Bella

I waited in the shadow of the trees while Jake ran up to Emily's house, pulled some shorts from the clothesline that are apparently always readily available, and went inside. After what felt like an eternity, people started pouring out of the house looking for me. They stopped at the edge of the porch and Jacob came out the rest of the way to me with a change of clothes from Emily.

"Ok, I have some clothes for you here, but just so you know, they want to have a pack meeting when you've changed back. I'm going to go back into the house, come on in when you're ready." With that, Jake sets the pile of clothes down on a clean boulder nearby and then heads back into the house.

Trying to draw from the instructions Jake gave me about phasing back, I close my eyes, draw in a deep breath and imagine myself changing back into my human form. Then, I open my eyes and I see the mossy green forest floor beneath my bare feet. Quickly, I grab the clothes and start pulling them on. Of course, they aren't an exact fit, but they fit well enough that I won't feel awkward when I go into the house. Once I am dressed, I look at the house and see that everyone has gone back into the house, so I take a moment, breathe a calming breath and then I step out of the shadows of the tree line and make the short walk to the house. When I step inside, everyone turns to look at me. That's when I freeze. Still as a statue.

Jacob walks over to me and wraps his arm around my waist, "Well, everyone, I would like to officially introduce you to my imprint."

Emily is the first to make a move. She comes over and gives me a hug. Then she whispers in my ear, "I guess that makes you the wolf girl now." Then she shines that bright smile at me as she pulls back, "Welcome to the family, Bella."

Then, one by one, each of the guys come by to welcome me to the pack. Once everyone has welcomed me, Sam steps up and says, "Ok, well, I think it is time to address the... uh... wolf in the room." I give a nervous chuckle as he continues, "If I can get everyone to sit, we can get started." Everyone quickly finds a seat. I look around and see that there aren't any empty seats, but that's when Jacob grabs my arm and pulls me down onto his lap. I feel him kiss my shoulder, and then we focus on Sam, "As we are all well aware, the Uley family has never held the honor of being alpha, until now, when I was the first to turn, and therefore, I was made alpha. However, something has happened today that we don't quite understand, but with time, I think we will fall into a good rhythm. Now, as we know, Jacob and Bella imprinted today. But what most of you may not understand, is the importance of what has happened here today. Because Jacob is the true alpha as the sole male descendant of the Black family, there are certain responsibilities that come with that imprint. When she and Jacob are ready, they will assume the role of Alpha and mate. At that point there will be some changes. Of course, Bella has already had her first phase, but because she was not born into the pack, the only person she can hear when she's phased is Jacob. However, when they become Alpha and mate, that will change. She will begin to be able to hear each of you and vice versa. Usually, there isn't a situation where the rank of Alpha is willingly handed over, so we will need to discuss this with the council before moving forward, but I want you to show Bella a warm welcome. There will be more details and information given at a later date, but I wanted everyone to be aware of what would be happening in the coming months."

When Sam was finished talking, there really wasn't any talking or commotion as everyone was thinking over what had just been said. Sam and Emily would be stepping down, and Jacob and I would be taking our places.

Again, my head swam, only this time, I slumped back into Jake's chest. He wrapped his arms around my waist and whispered in my ear, "Hey, are you okay?"

"I'm ok, just reeling. Is there any way I could go home? I need to think through all of this for a while and talk to Charlie... There's just a lot of things I need to take the time to understand."

"Absolutely, do you want me to go with you?"

"Not right now, I'll call you later? Maybe you can come over after Charlie goes to bed?"

"Okay, sounds like a plan."

I drive back to my house, the whole while reeling from everything that has happened today. First, I find out for sure that Jacob is a wolf. Then I find out about some more of the legends of the Quileute tribe. Then, if all that weren't enough, I find out that not only am I Jacob's imprint, but that he is the true alpha which means that now I am a wolf too.

*I am a wolf too*

Just as I am pulling into the driveway, I see Charlie pull up too. *Oh, I am not ready to have this conversation. Maybe I can push it to after dinner.*

I go inside and pull out some chicken and garlic bread from the freezer, grab some fettucine noodles and alfredo sauce from the cabinet, broccoli from the fridge and canned mushrooms from the pantry. I put the chicken in a metal bowl with some warm water to help it thaw a bit before boiling it. I preheat the oven and start heating some water for the noodles, broccoli and chicken. After I boil the noodles and chicken to almost done, I chop up the chicken and put the chicken, noodles, and alfredo sauce in a oven safe pan with some broccoli and mushrooms for some added nutrition then I put it in the oven to bake. As I wait for that to warm through, I start cleaning up the dishes I already used, and my mind begins to wander.

*How is this all going to work with moving onto the reservation? What am I going to be expected to do for the pack? How will Charlie feel about me getting together with one of his best friends son? Of course, we are together for good, but he doesn't know the guarantee that we do. What kinds of questions will he ask? Am I ready to move on from Edward?*

Suddenly, it dawns on me, *What if Edward comes back and apologizes? What if he tries to get me back? Am I really ready to deal with that?*

Thankfully, it isn't long before the timer rings, and I go to stir the food, top it with mozzarella, and put the garlic bread in to cook. I set the table and let Charlie know that dinner will be ready soon.

When we finally sit down, I realize I am starving! I dish out my normal amount of food, but when I finish my portion, I realize that it did little to curb my hunger, so I go for a second helping. Then a third. By the time I dip into the dish for a fourth, Charlie stops me. "Bells, I am glad to see you eating again, but I need to know, are you okay? That is your fourth helping. Usually, you can't even stomach a second. Are you sure it's a good idea that you eat that much?

"Yeah, I am good, I promise. I am just really hungry today. I didn't realize how hungry until we sat down." I start eating the fourth helping and quickly throw in,"Oh, by the way, after dinner is all cleaned up, I need to talk to you."

"Well, nothing is really going to change between now and after dinner except location and we won't be eating, so why don't you go ahead?"

"It's ok. I can wait. I don't want to be distracted with food, clean-up or anything like that. It's pretty important."

"Uh..." Charlie looks down at my plate, "You aren't pregnant, are you? Your mom used to eat like that when she was pregnant with you."

"UGH! God! NO! That's not it, I swear!" Just the thought of possibly having the sex talk with my dad makes me want to crawl out of my skin.

"Ok, just making sure. Ok, well, I am done, so, after it's all cleaned up?"

"Yeah, after it's all cleaned up."

After my fourth serving, I finally feel full, so I start cleaning up. Once everything is washed and sitting on the drying towel to drip for a bit, I wipe my hands on my jeans and walk into the living room where Charlie is watching TV.