Disclaimer: Any recognizable Twilight characters and ideas are property of Stephenie Meyer. I am not profiting from the distribution of this story. No copyright infringement is intended.

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Welcome to all my new followers since last chapter. Good to have you here!

Before we move on to the fun stuff, I do need to get some nasty business out of the way. Constructive criticism is always helpful for an author, but flames are unnecessary and intended to offend. Reviews on fire will be ignored.

Now, on to what you're all here for! Here comes chapter twelve!

From Chapter 11: Green White Flag –

I shut the door behind me and headed towards my own room. The sooner I could pack up all my crap, the sooner I could corner Jake and get some real answers about happened to my little girl.

Chapter Twelve: The Spirit Warrior & the Mighty Wolf

Present Day

Charlie POV

The nagging pull in my stomach got worse the closer I got to La Push. I knew I had to get there if I wanted to be safe and finally get the straight story right from the horse's mouth, but that didn't stop the feeling that my being here was stomping all over their privacy. It really didn't seem right of me to come barreling onto their land at a time like this. And no one needed me hovering around when they were trying to nurse Quill and Paul back to health, either. If the circumstances were any different at all, I would have given them all the space they needed to grieve and heal.

And yet, here I was almost at Billy's house—or Jake's house now, I guess—with my duffle bag tossed in the backseat. For as much as I really didn't want to intrude, I had learned a pretty serious lesson those weeks ago out in the woods. As tough as I thought I was as a cop, I wasn't gonna be able to stand against whatever had been making those noises in the trees. The same ones who were more than likely responsible for Embry and Collin's deaths.

The ones who were like the Cullens.

That had been the one thing I'd been obsessing over more than anything since getting off the phone with Carlisle. The whole damn time I was stuffing clothes into my bag, I couldn't stop myself from comparing what I knew about the Cullens to what I'd found out the hard way about the monsters in the woods. Those creatures that had ended two lives so young were clearly something not right, and they weren't anything like the kind of perps I dealt at the station. I wasn't one to throw around the "evil" word very easily, but damned if I couldn't think of a better way to describe some of the things I had firsthand experience with, now.

But I was struggling to find a way to connect them to the Cullen family. Some of the kids I didn't know as well. But as for the rest of them, they were some of the kindest folks I'd met. Carlisle was a doctor, for God's sake. A damn good one, at that. Of course, Edward was strange and like any teenage boy I'd ever met, and he was a dick for breaking Bella's heart into a million pieces when he took off on us for months. But that kid did love my daughter.

The Cullens were weird. There was no doubting that. But killers?

No. I couldn't accept that.

There was the whole faking my daughter's death…thing. But if I were being honest with myself, could I really call it evil? Self-serving, dishonest, and cruel I could agree to. But evil? I could be as pissed off as I wanted to be with them and Bella—and I absolutely was—but my gut just couldn't call them evil.

So the question became whether or not I should really trust my instincts. I couldn't have missed the mark that hard on my judgment of character. At least, that's sure what I hoped. Billy trusted the Cullens enough to make a treaty with them, so that his verdict on them was going to have to be enough for me, for the moment. I only hoped whatever it was Jake had to say would clear things up a little bit more.

When I got close enough to the house to see it, I could make out Jake sitting on the stoop waiting for me. His injuries didn't look any less startling to me, even though I had only seen him a little while ago. If it weren't for that miracle drug that could completely cure him in just a few days, I'd be really concerned about that shoulder.

As I swung into the drive, Jake stood and held up his good hand to get me to stop. He gestured for me to roll down my window. "Hey, Charlie."

"Change of plans?"

Jake looked down the road and nodded. "Looking like it, yeah. Mind driving over to Rach's with me to…do this? We're all kinda meeting there, and I should really go, but—"

"—but you're not leaving me alone," I finished for him. He nodded and looked a little hesitant, so I added, "Not a problem. I get it. Let's go."

His eyebrows damn near shot into his hairline, but he just said, "Oh, well, yeah. Okay. Thanks for understanding."

"Yeah, well…Alright, don't just stand there. You owe me a hell of a lot of answers, son."

Jake smirked. "Sure sure, Charlie. And thank you. You got the…you know, them to come help. Least I can do is stopping fucking lying to you."

Now you're talking, kid. Now you're talking.

As he came around to the other side of my car, Jacob noticed my duffle sitting on the backseat. He opened the backdoor and said, "Here, I'm just gonna run this inside real quick."

"Jake, you don't have to do that. You're—" I tried to say, but he was already dragging it out with his good arm.

"Nah, it's fine. Hold on."

I watched him carefully walk my bag up to the house and toss it just inside the open door. His gait was definitely off as he headed back to the car. It was probably the slowest I'd seen him move in quite some time. Maybe ever. Really needed the Elders to heal him soon. He hurt my eyes looking at him like this.

Jake pulled open the car door and plopped himself carefully next to me. I saw him look back and forth between the seat belt and me a couple times before I figured I should step in. "Don't worry about it, kid." He cocked an eyebrow at me, and I added, "You're in pretty rough shape, and we're not going far. This is my squad car. I get to make my own damn rules."

"Whatever you say, Chief."

As I threw the car in reverse and backed onto the road, I couldn't help but smile. His dad had been calling me Chief since long before Jake had been born. Not sure what made him decide to toss it at me today, but it felt pretty damn good hearing it, again. I could see him out of the corner of my eye looking at me for some sign that he hadn't stepped in it using Billy's name for me, so just tossed a smirk at him and headed towards Rachel's house.

It wasn't until I thought about why they were all gathered at the house that I could feel the lighthearted air get sucked right out of the car. I saw Jake grab onto his injured arm and look down at his lap. Guess he felt the shift in mood, too.

The drive wasn't far to Rachel's so I figured I should ask my first question fast. "Hey, Jake? How are Paul and Quil doing now that you got them…settled?"

Jake took a shaky breath. "We're out of the woods."

"I sense a but, there."

"Yeah, well," Jake said. He stopped to shrug and gather himself a little bit. "It's still not good. Quil has finally been in and out of consciousness a couple times since the guys got him back here. He asked about what happened. They didn't…you know…tell him anything, but the guys said he just knew. And…he didn't handle it well. Paul still hasn't woken up."

"Well, it hasn't been that long. I mean, he's going to get better? Right? The Elders will fix him up. That-that's what they do? Heal you guys?"

Jake was quiet for a moment before saying, "Not how that works, Charlie."

I didn't know what to say to that. Something told me however it did work was part of the longer truth that was about to be spilled all over the place. So instead of pushing, I just said, "It's going to work out. It has to."

"Yeah. I'm sure it will," he said, even though I'm pretty sure neither of us completely believed that.

The scene at Rachel and Paul's was pretty crowded as I pulled my car over to the side of the road. We were parked far enough away that we could see the backyard fairly easily. It seemed as though Billy and Harry's fondness for a good bonfire hadn't ended with their generation. Even though it was midday, some of the guys and their wives were sitting close to its warmth just like we'd always done in the cool spring months.

In the front yard, Seth was taking it pretty good from one of the boys I didn't know very well—Brady, I think. Not sure what Seth had done to piss him off, but Brady was in his face about whatever it was.

"Go on out back," Jake said, already opening the door. "I'm gonna head inside real fast to check with Rach about how Paul is doing."

The door closed behind him, and I was about to get out of the car myself when something about Jacob made me stop to watch him. It wasn't anything obvious, so I couldn't even be sure what made me freeze up. I couldn't put my finger on it, but he was just different. Brady must have also felt it because he laid off Seth the second he saw Jake walking up the drive. Jacob gave him a quick slap on the shoulder as passed, and both of the boys followed him into the house.

"Why do I have a feeling I'm not in Kansas anymore, Toto?" I mumbled to myself as I finally undid my belt and got out of the car to head out back.

The group sitting on log benches around the bonfire looked as though the last two weeks had taken a hefty toll. Not necessarily just in a physical way, although Jared, Leah, and Sam looked about as crappy as Jake did with gashes and bruises all over the place. Emily, who I knew had been incredibly worried the last time I saw her, didn't seem much better. She was wrapped around Sam like she was trying to shield him from the world.

Leah watched me come closer for a while, and then said, "Well, that didn't take Jacob very long, huh?"

"Leah," Sam said.

"You're not the boss of me anymore, Sam. Butt the fuck out," she said. "This isn't right."

My curiosity had hit critical mass long ago, but I had to begrudgingly agree with what Leah was saying. It was exactly what I had been afraid of the entire drive over. "Guys, look, it's okay. I can go. The last thing you all need is me in your hair at a time like this."

"Stay. Please."

I must have looked as shocked as I felt because Sam continued, "Whether or not some of us want to admit it, maybe if we had just gotten some things out in the open and brought the Cullens here—"

"Fucking leeches," Leah muttered.

Jared rolled his eyes. "Goddammit, Leah, lay off for two seconds. God," he said as Kim nodded against his chest.

Leah picked up a small rock and tossed it into the fire, making the wood collapse in on itself a bit. "I'm not the only one who thinks this way."

"Yeah, but you're the only one who won't shut up about it," Jared said.

"Because you all are fucking crazy! He shouldn't be here!" Leah said, pointing at me. "What Jacob is about to do is messed up on so many levels. I can't just sit here and let it happen."

Sam sighed, "Then don't sit here. Go inside, Leah."

"Fine," she said, standing so quickly that she wobbled back and forth. Kim reached out to steady her, but Leah snapped, "Don't help me! It's fine. I'll be inside with the other sane people. You all can dig your own fucking graves out here."

We watched her grab her beer and storm off towards the house before Sam said, "Sorry about her. Try not to take too much offense. She's been on edge for the last two months. Lots going on."

I shrugged as I plopped myself down on a log across the fire from where the rest of the group was sitting. "Not a big deal. Thanks," I said to Sam, who handed me a nice, cold Vitamin R. "Who was she talking about? Rachel?"

Sam nodded. "Mmm-hmm. And her mom."

Oh. Sue. I should have figured as much.

"Makes sense," I said. "She never did want me getting too close, I think."

"I wouldn't say that. More like she worries about you a lot," Sam said before taking a swig of his beer.

I definitely didn't know how to respond to that, so I cracked open my own beer and took a long pull of it to give myself something to do. Emily wasn't going to let me get off that easily, though. "She's not the only one who worries about you," she told me with a small smile.

You couldn't find 'em much sweeter than that girl, but I wasn't really great with the touchy feely stuff. I tipped my can towards Emily to acknowledge her and then tried to change the subject. "Sam, what were you saying before?"

"Just that we have gotten in way over our heads, which is something I blame myself for. And in the end, we wound up losing two of our brothers because we were acting alone. That's not ever something we can take back."

Jared put his head in one of his hand, and I saw his shoulders begin to shake while Kim wrapped her arm tighter around them. A sick feeling settled in my gut looking at them. I knew that the creatures in the woods that day on both sides were not something that I could have faced, but it seemed completely unfair that there was literally nothing I could do to help.

"I don't like this. I don't like any of this," I finally said. "There should be some way to, I don't know, throw the book at these….people that did this."

Sam's eyes bugged out. "Charlie, you—"

"I know. I know," I said as I held up my hands in surrender. "There's not. I get it. But I hate that there's nothing I can do in my world to bring these assholes to justice for what they did."

"You don't need to do anything, Charlie," Jake said from behind me. "It's taken care of."

I turned towards the house and saw Jake leading Seth, Brady, and Leah towards the fire. Well, he was leading the boys, anyway. Seth had a pretty good hold on his sister's arm and was pulling her along. She didn't look too pleased to be coming right back out here.

"What do you mean, 'It's taken care of?'" I asked.

The others took seats on the logs next to and across from me, but Jake stayed standing. He looked at Sam, who just shrugged. "Jacob, what do you mean by taken care of?" I repeated.

"It's kind of a long story, Charlie. Let's start at the beginning, alright?"

Jacob dropped slowly onto the log across the fire from mine. "Before we get into it, can we say a couple quick words about Collin and-and Embry?" he asked. Seeing everyone nodding, he raised a beer. "Dad always used to say that the greatest warriors would go into the final lands as heroes and get everything they ever wanted. So, to Collin and Embry—may they be surrounded with women, food, and Xboxes until we get there to give 'em hell. We'll miss you guys."

Everyone called out a quick salute of their own before taking a long gulp of beer. Jake lowered his drink and took a shaky breath. Seth, who was sitting next to him, reached over and patted his back good a few times. Seeing them with each other made a lump the size of a marker buoy swell up in my throat. Out of the corner of my eye, that could have been a very young Billy and Harry comforting each other in front of the fire. I still couldn't believe the two of them were gone.

After a few more quiet moments passed, Jake began, "Charlie, we all wanna to thank you again for getting the Cullens here so quickly. I'm not sure how we would have contacted them without your help."

"Maybe if someone hadn't chucked Carlisle's number in the fire to begin with," Seth mumbled and glared at Sam.

"Wait, Carlisle gave you a way to call him, and you…you burned it?" I asked.

Sam nodded. "He did. In case there was ever an emergency in the area."

"Like this one?" Seth asked, the sarcasm practically oozing out of his mouth.

Seth had sat down right next to Jacob, which combined with his running commentary, made it clear whose side he'd taken. He was very much his father's son. Harry had been fairly carefree and rolled with the punches. But once you pissed him off, he'd have no problem telling you about yourself.

Sam sighed. "It was ultimately my decision. And at the time, it seemed like the smart thing to do. I just wanted them gone and my people safe."

"You fucked up," Jake said.

After a moment of staring into the fire, Sam nodded. "Yeah. I fucked up."

The kids all looked lost in their thoughts and beers as I fought back the flaring embers of anger about to blow up into an all-out fire at any second. Carlisle had given them a way to contact the family. Well, that lovely. Would have been wonderful if he had given me that same curtesy. And to top it off, Sam just burned it like it meant nothing.

I took a long sip of Rainier to settle my thoughts down before my anger could get the best of me. We needed to get this show on the road to distract me, and in any case, I was done waiting. "Hey, Jacob?" He looked up at me. "We done stalling, now?"

"Sure sure," he answered with the tiniest smirk.

Jacob gestured to Sam to start things off, but Sam just shook his head and motioned right back. I was pretty sure I didn't need any proof that Jake had finally taken his father's wishes to heart and stepped up to the plate.

Good for him.

After taking a deep breath, Jake began, "Okay so, before we get started, some of the guys—"

Emily cleared her throat loudly and Leah muttered something under her breath I couldn't hear. Jake sighed and continued, "Right, uh, some of us still aren't sure this is the best decision for…the pack…or for you."

I raised my eyebrow. "The pack?"

"Well, yeah," Jake said, dragging a hand through his hair. "So, I need to put something out there. Just food for thought before we start. We can't promise you that things are gonna be any easier once you hear the truth. Actually, the only thing we can promise you is that you'll be in a lot of danger knowing what you'll know."

"Not from us, Charlie," Sam interrupted.

Jake nodded. "Oh, right. Yeah, not from us. But there are definitely others that wouldn't feel the same way about you knowing."

"Like the Cullens. Carlisle didn't seem too happy that you guys hadn't put a lid on me," I said.

Jake laughed once at that. "As if anyone could. No, the Cullens—"

"Jacob," Sam interrupted, again. "Careful."

"Yeah, I know," he said. They had a glare-off for a few really uncomfortable seconds before Jacob turned back towards me. "I doubt that they're happy with us for our part in this whole mess, but it's not them that are a danger to you. Well, at least for what you know."

What the fuck did that mean? So they were a danger in other ways?

He must have seen that I was floundering trying to think of words —any words —to say, because Jake leaned in closer and said, "Point is…knowing bits and pieces is a hell of a lot different than knowing what's really up. And on top of the danger, things won't just magically start making sense. You'll probably have a lot more questions once you have the answers. I know I promised you I'd tell you everything, but I might need to defer to the Cullens on some stuff. So you need to really make sure this is what you want."

I could understand where Jake was coming from, but was a little fear really going to make me take enough pause after coming this far to back off? Didn't seem likely.

"Look, Charlie, as for me? I think you'll handle it no problem," Jake said.

"Here, here," Seth agreed. I could see Jared nodding along with Kim, and even Sam gave me a small smile.

Jake sighed. "It is very dangerous, but the reality is that you're going to wind up in more situations like you did a few weeks ago if we don't give it up. Dad always said you were a stubborn ass when you set your mind to something."

"He was one to talk, kid," I muttered.

"Definitely not wrong," Jacob said with a laugh before his face got all serious again. "Alright, so I just need to hear that this is really what you want. Once it's out, I can't undo it."

I rolled my eyes and sat back. Was he serious with that question?

Apparently he was because Jake just sat there looking at me expectantly. "Oh, for the love of God, yes."

There was that smirk, again. "Well, I guess that's it then."

A few long moments passed with nothing to fill up the space but the sound of the fire popping away in front of us. I didn't know what Jacob was waiting for, but I was more than willing to give him a little bit of time to suck it up if it meant finally getting some answers.

Finally Jake said, "All right, I guess if I'm the one who broke the treaty the first time doing this, makes sense I'm the one to do it again."

"Let's not go quite that far this time, Jake," Sam suggested.

Their eyes met for a moment. Jake just nodded and said, "All right, all right. Well, here goes nothing, then."

Jake turned in his seat towards me. I noticed that he used both arms to brace himself as he spun closer. Did he even realize his shoulder was already feeling better enough to be able to do that? "Okay, I know you already know my dad loved to tell his stories."

I laughed and took a couple gulps of my beer. "Yeah, that he did, son. No matter how many times we'd heard 'em."

"And he talked about the wolves a lot, right?"

"He did. Jake, if this is going somewhere—"

"Charlie, just…" Jake started. "Christ, this isn't exactly easy….Okay, did my dad ever tell you about how the wolves began protecting the tribe?"

Even though I hadn't thought about it in years, I knew Billy had told me the legend of how the wolves came to be. He'd made such a damn stink about it at the time, but by the end of the night, I'd had one too many Rainiers to recall too much of it by morning. "Uh, he did. Once. I don't remember a whole lot of the legend though, to be honest."

Jake shrugged. "Not a problem. I'll start from the top and maybe you'll start remembering it as we go. Just promise us that you won't speak a word of this to anyone outside of us here."

"Yep. Got it."

"Charlie, please," Jacob said.

Something in his tone of voice disarmed me. "Yeah, alright, kid. I promise. I'll keep the secret."

Jacob's story started off just like one I'd heard the summer after my first vacation with Bella to California. There was something about the sound of the fire crackling in front of us, the cold beer in my hand, and the chilly spring air that took me right back in time. It was easy to believe I was sitting in front of the fire with Billy and Harry listening for the first time to the legend of a man who protected his people, but didn't have a body.

July 2002

The sun still hadn't set behind the clouds by the time I finally pulled into Billy's driveway just after seven, but getting out of the airport had taken a hell of a lot longer than I'd planned. I walked behind the house and saw the fire pit already going strong. Harry was fussing over a grill while Billy was trying his best to get underfoot and annoy. Seeing him in that chair was still gonna take some getting used to, but if he was going to goof around and have a grand old time, then I figured I should try to get over myself quickly for him.

Billy saw me coming and cracked a huge grin. "Hey, look what the cat dragged in. Missed you around here, Chief. You're just in time for some eats."

I caught the Vitamin R he slung at me and raised it at him. "Thanks, man. Sorry I'm so late. We were delayed a couple hours with some gate issues in San Diego. Good thing Isabella thought to put a few hours in between the trip to SeaTac and Phoenix otherwise the kid wouldn't have made her plane."

"Why did she fly all the way to Seattle with you, just to turn around and get on a plane back south to Phoenix?" Billy asked. "I didn't know that was the plan."

"Seems like a lot of extra money, wasn't it?" Harry asked over his shoulder as he threw together our burgers for us.

The look on Isabella's face as she got ready to head towards her second flight was still fresh in my mind. Between the time we got on our flight to Seattle and the time we said goodbye, she'd quizzed me three different times about how to get out of the terminal and where to go to hail a taxi home. As I carried Billy's and my plates over to the fire, I said, "Yeah, she was pretty worried about me flying into SeaTac on my own. Even was going to pay for the extra trip out here with allowance money she'd gotten from Renee. I tried to talk her out of flying with me, but man, she's a stubborn ox about things when she wants to be."

Billy turned to Harry. "Stubborn ox? Remind you of anyone else we know?"

I scowled as Harry laughed and said, "No, no. You leave me out of it, this time."

"Yeah, yeah. Whatever. Just you wait until Jacob gets old enough to start acting like you, old man. We'll see who's laughing, then," I muttered before taking a huge bite out of my burger. "Fine work at the grill, my friend."

Harry toasted me with his own burger as he sat down. "Did you expect anything less?"

I rolled my eyes at him. Humble and Harry didn't exactly go hand in hand.

"So how did the vacation thing in California work out? Did Isabella have fun?" Billy asked.

"Uh, had a nice time and everything, but it's good to be back home. California is too bright. I missed my rainclouds and my pines. Simple man with simple needs," I said. I raised my beer and took a swig. "And actually, on a side note, she's going by 'Bella' now. Poor kid didn't even correct me until a week in. Still taking some getting used to, to be honest."

Billy pulled a face. "Really? Bella? Huh. I always liked Isabella."

You and me both.

I nodded. "Ah, but you know. She's figuring things out, as kids do. Anyway, Bella seemed happier going on vacation there than coming here for the summer, so…"

Truth be told, it downright sucked that Isabella hadn't wanted to spend the whole summer in Forks with her old man, but I guess I could understand. There wasn't a whole lot to do around here if you weren't the outdoorsy type, and she definitely wasn't the outdoorsy type. Still, it would have been nice to have seen my little girl for more than a couple weeks before having to send her back to her mom.

As long as she's happy. It's all that matters.

"But Isabella, or uh, Bella is doing all right?" Harry asked.

My head snapped up and met Harry and Billy's laughing eyes. Guess I'd been lost somewhere in my thoughts longer than I thought. Jackasses, the both of them. "You know she is. That kid, you guys. I seriously don't know how she's mine. Thirteen going on thirty. Every time I see her, she seems a little smarter than the last."

"Like her old man," Billy said again, but this time I didn't feel the urge to throw my beer at him.

"Maybe," I said quietly.

"I'm sorry you didn't have much time with her this summer, Charlie," Billy said. "You know that you'll always have family here on the rez, right? We'll be here no matter what."

I didn't look up from my plate, but I gave Billy a good, long nod so he knew I heard him. "Anything new and exciting around here?"

Harry shook his head. "Nah. Same old, same old. Kids are home with Sue. This guy actually pawned his girls off on her, too."

"Sure did," Billy said with a mouthful of burger. "And Jake is over at Embry's with Little Quil. Stuck like glue, those three."

For the rest of dinner, we bullshitted away like we always did. I hadn't gotten much chance to watch my Mariners while I was out, but I knew from being in California that they'd gotten owned by the Angels in two separate series. Harry and Billy caught me up, but then wound up arguing back and forth about what they thought was the cause of so many Ls coming off the All-Star break.

A couple rounds of beers and burgers later, the sun had set and the mood had shifted a little bit around the fire. I wasn't sure what was going on, but Billy was shifting around all over the place across from me. "You okay over there, chief?" I asked.

Billy gestured for Harry to go grab us each some more Vitamin R, and then said, "Sure sure. Just been doing some thinking, lately. Missed you these last couple weeks. When did you get to be such a permanent lawn ornament down here?"

"Long before that hair of yours got those rad highlights," I said, taking another swig of beer.

Billy laughed and ran a hand over the hair that was mostly black with just a few gray hairs slipping in here and there. "Don't count me out yet, chief. Plenty of black ones still left." He sobered quickly and said, "But seriously, your absence was felt here. I meant what I said earlier. You're one of ours. Always have been, seems like. While you were gone, I spoke to the other Elders about sharing with you one of our earliest stories. There's much about it I they won't let me speak of, but it would mean a lot to me and Harry here if you'd let us share what we can."

"Preferably without comments from the peanut gallery," Harry added.

I usually liked to have a bit of fun with them, especially Billy, about some of the tribe's more colorful legends. It wasn't that I didn't respect their history. Billy was just always so damn serious when telling his stories that I usually couldn't help myself after a few too many Rainiers.

This time was different, though. The tension in the air was thick, and I knew better than to press my luck. "Noted," I said and leaned back in my lawn chair.

"Not that I think you ever have, but you know that these stories aren't for your other friends' ears," Billy said.

I smirked. "What other friends? I spend more time here than I do my own house."

"Charlie, please."

"Yeah, yeah. My lips are sealed."

When he spoke, Billy's voice had taken on the same lower quality he always used when reciting the tribe's stories to us. I may poke fun at him, but I secretly loved listening to my friend play storyteller. He was damn good at it. "Charlie, you know we have been a small people from the time we settled into the harbor. Many have wondered why such a small nation continues to thrive and prosper across the years. The answer is simple. We have magic in our blood."

Billy raised his eyebrow just the tiniest bit in a dare, but I wasn't a trout in early morning waters. That was one piece of bait I wasn't gobbling up. He seemed happy enough that I left it alone, because he continued to spin his tell his tales. This one was definitely different than the ones he'd told so many times before. In those, there were wolves that ran along side of the Quileutes and protected the tribe. This time, Billy's stories were about warriors that learned how to leave their bodies to fight on the spiritual plane, and one chief actually got stuck there.

"Taha Aki protected our tribe, always watching from just beyond their sight, but it was not without great personal cost. Utlapa found where Taha Aki hid his body on his journeys to the spirit plane and took it for himself."

"What about his own body?" I asked.

Billy frowned. "Killed it. When he was in Taha Aki's body, he made sure to destroy his old one and made his people promise to never return to the spiritual plane again. He warned them he'd foreseen great danger, but in reality he was scare Taha Aki would explain to them what had really happened. And so this continued—Utlapa pretending to be the chief and Taha Aki trapped on the spirit plane forced to walk it for eternity. After a time, he'd been away from his body so long that it caused him much suffering—emotionally agonizing as much as physically. Imagine being utterly alone on a spirit walk, able to see those you loved, but never able to touch them. Never able to communicate with them. Not able to warn them that someone selfish and dangerous had taken over. Imagine, too, the disorientating sensation of being without physical form and how that would wear on your sanity."

I shook my head. "I'd have gone crazy a few times over."

"Precisely," Billy said. "But Taha Aki was strong. He resisted insanity, but suffered greatly. Such was his existence in service of his people until one day, he realized that a great wolf that followed him had what he didn't—a physical body. Taha Aki asked him if he could make room to share his body, and the wolf consented. From that day forward, Taha Aki had a body to run and breathe with."

After a moment staring into the fire, Billy continued, "Taha Aki won back the tribe even though he looked more like a wolf than a man. His people recognized him in the great beast's eyes and turned on the false chief. Utlapa was destroyed, and Taha Aki led his people for many years to come. Thus began our peoples' kinship with the wolf, never one without the other. Even today, it's said that my people are one with our brother wolf. They are forever a part of us, and they will fiercely protect the tribe until the end days. "

I took a long sip of my beer to polish it off and stayed quiet for a minute. Normally, I would have fired off some bullshit comment by now, but I had been good and warned. Besides, I wasn't going to admit it, but I felt damn honored that they had chosen to tell me this one that seemed to be pretty important to them. So I just nodded and said, "Thanks for sharing that, man." I gestured to my empty. "Now toss me another one, huh?"

Present Day

"Uh, Charlie? Did you hear a word I said?

Jacob's voice snapped me out of the memory I'd gotten lost in, and I wondered how long I'd been out of it. Being back here around a fire made me feel like it was just yesterday.

I cringed and rubbed the back of my neck. "Well, not exactly. Sorry, kid. I was just remembering when your dad told me this story."

He exchanged a look with Sam. "So you do remember it?"

"I guess I do. Your dad told me that in the legends, some of the early Quileutes, they uh, they could leave their bodies run on a spirit plane?" Jake and Seth were both smiling and gesturing for me to continue. I guess I was on the right track. "One day, there was a chief. I can't remember his name—"

"Taha Aki," Sam said.

I nodded. "Yeah, Taha Aki. He was struggling because he didn't have a body for a long time, but I don't remember why."

"Utlapa stole his body from him to take over as chief without anyone knowing," Jake said. "Taha Aki was left without one for a long time."

"Oh, yeah. I kinda remember that part," I said. "So then I think Billy said that after a while, a wolf came along and let Taha Aki share his body?"

The boys around the fire nodded to encourage me to continue, but I shrugged. "That's all I got. He said Taha Aki led his people for many years. Like as a wolf? So are his descendants the ones that are out there helping you fight? Wolves, but smart like us? You gotta help me out with this one. Billy loved his stories, and they were always rooted in some sort of truth. So what am I missing something, here? I feel like there was more to the story. Billy had said that he couldn't get into all the details."

"He couldn't. But we can," Jacob said as Leah rolled her eyes and said something under her breath.

"There was definitely more to the story, man," Seth said. "You ready for it?"

My stomach clenched up. Oh God, was I? A month ago, I probably would have been chomping at the bit for more, but everything that happened in the woods behind the Cullens' was enough to actually make me hesitate for just a second. After sucking in a deep breath, I pushed that tiny speck of fear down as far as it would go. "Sure, kid. I think so."

Jacob opened his mouth, but closed it quickly and scrunched up his face. After trying a couple more times, he dropped his head into his hands and said into them, "Okay, this is a little harder than it looks. I'm not sure where to start."

"Want some help for this next part?" Sam asked.

"Thank God, yes," Jake said as he sat back up. "Are you…I mean, is that okay?"

Sam waved him off. "Don't worry about it, Jake."

Whatever it was going on between the two of them, at least it wasn't so bad that they were constantly at each other's throats. Billy wanted Jacob to step up and take his place in the tribe, but I knew he wouldn't have wanted to do it at the cost of everyone having to take sides.

"You asked if it's Taha Aki's descendants that still protect us," Sam said. "You're right. It is them out there, but you're missing one last piece of the puzzle. Taha Aki killed Utlapa so his people would be free of their false chief, but what Billy left off his story years ago was how that happened."

Sam stopped talking long enough that I felt the need to roll my eyes and hurry him up with my hand. "I know you're impatient, Charlie. Please understand that Jake wasn't lying before. Telling it to someone who doesn't know the truth is very hard. I never had to do it. Billy always passed on the full story when it was time."

"What do you mean, 'When it was time?'" I asked.

"Perhaps it would be easier if I just…" Sam gestured with his hand to keep going. "Taha Aki was furious with Utlapa. Not only had he taken his body and their tribe by force, he had just killed Yut, who had been the only man to recognize him in the wolf's body. Taha Aki was so angry that he wanted Utlapa dead. He jumped into the wolf's body again, but this time was different. The wolf couldn't handle the human emotions—the anger Taha Aki had and the love he felt for his people. Magic merged man and wolf to truly become one. Taha Aki was made completely new. He was stronger and perfected. Not only that, the wolf was still one with him. This time, rather than taking over its body, Taha Aki had the power of the wolf. He fought off Utlapa easily in his new form and led our people for many years."

I waited for more and when there wasn't any, I said, "So…he was as strong as a wolf?"

Sam lifted his chin. "Not just as strong as the wolf, Charlie."

"Come on, man. You've got this," Seth added.

Realization seemed like it was pulling on me just outside my peripheral vision. Everything wanted badly to click, but I was having trouble fitting everything together. Or maybe I was trying to avoid what was right in front of me. Their descendants had the power of the wolf. They weren't some kind of expert wildlife trainers. They actually took their power.

Not just as strong as the wolf.

Come on. Come on.

Jake must have seen how close I was written all over my face because he finally helped me out. "When you and I met in the woods that day, you were so close to the truth. You were right—I was out there with the wolves trying to track down…well trying to track down something. But the point of the story isn't that we control the wolves. We are the wolves."

And there it was.

A part of me knew it. Maybe had known it since that day in the woods when everything got turned around.

They're wolves?

Jacob is a wolf?

Jacob is a wolf.

Jacob is a wolf.

Why did this all make sense? How had I not completely flipped out by now? Changing from humans to big dogs and back again? That was…not at all normal. I knew that. Just thinking it seemed absolutely fucking insane.

Clearly, they were insane.

But it explained so much. Maybe it was the truth.

Something was making a loud whooshing sound and making it harder and harder to think, but I was kinda proud of myself. I was pretty sure I was handling this like a champ.

"Uhhh, Charlie? You okay?"

Jake pointed at my chest, and I realized that it was heaving up and down with each loud breath. That ruckus had been me?

Okay, well maybe I wasn't quite as smooth as I'd thought.

I scrubbed a hand over my face and tried to get some control over my breathing. "Yeah, kid. Uh…" I felt all eyes on me and looked up across the fire at them. Minus Leah, they all looked so damned eager for me to say something.

Too bad I had nothing.

"Guys, I…I don't know what to say here."

Jacob smirked. "I know. It's a lot."

"A lot? Jake…a lot?" I asked, hearing that breathing going again. "A lot is finding out someone is pregnant or that you've won a thousand bucks on a scratch off or that you're getting a huge promotion at work." A movement in my peripheral grabbed my attention. I pointed at Emily. "I might be two seconds away from the going clear round the bend, but I'm still a cop. Don't think I missed that hand of yours move, Emily. Congrats?"

Emily raised her eyebrows and smiled as Sam placed his hand over the one she'd moved over her belly while I was ranting and raving. "Thank you, Charlie."

I turned back to Jacob. "Those things. Those things are a lot. A lot is not finding out that your best friends' kids can-can turn into dogs—"

"Wolves," Jared corrected me.

"Fine. Wolves. I mean…How is that even possible?"

Jacob shrugged. "You heard the story. That's all we know. Ever since Taha Aki joined with his wolves, descendants of his line have been able to shift, too. Usually three or so at a time."

"Descendants…Does that mean…Since you and Seth are…Your dads, uh, did they ever…you know…" I asked.

I braced myself for impact. Nothing would really change knowing Billy and Harry became wolves when I wasn't around, but at the same time, everything would change. I wasn't sure how I would handle hearing that there was this huge part of their lives I hadn't been a part of.

"Nah, Dad and Harry never shifted," Jake said as I felt my shoulders relax. "But my great-grandpa could when he was chief. Seth and Leah's, too."

"Yeah, our dad never shifted, but he would have made one badass wolf, right Leah?" Seth asked, nudging his sister.

Leah rolled her eyes. "I'm here because I have to be, not because I think this is in any way the right choice. Leave me out of this."

Jake mouthed, "Sorry," as Seth rolled his eyes hard at his sister.

"Not that I'm not happy they didn't…shift?" I said as the boys nodded. "But why didn't they? I mean, you said all the descendants could."

"Jacob, tread lightly," Sam said before Jake could say anything.

Ah, now there was something familiar—Sam telling Jake to watch his mouth. But I had to wonder exactly how much pull he still had. Things definitely seemed different with Jacob stepping into the leadership role.

"Yeah, yeah. I know," Jacob muttered. "Okay. Why didn't Dad and Harry shift? So, we're not completely sure how everything works. No one's written a book on the ins and outs, ya know? From what we've seen, the gene only activates when there's a threat in the area. If our land and our people are in danger, anyone the right age starts to shift one by one."

"Kinda like a failsafe," I said. Maybe I was crazy, but it actually made sense. "So when Billy and Harry were the right age to starting turning into…"

Still couldn't say it.

"Wolves," Sam said for me.

"Yeah, uh…you know...when they were that age, there weren't any threats?"

Jake shook his head. "Nope. Things were pretty quiet for a couple generations."

"But then something must have started happening? Something bad?" Jake's eyebrows shot up as I continued, "You said there'd only usually be three of them at once, right? Threats in the area made more of you shift? There's…well there's a lot more of you than three, right now. You said it was pretty quiet for a while, but it seems like whatever is out there is a bigger threat than ever before."

Seth pumped his fist at me with a grin while the rest of them said there in silence. I said, "Look, guys. I may have moss for brains when it comes to some of this mystical crap, but I'm still a cop. And it wasn't that hard to figure out once I had all the pieces."

"It's not that we forgot, Charlie. You just…You just handle the weird pretty well," Jake said.

"Sure as hell doesn't feel like I am."

Jake smiled. "Nah, you're good. Reminds me of another Swan I knew way back when."

My face flushed hot. "Better leave Bells outta this for right now, kid. We'll be having words about that later."

When I can address it without being in danger of clocking you good.

"Sorry."

Damn right he'd better be sorry. I wasn't born yesterday. I'd figured out ages ago that Bella must have known the whole damn story, and I was starting to think I was staring at the horse's mouth it had come from with all that talk of breaking the treaty the first time. There would be plenty of time for my hot head to show up and kick some ass if Jake had dragged her into all this.

But first, I still needed some damn answers.

"So?" I asked. "Does not mean I'm right? Something big was happening?"

"You don't give up, huh?" Jake asked. "I guess, yeah, that's basically how it was. Like I said, things had been pretty quiet around here for a long time, but activity has been pretty high for about six or seven years."

"Activity?"

Jake shifted around on his log, but answered me with a nod, anyway.

About a million other questions starting popping up in my head. I felt like I was coming in at the end of the story and trying to backtrack so I could catch everything I missed wasn't going to be easy. There'd been supernatural crap going on just under my nose for years, and to top it off, I knew there was no way this wasn't all tied up with the Cullens. I just needed to get my head around this wolf crap so I could start connecting the dots.

As I fidgeted and leaned my elbows on my thighs, I said "Alright. I have about a million questions, and I think I need to start by backing up the truck and starting with some basics. Should I just…"

"Do your worst, Charlie," Seth said with a lopsided grin.

Leah sighed. "Yeah. Yeah. Sure. Just let it all hang out. I'm sure this is gonna end really well for us when the leeches get here. Just because Billy fucked up—"

"Watch it," Jacob said with an edge in his voice.

Her brother leaned towards her. "Yeah, come on, Leah. Just…don't."

"Stay out of this, Seth," Leah said. "Are any of you going to pay attention to the elephant in the room, or are we just gonna sit here for the rest of the day letting Charlie play Twenty Questions: Wolf Edition and ignoring the fact that there are four people who should be sitting around this fire and aren't?"

When no one said anything, she kept on going. "We should be strategizing. The leeches are on their way and do we have a plan? No. We're sitting here twiddling our fingers until the fucking Cullens come to save us. We're really going to let that happen? That's what this pack has come to?"

"We can't do this alone," Jake said. "We tried. It didn't fucking work! What more do you want?"

"What more do I want? How about rather than sitting on our asses, we come up with a fucking plan before they're on our land and in our fucking faces. We don't need saving. We have never needed saving. We just need to kick some hard, stony ass back into Hell. Someone needs to pay. Embry and Collin are dead. We have to bury them. And we're doing nothing about it. Sitting around a goddamn fire crying over our beers and sharing all our secrets is a waste of fucking time."

No one said anything. I'm pretty sure my mouth was hanging wide open, but at least I wasn't alone.

"Dude," Seth said. "Too far, Lee."

"Not far enough, ass."

"Stop it, Leah," said Brady.

Leah laughed. "Oh shut the hell up, whelp. Leave this to the grownups."

Sam sighed. "Leah, go help your mom with Paul."

After a moment, Leah threw her arms out to each side. "Oooh, damn, chief. Looks like you can't get rid of me so easily anymore, can you?"

"But I can," Jacob said. His chest puffed out, and in a lower voice than he usually spoke in, he continued, "Go into the house and help your mom."

Just like I'd seen time and again when Jacob was trying to tell me something and Sam stopped him, Leah narrowed her eyes hard at Jake, but listened to him anyway. We watched her walk all the way into the house before he turned back to me. "I'm sorry about her, Charlie. Maybe I shouldn't have made her come back out here."

"You had to try," Sam said.

"I guess," Jake said. "She's just…way, way out of line like usual."

Seth nodded. "Can't even see where the line should have been. That's Leah."

"She gets that from your dad," I said. "Harry didn't have as short a fuse, but you didn't wanna be anywhere near him when he finally went off. They're just passionate people, is all."

"Passionate, maybe. But too fucking blunt. What she did just now was about as insensitive as I've seen her, and I've dealt with a lot of her crap over the years. Remember after…after?" Jake asked.

After what?

Sam shook his head. "She's hurting, and she just doesn't know how to deal with it. It's not something that's ever been her strong suit."

"Not a good enough excuse," Seth said.

"Well, I think it is," Emily said. "Come on, Kim. Let's go see how she's holding up."

Kim looked back and forth between the house and Jared before standing and following Emily into the small house. As beaten up as he looked, I couldn't say I blamed her for not wanting to leave his side. Whatever had happened while they were away could just as easily have taken Jared, too. Any of them, really.

"So, questions, Charlie?" Jake asked.

I nodded. "Yeah, uh, I do. But are we still okay to—"

"It's fine. She's fine."

"If you say so, kid." I said. "Look, I have no idea where to start, here…It's just all more than a little weird."

"We'll give you that. We all had reacted the same way to the wolf thing," Jake said with a smirk.

"Well, yeah," I said. "But that's actually not what I meant by that. It's more…I've been getting the end-around from you guys for months. Been in the dark for years and years. Knowing I can just ask anything I want to—"

"Almost anything," Sam corrected.

I looked to Jake, and he rolled his eyes and nodded. "Almost anything," he repeated.

"Alright, alright. Sure, kid. Almost anything…But knowing that the lies are over…You'd think the questions would just fly out of my mouth, but they're not coming like I thought they would."

Jake just shrugged. "We all went through it, chief. Take your time."

I took a huge breath to try and calm down the jitters. Didn't really work, but I'm not sure I even expected it to. But I knew I didn't need that much time to come up with my first question. Even though I had a million things I wanted to know about the wolves, there was really only one thing I needed to know. "I'll get to the wolves and the, uh, the everything in a second. First—Bella. You've gotta come clean and just be really straight with me. They faked her death, didn't they? She is alive?"

The guys all exchanged the same look with each other. Seemed like no one wanted to be the one to take the plunge. Seth and Jake were gesturing back and forth for the other to go, each one bigger than the last. Finally, Jake said, "Here's the thing, Bella—"

"Jake, maybe that's a conversation better left for later when they get here," Sam said. "Before this gets out of hand, we still need to be careful. Nothing has changed."

Lovely. This again. Pretty sure I could sing the chorus of this song without any help.

Jacob looked hard at Sam. "Yeah. I know."

"Just because you have the power to lift the gag doesn't mean you should."

"Also doesn't mean I shouldn't," Jake said. "We talked about this. We agreed."

Seth nodded in an exaggerated way, causing Jared to fist bump him. "Enough is enough," Seth said.

Sam sighed. "I agreed that keeping Charlie in the dark may have made all this more dangerous for him, but the treaty is still in place. I, for one, wouldn't like to damage it even more than it has been."

Through narrowed eyes, Jake asked, "What the hell is that supposed to mean? Is this about my dad, again?"

"You can't deny what he did was wrong."

I held up my hand. "Now wait just a damn minute. Billy was a grown man who made his own decisions. And he was the only one with a set enough to tell me what the fuck was going on around here. Let's make that clear. He just didn't want to see me hurting. The man was a damn good man and a good friend."

Jake flung his hand out. "Exactly. Dad would have—" He stopped talking abruptly and took a couple whiffs of the cool breeze coming from the north. "Oh, goddammit," he muttered.

I was about to ask what was wrong when I noticed all five of them had lifted themselves into a crouch and turned towards the woods to the north. Sitting felt really awkward with the way they were all sprung tightly into coils, so I got to my feet, too. "Jacob, is it—"

"SHHH!" he said harshly.

They were listening intently to something I definitely couldn't hear past the tree line. The only sound I could make out was the fire crackling away.

Oh fuck.

Literally all I could hear was the fire.

One thing I knew for sure being born and bred in the Pacific Northwest is that the forest is never, ever completely silent. The woods are a living, breathing place with thousands of creatures going about their lives and making a white noise that's just always there. It was still light out and there should have been plenty of birds calling, there wasn't anything. The fire popped here and there, but I couldn't make out anything else.

Because whatever was out there was scary enough to make all the other things head for the hills.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Leah moving in a weird sort of walk from the house to join the boys. She almost reminded me of the lionesses stalking their prey I'd see channel surfing past the National Geographic Channel. Wasn't sure I liked it one bit coming from one of my best friends' kids.

She must have heard the commotion out there, whatever it was. Heard it or maybe smelled it. To be honest, as much as I really wanted to be okay with all this wolf business, both options kinda made me a little queasy.

"Fuck, not now," Seth whispered with a wince. "We're nowhere near full strength."

The other boys shot him a look while Jacob gestured widely to his ears. Wherever it was, the thing in the woods must be able to hear them. Lovely.

"Paul is awake," Leah whispered so quietly I almost couldn't hear her. "He's coming out."

Jake shook his head. "Not happening. He still looks like shit. I need him in the house with the girls and Charlie."

The girls and Charlie. Normally that'd make me feel about as manly as a pretty lace handkerchief, but I wasn't fucking around, anymore. If the thing out there could toss giant wolves around, I sure as hell didn't stand a chance with it.

"No, you won't," Jake said. At first I thought he was somehow able to read my mind, but his face was turned just slightly towards the house without looking away from the tree line.

Paul.

"No. Not up for discussion. That's gonna be an order in a second." After a moment, he said, "Stay inside."

The hair raised on my arms at his tone. I reached for the gun in my holster, only to remember it was packed conveniently in my duffle at Jake's. Not that it would have done me a lick of good or anything. Just would have been nice to give my hands something to do to so I could pretend I wasn't as utterly helpless as I was quickly realizing I was.

I turned to Jake. "So, the plan is me to the house?"

He nodded.

"And you guys will stop it?"

"Them."

Them.

Oh good. There's more than one of 'em.

"How many?"

He didn't say anything.

"Jake? Jake, how many?"

"Four," Jacob finally said. "Shhh."

I felt the color drain from my face and gave up trying to stop my hands from shaking. "Oh Jesus. Can you guys—"

"Quiet," Jacob ordered me quietly.

There was no arguing it. I left my fight in the woods behind the Cullens' house. Jake says to be quiet in a situation like this? I stop talking immediately.

"Charlie? You remember how I got you outta there the last time?"

I nodded until I realized he probably couldn't see me. "Yeah."

"Then get ready."

A chill settled into my gut and seemed to spread everywhere else from there. I wasn't prepared to go through that hell, again. Running from that sound was the scariest moment of my life. Second only to the unis on my doorstep as the worst thing I'd ever lived through.

"Aw, what's the rush? Can't he stay and play?" a sweet, woman's voice asked.

I still couldn't see anything in the woods, but that voice made my stomach turn into a rock. Every cell in my body told me to get away from that sound. Now. Just as I was bracing myself to run, a huge, burning hand grabbed hard at my elbow and made me jump out of my skin.

Jake had somehow basically flown across the fire pit and was standing right in front of me. He was shaking from head to toe, and his voice was strained and jittery when he spoke. "Charlie? To be clear, the Cullens did fake her death. Bella is alive, and she's probably on her way right now. So when I give the signal, you run into that fucking house and you keep yourself alive for her. Do you understand me?"

My breathing steadied and an eerie sort of calm settled over me. I nodded, and Jake turned back towards the woods. I knew what I had to do. All I needed now was the signal to—

"CHARLIE! GO!"

Author's Note: Please take a moment to leave a review and let me know what you thought. I like to respond to every review, so make sure you're logged in!

Follow me on Twitter at _Horizon77_! I give updates on how the chapter is progressing!

New chapter in a couple weeks! I was going to take July off because I have Camp NaNo and a family vacation to Disney, but after the negative response I got to that, I decided to find a way to revise the next chapter and have it ready much sooner. Hope that helps!

Edit 6/30/16: I've had many of you tell me you're upset that there was no revelation in this chapter. There absolutely was. Charlie found out that the Quileutes shift into the wolves. To me, that was huge! I'm so sorry that those weren't the answers you were looking for. They're coming up very soon. Realistically, there was no way to include everything in one chapter. Between the wolf thing, the vamp thing, what happened while the boys were away…it would be massive and not conducive to good storytelling. In the end, I love this story and stand by it, but I thought this needed to be said. Thank you so much for reading. I promise Charlie will be clued in very soon. We just have that little matter of an attack to deal with, first…