold Woman would have killed him if it weren't for the Third Wife. She knew her husband would be killed, and without him she knew the Cold Woman would kill the entire tribe. Knowing what evil wanted, the Third Wife gave it to her. She sacrificed herself but stabbing herself with a knife. The Third Wife's blood was the Cold Woman's weakness, her temptation. It was a quick death, a death that bleed her out quickly. It had given Taha Aki his chance, and he killed the Cold Woman. After this, Taha Aki never rejoined the tribe or changed back to a man again. He lay for three days beside the body of his wife, growling whenever someone tried to touch her, and then he went into the forest and never returned."

The patient silence of the group signals the story doesn't end. Which makes my stomach drop in the wake of Old Quil's chilling pause.

"Ages had passed, generations had been born and buried. Then Cold Ones came back and there were more of them." I nearly let out a small prayer, feeling my lip tremble as much as my hands. "In 1936, the last spirit warriors till now had been faced with five Cold Ones."

"Levi Uley," Old Quil nods to Sam who seems to grow bigger with a quiet rage.

"Amis Green," Enola raises her flask in honor of her father.

"My father Quil II," Old Quil's voice is strong and unwavering as ever, but his eyes mist up behind his bifocals. Quil looks like he wants to get up and finish the story for his grandfather, but stays seated.

"And our last chief, Ephraim Black," Billy Black nods his head, but the empty spot next him is a reminder that Jacob should be here.

"They had found these Cold Ones hunting and killing a fawn on our land. They were as beautiful as the previous, but their eyes an amber yellow instead of a blood red. The Cold Ones insisted they came in peace. That they weren't killers and respected human life by only hunting animals. That they lived among humans, in the White Man's jurisdiction of Forks." Old Quil looks sick to his stomach.

"They did not attack our spirit warriors. They kept their teeth away. The did not want conflict, as they did not want to risk the truth getting back to the innocent people they lived among. The leader of the Cold Ones..." It looks as if Old Quil is trying to force the name out but locks his jaw too tight before picking up where he left off.

"Their leader was the most ancient of the Cold Ones, and he had proposed a treaty as a show of good faith. The were desperate to keep walking among the living while our people wanted safety. Thus Chief Ephraim Black accepted with strict terms. The Cold Ones are banned from our lands. One step over from Forks on to La Push and they know we will kill them. The second rule being they cannot harm a human, regardless of Forks or Olympia or La Push. If they shed blood, we will do as our ancestors and burn them."

This... this is what Embry fights off. This is what has him patrolling late into the night and early into the morning. This is what could kill him...

"This is the history we do not share with our tribe. We pass down this history of the protectors to the new protectors. They have inherited the war of Taha Aki and our fore fathers. They bare the change whenever a Cold One nears us, parting ways with the simplicity of life to guard the rest of us from harm."

The smoke is beginning to swarm us as the fire dies. The bright blaze has now dulling into a small flicker, struggling to stay alight as we all sit with the full extent of our history. I hadn't noticed I was cold till I notice I couldn't get my hands to stop shaking. The dark presses in us, reminding us how there's something out there deadlier than any animal or person.

Then it dawns on me. I grew up hearing of animal attacks most of my live. None of those were probably animals. The last few years the occasional animal attack had tripled by the numbers, Fork locals were just found torn to shreds. My mouth dries when I remember Harry Clearwater isn't here with us and the conclusion comes so fast I can see the wolves flinch when my heart stops then picks up again too fast against my ribs.

Every inch of my skin stands on end at the memory of Bella and Edward Cullen at the market with their little.. god I don't know what she is... and their basket of raw meat.

By the time Old Quil sits back down I'm wondering how no one has ever realized this sooner.


If anyone is interested in getting to know more of Quileute culture, go check out their website!

Also, please consider donating to their Move to Higher Ground project: