Two days after that dinner with my mom, Leah and I went to Old Quil. He started off congratulating us on our marriage. This was the first time he'd seen us alone since hearing about our Ring of Scars. He was amused that I had written it into the log book right under his nose.

When we were all comfortably seated in his den, he asked, "Can you tell me how it changes things for you two?"

"It's hard to say," I said. "It happened when Leah accepted my imprint, well that's when I bit her."

"With consent?" Old Quil asked curiously. "How did you even know about the ring?"

"Neither of us had informed consent when he bit me," Leah admitted. "Neither of us knew what the bite meant."

Old Quil turned to me. "Then why did you bite her?"

"I wanted to bite her when we were, uh, making love and she told me to 'do it' but she was talking about something else. So at the time, I thought I had her consent to bite her. But I definitely didn't have her consent to enter a bond more irrevocable than marriage."

"And when she bit you?"

"We were both informed and we both consented," I said.

"Embry, when you say you wanted to bite her, what does that mean, exactly?"

"It means my teeth got sharp, like the wolf's teeth, and I was looking at the spot where I wanted to bite her and thinking about it with a strong urge, a biological urge like when you can't suppress your vomit or when you're so tired you fall asleep in class."

"But you didn't know what it meant?"

"That's right."

"Well, once again, you two are doing things in a way that is unprecedented. I'm sorry that I didn't tell you about it sooner. I didn't think it was urgent to tell you about it. I guess your wolf felt it was urgent. So what did you two want to talk to me about?"

"How can a wolf break an imprint?" Leah asked.

Old Quil looked shocked, scandalized even. "Leah, your bond is unbreakable. I thought I had made that clear."

"It's not for us. It's for Paul," I said.

"Has he imprinted?" Old Quil looked excited now.

"No," I said, "he wants to be prepared when he does. For reasons that I respect and agree with, he's going to want to break the imprint connection. We want to help him with that." I spoke firmly in an even tone.

"Well, it's not up to him. The imprint is the only one who can break it."

"And how can the imprint be encouraged to break it?"

"The imprint must reject the connection. They must be repulsed by the wolf."

I turned to Leah, "how can we help make Paul repulsive?"

"You overestimate his appeal," she retorted. "Let's ask about the other thing. You're too obsessed with Paul's love life anyway."

"Oh yeah," I said, "we wanted to know about potential new wolves. Is there any way to know who else might phase? We were thinking that since Sam is gone, new wolves might pop up in his place."

"Interesting theory." Old Quil scratched his chin like I'm the cartoons. "So far, everyone who has phased has been a direct descendant of the father of a previous pack member. They have also all been teenagers. There aren't many teenagers left from that group, and many are girls."

"Why do they need to be descendants of the previous pack? Don't they just need to be descendents of Taha Aki?" I asked.

"We are all descendants of Taha Aki. So if the threat were great enough, I think it's possible that the whole tribe would phase, but there is no reason to think that is going to happen.

"Could more girls phase?" Leah asked, a little excitedly.

"Leah, you are a descendant of all three father's of the previous pack. You and Seth are the only ones with that distinction. If things were desperate enough, I think more females could phase, but as far as I know, you are the first in our history, so I don't think that is likely."

"So why was I needed in the first place?" she asked.

"Well, you were the mastermind of the first vampire kill, correct?"

"Yeah, I guess, with the trees." she admitted.

"I think we need you specifically for whatever threats the pack faces."

I redirected the conversation. "Is there a way we could get a list of who is likely to phase next? Then we can keep an eye on them and help them through the transition if it occurs."

"I can compile a list for you, but I can't be confident in it. I'll use the parameters aged 13 to 20, male, and a descendant of the paternal grandfather's of the previous pack. I'll order it by how closely they are related to the previous pack. Other than Seth, Leah and Jared, you are all direct descendants of the previous pack."

"Weird. Why was Jared one of the first to phase then?"

"I don't know. You must need him for some reason."

"He does have the best vision of us all," I said.

"We need to draw him in," Leah said. "He needs to be closer to us all."

I sighed. "Can you let me know when you have that list ready?"

"Of course."

"Does Jared ever come and talk to you?" Leah asked Old Quil.

"He came to me once, just after he imprinted."

"Can I advise him to come to you more?" Leah asked.

Old Quil smiled. "Yes, do. Leah, do not hesitate to send any of your pups to me. I know that Harry was so proud of you, leading the pack and respecting the wisdom of the elders at the same time. He was so proud that you had told Sam to seek our counsel. You did right. It was Sam who did wrong."

"Well, I'm going to add the protective order with Jared, even though I don't think he needs it. He'll be ordered not to hurt you."

"Thank you, child. Oh, and your father arranged everything so that everyone will receive the back pay they were owed. It should be deposited with next month's stipend."

"Thank you!" I said. "Paul will be excited to hear that."

After that we stopped by the Clearwaters to see Paul. He was so excited to know that imprints could be so easily broken. He was pleased about the back pay, too.

On the way home, I asked Leah, "Now, how do we draw Jared into the pack?"

"Kim."

"Do you want to do an imprint slumber party?" I offered.

"You're an imprint, too, Embry."

"I can make the snacks!"

"It's not a bad idea. We could do a ladies night. We could host them here."

"But how will that draw Jared in?"

"Invite him to play video games at my mom's house while I hang out with Kim and Bella and Emily."

"Talk to Bella and Emily about this first. Make sure you're all on the same page. You three have the potential to form a little clique which would further isolate Kim."

We organized it for that Saturday night. I helped Leah make snacks for the girls at our house. Bella and Emily helped Paul and Seth make snacks for the guys at the Clearwater's.

At 5:50, Jared and Kim showed up. I gave Leah a goodbye kiss and walked with Jared to the Clearwaters.

"Thanks for inviting Kim and me to this, Embry," Jared said.

"We're doing this for you and Kim."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, we need to be close with the whole pack. We need Kim too."

"Why do you need Kim too?"

"Imprints are important for the pack community. Men tend to wander apart in their relationships. Women keep us close."

"But you're an imprint."

"That's how I know how important we are! Having the alpha pair be imprints, I think it's beautiful, symbolic, unifying."

"I guess. Isn't it weird being an imprint and a guy?"

I scowled. "What do you mean?"

He was watching the road in front of us, not looking at me. "I mean it's a girl thing, being an imprint."

Then he looked at me and his face was drained of color. "I'm sorry, Embry. I didn't mean anything by that. I'm really sorry. Ok? I'm sorry."

I guess I must have looked mad or something because he sounded scared. "Um, ok. So what do you usually do when you're not with the pack? What do you do for fun?"

"I ride dirt bikes, play video games, build things, and hang out with Kim."

"Ok, well Jake rides dirt bikes too, and I like fixing and building things. And all the guys play video games, and most of the girls too."

"So is that what we're doing tonight? Video games?"

"Uh, there aren't enough controllers for us all to play video games." We had reached the Clearwaters front door and I pushed it open. Quil and Seth were in the living room, putting snacks on the table.

"Hey guys!" Seth greeted us cheerfully.

"Seth! What do you need help with?"

"Well, Quil dropped the m and ate all of the ones that touched the floor so we're a little behind schedule with putting out snacks, and we're low on m ."

"Ok, we're doing pizzas, right? Are all of the toppings chopped? Jared and I can help with that," I offered.

"I don't really know how to cook," Jared whined.

"We'll teach you. You don't want to be reliant on women all of your life do you? You want to be able to provide for them and take care of them, right?" I encouraged.

"I guess."

"All the meat is done," Seth said, "but we haven't started cutting the vegetables yet."

"Ok, why don't we let Jared do the olives. Seth, do you want to cut peppers or onions?" I asked.

"I'll take onions."

"Good man, Seth."

I showed Jared how to slice olives, the simplest task I could find for him. He was slow at first but once he got the hang of it, he had a bowl of them sliced.

Jake and Paul walked in together just as we finished cutting.

"Oh, can I roll the dough?" Paul asked excitedly. "I was afraid I wouldn't be back in time."

"What if we show everyone how to roll their own dough?" I suggested. Jared looked scared.

Paul rolled his dough out first, then showed Quil who surprised us all with his skill. Jared was nervous but after Quil figured it out, his confidence was boosted and he did fine. Everyone did fine except Jake who needed Paul's help to smooth out his jagged crusts.

Paul put on the sauce and cheese on all the crusts. Then everyone loaded their pizzas with the toppings they wanted. We put Quil and Jared's in first, then Jake and Seth, then Paul and mine.

We kept the cooked pizzas in the warmer while the rest heated up so we could eat together. We each got our own large pizza. We all finished them.

"What do you have for games?" Jared asked.

"We have a Nintendo 64 and a ton of games." Seth said.

"Oh. I have a PlayStation. I haven't played much on a Nintendo."

"Do you want to try?" I asked. "Paul hasn't played much either but he's pretty good now."

"I don't know. If I get used to a different button configuration it will mess me up in my own games."

"Ok, ok, we won't force you. Let's play poker."

"I don't know how."

"We'll teach you." I said, trying to be reassuring.

"My parents don't like gambling."

"Well, we were going to play for m but Quil dropped them, so we're just playing with chips."

"Potato chips?" Jared asked, confused.

"No poker chips."

"Ok."

All night, Jared was resistant to any idea anyone had. He didn't like some of the rules of poker. We ended up playing other card games. If he didn't win, he accused someone of cheating or said the rules weren't clear. He was insufferable. I didn't see how he would ever become close with the rest of us.

"We're going to start cleaning up. You can go and get Kim and walk her home."

When he was out of ear shot, I whined a little. "I don't know what to do about him."

"I think it went really well." Paul said enthusiastically. "I actually expected him to be worse."

Jake groaned.

"I like him." Quil said.

"Quil, even Paul didn't go that far," Seth teased.

Quil explained, "No one was annoyed with me all night after he got here. I didn't get yelled at once."

"True," I said. "But what do we do? Old Quil says that we need him. Options?"

"We could try again. Try to whittle him down, scrape off all the shitty bits," Seth suggested.

"That would take years." Jake said.

"He never seems obnoxious in the pack mind or during meets." Seth said.

"He doesn't say anything." I explained.

"Can we do stuff with him where he doesn't say anything?" Quil asked.

"Like a movie night!" I suggested.

"We could do that with the imprints!" Paul suggested.

"What are we doing with the imprints?" Bella asked, opening the door.

Jake gave her a hug that looked like it was crushing her bones but she didn't seem to mind. "Movie night!"

I pulled Leah into a kiss then asked, "how was Kim?"

"She's a riot. We played some games and read some magazines. She's so funny."

"You're kidding," I said stone faced. I did not believe her.

"No, she fit right in. We all loved her, right girls?" Emily and Bella nodded enthusiastically. "How was Jared?"

"He's the fucking worst, Leah. He complained about everything."

"Really? Kim spoke very highly of Jared. She says he was funny and sweet and interesting and a great kisser."

"He was none of those things for us. None of us even got a kiss."

Leah rolled her eyes and asked, "So you want to do a movie night because… ?"

"He'll shut the fuck up, but we'll still be spending time together."

"And that will bond you? How?" She enquired.

"I don't know. We've got to do something. Got any better ideas?"

"Yeah, actually. You guys brought him here and tried to force him into your little mold of what friends are and what friends do. But you didn't listen to what he wanted to do or liked, right? So now you don't like him."

"We didn't like him before," I countered.

"And does he know that?"

"Yeah, I don't think he's stupid."

"So you brought him here to prove that he's not one of you and you did it. Good job."

"Fine," I threw my hands up. "I'm a fuck up. We're all fuck ups. What do we do about it?"

"Have them plan it next time."

"You think they'll do that?"

"Yeah, like I said, Kim's great. We all want to spend more time with her."

"She's so great," Emily said, "like Quil but smart."

"Aww, thanks, Emily!" Quil said, dead serious.

We all tried to suppress a laugh but ended up laughing even harder.

"What? What?" Quil was saying and it just made it worse.

When we settled down, we decided on a plan. Emily would talk to Kim and the two of them would plan the next pack event based on things Jared was interested in.

"And we can always bring the magazines as an ice breaker." Leah said. "We got to know Kim through the magazines the most."

"We should have kept the magazines and read them with Jared."

"What magazines?" Jake asked.

"My Cosmo magazines," I said.

"You took those with you when you moved to the Black Mansion?" Jake asked.

"They have value," I insisted.

"And you were reading them, Bella?" Jake was looking at her intensely.

Bella looked nervous. "Yes."

He whispered, "see anything that you want to try?"

"Damnit, Jake, we're having a meeting!" Seth yelled.

"Sure, sure," he was smiling widely at Bella. She still looked nervous.

"Maybe we should go for tonight." I suggested, "I don't think we'll get much more done. Emily, keep us in the loop with your progress with Kim. And don't hesitate to ask for help."

When we got home, I asked Leah, "did you eat enough?"

"Yeah, they all know I'm a wolf."

"But Kim's new to you. Sometimes you're self-conscious about eating a lot in front of new people."

"You're so perceptive. But no, Kim made a plate of snacks. She kept getting up to get me more stuff before I even asked."

"Do you think she does that with Jared?"

"I didn't even think of that."

"Why's she with Jared?"

"They love each other."

"But he's so… " I didn't know how to describe it.

"I know. But he's still pack. And he's not Sam. I don't think you need to look for problems in their relationship."

"That's true. He's not Sam."

"And I thought it was more of an alpha thing, that was why she was bringing me food. I invited them for lunch tomorrow."

"You did?!"

"Yep."

"Ok." I plopped onto the couch.

"I'm not canceling."

"I'm not asking you to."

She sat next to me and crawled into my lap. "You haven't liked him for a long time. It's going to take time and many interactions to change that. So I'm just speeding things along."

"But I had plans," I said, looking into her eyes. "I wanted to fuck you all day tomorrow."

"We'll just have to reschedule your plans."

"I guess so." I carried her upstairs, kissing her the whole way.

"What are we making for lunch?" I asked the next morning. I was not looking forward to this lunch, but good food made everything better.

"Kim says he likes tacos so we're doing tacos."

"We don't have any taco shells."

"Who's being contrary now? We have the ingredients to make tortillas."

I hadn't even thought of that. "Ok, we'll need a ton."

"Yeah. I'll show you how to make the dough. You roll and I'll cook them."

We spent an hour making taco sized tortillas. I put music on and we both danced as we worked, moving our bodies together to the beat, but not too seductively because we didn't have time for distractions. When the doorbell rang, we were just finishing up prepping all the fillings.

"You get it while I take care of the beef," Leah ordered.

"Yes, ma'am."

I opened the door with my best smile. "Jared!" I shook his hand, "and Kim!" I gave her a light side hug. "Come in. Leah's just finishing up in the kitchen."

"You didn't make her do all the work, I hope." Kim scolded.

"No!" Leah called, "he's been helping plenty. I was just working with heat so I sent him to the door."

"Usually we have guests in the dining room but it's so big for just four of us. I hope you don't mind eating in the kitchen with us."

Jared opened his mouth to speak but Kim started first. "That's perfect. Much more intimate and casual. Don't you think Jared?"

Jared's face softened. "Absolutely, baby."

"Leah, tell us what to do. We can help, right Jared?"

Jared nodded.

"Everything's ready. We're making tacos. Embry and I made a ton of tortillas this morning."

"I prefer hard shells." Jared said.

"But homemade is always better, don't you think, Jared?" Kim asked. Jared nodded. "I'm so excited to try them," Kim added.

I smiled at Leah. She was right, Kim was the answer to bringing Jared into the pack. She made him agreeable.

We started digging in. "These tortillas are amazing!" Kim said. "You've got to share the recipe."

"I can show you after, but it's very simple, just flour, water, salt and oil. Embry made the dough and rolled them out and I cooked them."

"You think we could do that, Jared? You'd be faster at rolling than me."

"Jared did great at rolling out the pizza dough last night," I said.

Kim looked impressed. Jared said, "Yeah, baby, we could do that if you want."

After lunch I gave Jared a tour of the house while the girls picked up. "Everyone loved Kim last night." I told him while giving him a tour upstairs.

"She's my better half, for sure. I don't know how the spirits decided that I deserved her, but I'm so glad they did."

"Leah says we're better together and that describes you and Kim perfectly."

"Eh. She does fine on her own. But I do much better when she's around."

"That's how I feel about Leah, but it's also how Leah feels about me."

"Yeah, but you are each other's imprints, so you would both feel like that."

"You don't think Kim feels that way about you?"

"Why would she?"

"I don't know, but she seems to love you, for whatever reason."

Jared laughed. "Yeah. Hey, with the height of this house, you must have a basement?"

"Uh huh. It's got a lot of tools. I haven't really cleaned it up yet. I just go down there when I need a tool. Wanna see?"

"Yes!"

Jared loved my basement. He knew what a bunch of the tools were, most for woodworking and furniture making.

"Do you think the furniture in this house was made by Billy's dad or Ephraim?" I asked him.

He nodded. "I'd guess a lot of the crown molding, too."

"Can I show you the couches in the attic? We weren't sure what to do with them."

"Old couches? Yeah, let me see. I bet they're not comfortable now."

"No they're not."

"The springs usually bust in old couches and destroy the padding after time."

"Yeah, that's pretty much what they feel like. We took Paul's couch because it was more comfortable than any of the old ones."

We had reached the attic. "Wow, this house is a gold mine."

"I know. The woodwork is fantastic but the couches… well, take a seat."

"I don't need to. I can see it."

"So are they repairable? And are they worth repairing?"

"Yes and yes. The springs and padding need to be replaced, which is labor intensive, but they won't feel the same as new couches. You could also retrofit them with more modern padding and springs."

"What does that kind of work cost?"

"Probably $100 in supplies per couch, plus labor, but I could do the labor for free, just for the experience."

"What do you want to do after graduation? For a job?" I asked.

"This. I want to be a furniture maker but I'll probably end up in carpentry. There's not a lot of demand for furniture makers these days."

"Well, fixing these couches is really low on our to do list and we don't have the money to do it anyway, but when we do, we'll come to you."

"What if we did a trade?"

"For what?"

"Time in the basement with those tools."

"You can come use the basement tools whenever, just don't make a mess and break shit."

"No, I can't do that. I'd need a fair trade. You pick a couch, I'll get the stuff to redo or retrofit the springs and padding, and in exchange, I'll get a certain number of hours in your basement."

"We'll have to talk to Leah."

"I understand, alpha," he said with a teasing tone.

Leah loved the idea and she knew just which couch she wanted done. It was mahogany with black velvet upholstery.

"You want that in the living room?" I asked.

"No, it belongs in the master bedroom," she told me. "How many hours is a fair trade?"

"Some of the tools you have down there can be rented out for $200 per day from Home Depot. I was thinking 10 hours?"

"That feels like we're taking advantage of you, Jared. We aren't using any of that stuff. It has no value to us." I said honestly.

"What if we say 15 hours, but show us what the tools are and how to use them." Leah suggested. "Oh and before you get started, make sure the tools you're interested in actually work."

"Ok! It will take me a while to use all those hours. Can I get the measurement for the couch so I can order the supplies?"

"Embry? You know where the tape measure is, right?"

"Yes. I'll grab it." I ran down to the basement and back again with it in my hand. Jared had found a paper and pen to write measurements.

When we got to the attic, we flipped the couch over. He pulled out a blade from his pocket and cut off the ratty fabric that was on the bottom of the couch. He took a bunch of measurements of the inside, as well as measurements of the arms.

"I'm going to want to get pictures of this, before and after for my portfolio. Is that ok?"

"Sure, sure. When you come back with your camera, we can move it wherever you want that has the best lighting."

"The parlor is probably the best room for photographing and working."

"We can move it down there now. There's nothing in that room."

"You sure? Leah won't mind?"

"It's fine!" She yelled from the living room.

"She's got excellent hearing. The best in the pack, I think."

"Is that annoying?"

"Yeah, she's annoyed by it all the time."

"No, I mean for you. She knows where you are all the time, everything you mutter. You have no privacy."

"No, she's never annoying, and we know where each other is all the time anyway because of the Ring of Scars."

"Do you think the rest of us should do the Ring of Scars?" He asked as we carried the couch down the stairs.

"It's a personal decision, Jared. But you want to be with Kim forever, right? "

"So much, yes."

"I don't see why not, when you're both ready and your wolf wants it. I mean, if I were you, I'd lock that down. You should talk to Old Quil, though. You should talk to him anyway. He's got a lot of wisdom about a lot of things."

"My dad says Old Quil is full of himself and his wisdom is dated."

I stopped on the second floor in the hallway. "Jared, I hate that I have to say this but I think your dad has steered you wrong in a lot of ways. I think he's weakened your character. We need you in this pack. We need you at your best, and Kim can't always be there to make you look better, okay? I need you to work on yourself, listening to your own ideas and heart and not your parents. I know that's going to take work, but it's work I need you to do."

"Ok, Embry, I'll try. Can Kim and I sit with the pack at lunch sometimes?"

"I'm not there at lunch, but yeah, I think that would be good, especially letting the guys get to know Kim."

"It's been a long time since my dad has approved of any potential friends and he likes most of you guys."

"Most of us?"

"He's not fond of Paul."

"Paul's the best of us. Like I said, you're going to need to stop letting your dad influence you so much. If you're rude to Paul, you won't have a chance at being friends with the rest of the pack. And Paul's my brother. I don't take kindly to anyone belittling him, understand?"

He began to look scared again. "I thought Jake was your brother?"

"Jake is my father's biological son. Paul is my mother's adopted son. They are both my brothers. You need to treat Paul with as much respect as you treat Jake, understand?"

"I guess."

I took a deep breath and we kept walking with the couch.

Leah and Kim were on the other couch reading a Cosmo. "Have you read these, Jared?" I handed him one with tips for men.

His eyes went wide. I whispered, "Have you fucked her yet?" He shook his head. "Why not? Is she not ready?"

"There's no place," he whispered. "She lives with her parents and I live with mine."

"You could ask Paul if you can use his house. Or just do it in the woods."

"Do girls like it in the woods?" He whispered.

"Leah does. But she's a bit of a freak." I winked at her.

"Maybe I'll talk to Paul."

Leah whispered, "Kim's a freak too, but Paul's house is a good choice for your first time."

Kim didn't hear any of our whispers. She asked, "Leah, did you see number six. Would the donut even taste good after that?"

"Oh yeah, I'd eat the donut after that. But I don't think that's the best technique. I'd go with number eight for that."

"Oh. Ooooooh. Yeah, that looks like it would work."

Jared and I looked over the back of the couch to see what they were reading. Jared whispered, "has Paul's place been cleaned since Sam… ?"

"Yeah, Billy took care of that."

"I'm going to call him really quick."

A few minutes later, Jared was bringing Kim to Paul's house.

In bed, I told Leah, "Sometimes I don't think it's fair, how I got the hottest imprint."

"Well, a lot of it's because I'm a wolf."

"Naw, you had the face of a goddess before."

"Yeah, my face is basically the same, but my body was mid before."

"I remember you being so hot, Leah, when you were a senior. So hot. Easily the hottest girl on the rez."

"I dressed well for my body, but my body was very different."

"What do you mean?"

"I didn't have the hourglass figure, not naked, but I could make my figure look good with my clothes. My boobs, which you love, were much smaller. I had a nice ass though. I think all of the imprints have nice asses. I think that's important, since you all seem to love doggy style."

"Is that what you talked about at ladies' night?"

"Wouldn't you like to know… Anyway, I don't think I'm the hottest anyway, just hotter than I used to be and it's a trade off."

"What do you mean, a trade off?"

"I mean, now I'm big."

"Big?"

"Yeah, big, which a lot of people don't consider too hot for girls."

"How are you big? You're perfect."

"I'm perfect for you Embry, because you're a giant."

"No, you're perfect. End of sentence. Big? That's laughable, Leah. I can lift you easily. Your waist is tiny. God, you're impossibly sexy. And I'm just like the other guys, it doesn't seem fair that I get you and no one else gets someone this smoking hot."

"Embry, do you really think you're just like the other guys?"

"I am. Our bodies are the same. I mean I know I have the same face as before but the other guys have nice faces too."

"Honey, your body is not the same. I have seen all of them naked and your body is not the same. They are ripped and you are chiseled. Your face is too." She ran her fingers through my hair. "There's no comparison. But I think it's really great that we both love each other's bodies so much. I remember you before the change and I always thought you were really cute but now you're irresistibly hot."

She climbed over me, straddling my hips. I pulled her face to mine, kissing her deeply.

Jared was much more easy-going after that. Paul told him he had an open invitation to use the house. They were bros now.

For several weeks after Harry's funeral, life was mostly smooth sailing. There was no whiff of vampires. Until there was.