Chapter 11: With Family

In the weeks following meeting Alice and Edward Cullen, all had been eerily quiet. Billy and Sam reached out to the head of the Cullen coven, someone who signed the original treaty with Billy's father Ephraim, and he was assured there would be no more interference in our imprint. The pack was on high alert still, and Paul and Sam were even more protecive of me than usual.

Tonight, I craved normalcy and decided it was a good night for a family meal. I concentrated on cutting the vegetables for the stew I'm making, trying to ensure I kept all my fingers in the process. I consider myself to be a halfway decent cook, but prep isn't my strong suit, and I slowly and carefully dragged my knife through the carrots.

"I may be part wolf, but I damn sure don't have a taste for human flesh." Paul says as he enters the kitchen, and I chuckle. He comes over and takes the knife from me, bumping me out of the way with his hip before quickly chopping the offending vegetable.

"Show off." I scoff and he grins at me.

"You're not the only cook in the family, baby sis. Charlie can barely boil water, so I have learned a thing or two to keep us fed." He smirks.

I watch as he quickly and methodically chopped the vegetables in almost perfect asymmetrical pieces.

"Have you ever thought about going to school for that?" I finally ask, breaking his rhythm.

"There's a school for chopping veggies?" He asks with a smirk and I shake my head at him.

"Cooking, smart ass." I fire back at him and he shrugs.

"I already know how to cook."

"Do you like cooking?" I ask and his cinnamon eyes meet mine, nodding once, "Would you want to do it for a living?"

He expertly moves on to the potatoes, and I watch as he methodically cuts almost exact cubes, "Emily asked me the same thing." He grins again, showing the dimples we share, and effectively avoiding the question.

"And what did you tell her?" I press and he turns away to continue his work. He doesn't make any indication that he plans on answering me, "Paul, do you think you'd like being a chef?"

I watch as his shoulders drop briefly, but he continues to focus on chopping potatoes, "Bells, I'm not the smart one in the family. I barely made it through high school, no college will touch me. Besides, I'm stuck here on the rez, it's not like I can chance wolfing out away from here."

"What if you stayed here but took classes locally?"

"I don't play well with others." He replied and then sighed, "All kidding aside, it's hard for me when I'm completely on my own. This wolf thing has been rough. For me, I find my anxiety is sometimes more than I can control. I was already a bit hotheaded before the wolf gene activated, and ever since that happened I've had a harder time keeping my cool." He admits.

"What if you had someone that you knew also taking classes, would that make you more comfortable?" I press again and he finally turns and meets my eyes.

"You volunteering to stay here and babysit me, little sis?" He asks, turning away from me quickly as if he doesn't want to hear my answer.

Paul and I had several serious conversations on the topic of my future plans, specifically relating to whether I would stay in La Push. It was more than just him wanting to be around the only blood family he knows, he would also talk to me about Sam, Jake and my confusing feelings for both men. Besides Leah, Paul knew more about my anxiety regarding the imprint. He was the one who helped me to admit that I was making a lot of decisions based on what I felt I owed someone, like considering dating Jake because of how much he helped me throughout my life. Or, moving back to Florida and Phil because he was the only father I'd ever known, and his support included the money it took to have my DNA compared to Paul, and to make the trip out here to meet my brother. Phil was also planning on helping me with school if I couldnt make ends meet, he had been adamant that I would not go into mountains of debt to get my education, especially since he was a retired professional baseball player who had invested his money wisely.

A fact that he'd also successfully kept from Renee, knowing that she would sue him for everything he had just to get her hands on an almost unlimited amount of money to support her drug habit.

"You don't need babysitting, big brother, but I've decided to stay, as long as it's okay with Charlie, and you, of course."

I hear the knife clank against the cutting board and Paul wipes his hands on a towel before he approaches me, "You're serious?"

"Yeah," I nod, "Maybe you and I can take some classes together at the community college, no babysitting required." I smile at him.

"Bells, if you're staying here, I'll take any damn class you want. Besides, someone has to keep an eye on you." He grins at me.

"Now I need the babysitter?" I smirk at him.

"You're a danger magnet." He chuckles, "Your stepdad know about this?" He asked carefully.

"He helped me make the decision." I reply and Paul's face softens a bit.

"What about Sam?" He presses.

"I accepted the imprint, we're working on us," I smile shyly and Paul grins at me, "he'll actually be here for dinner tonight, I wanted to introduce him to you and Charlie as my boyfriend, officially."

"That's all good news baby sis, I'm pretty fucking happy right now. You and Sam are so good for each other, the spirits damn sure got that right." He replies happily.

"Paul, I'm so sorry that your imprint didn't work out." I say softly and the cinnamon tinted brown eyes we share meet mine.

"I'm not, Bells. My imprint stuff, even though it didn't work out the way the spirits thought it would for me, it still gave me my best friend you know? Leah is like family to me, and I get to date Emily, and she's pretty much a saint for putting up with my shit." He wraps his arms around me and squeezes me tight, pressing a kiss to my temple before letting me go.

"She should definitely be promoted to some sort of special pack position just for her ability to put up with your shit, big brother." I grin and he pops his hip into mine.

"Says the woman who tortured my Alpha with her indecisiveness. Have you told the Baby Alpha that you accepted Sam's imprint?" He smirks.

"Baby Alpha?"

"You know, the pretentious little shit who's been interfering with your imprint for weeks now. The man child who is willing to break a pack to get a girl. The-"

"Okay Paul, I get it, and no I've not told Jake yet. Sam and I just had our conversation recently, and we've just been keeping our relationship to ourselves for a bit. He's been purposely trying to avoid phasing with Jake since this all started, so it's not unusual that they've not talked. I've also kind of been avoiding Jake because he's been trying to force my decisions."

"Yeah, those of us who have to phase with his sulking ass know all about that." He rolls his eyes, and he finishes chopping the vegetables while I put the other ingredients together, "Bells, why didn't you tell me about the leech in Forks?"

"Ah, the danger magnet comment makes sense now. I didnt realize you knew about that."

"Yeah, I do. Sam felt the pull from the imprint when you were out in Forks with the tick, and he had Jared and me follow him out there for backup." He sighs, "Why would you have even contemplated leaving La Push?"

"I don't know... I just told Sam I should go back to Renee or Phil, how did you even know..." I trail off and he points at his head.

"Pack mind." Paul retorts, "Sam keeps his thoughts pretty much locked down, but every once in a while he slips. He's been so worried about you, Bells. Those sparkly bloodsuckers have sought you out, now you have protection. Why would you think it's better for you to be somewhere without anyone?"

"Because them being here is triggering more shifters. I didn't want to be the reason-"

"There were three of us before you ever moved here, Bells. These leeches are going to be an issue, with or without you. I think you're focusing on the wrong thing – if you leave, we're all still here. You leave all these people who love you behind, and that's going to suck balls for all of us, especially if you make my Alpha all emo and shit." He smirks at me, successfully lightening the mood and I toss a balled-up paper towel at him, "You make a mess and you're cleaning it up."

"Fuck off, Lahote!" I snark at him.

"You're a Lahote too, baby sister, and do you kiss Sam with that dirty mouth?" Paul asks.

"She sure does." I hear Sam's voice and I turn towards the unlocked screen door, gesturing for him to come in. He takes advantage of my busy hands to wrap his arms around me from behind and press his warm lips to my neck, "It smells amazing in here. Need any help?" He murmurs.

"Now you've got my Alpha in the kitchen willing to help make dinner. What kind of voodoo shit is this?" Paul asks and I feel the rumble of laughter from where Sam's chest is pressed against my back.

"She's also got you in the kitchen willing to make dinner. She's just that good." Sam replies before pressing his lips to my cheek.

"She's lucky I love her." Paul shrugs and I feel Sam nod against me.

"That she is." He replies.

With one more kiss, he finally pulls away and helps me sauté the vegetables before we add them to the stew. I'm enjoying the lighter side of Sam, and the calmer side of Paul, and when Emily calls Paul excuses himself leaving Sam and I alone in the kitchen. I jump up to sit on the counter, and Sam moves so that he's facing me while standing in between my legs, and we wrap our arms around each other.

"This imprint thing is deep, isn't it?" I ask and he nods.

"It is. Now that you've accepted it, my wolf is having an incredibly hard time being physically away from you." He replies as he runs his nose along my neck, eventually meeting my lips in a kiss.

"I feel the same way." I press my lips to his again. I thread my hands through his messy curly hair, and scratch his scalp lightly, "You're so distracting."

He kisses me again, and it deepens. Sam's hands pull me impossibly closer to him, and I wrap my legs around him to hold him there. When I hear the creak of our screen door I assume it's just Paul so Sam and I don't separate.

"You've got to be fucking kidding me." A familiar voice says, and we break apart, both turning to look at Jacob.

"Jake-"

"I asked for equal consideration, yet you're sitting here making out with him. It's bad enough I have to know that he's sleeping in your room every night, but now I walk in and see this?" Jake complains and his body violently shudders.

"If you're going to phase, it should be outside." Sam says firmly, keeping himself between Jake and me.

Jake growls, and he turns away, walking back through the screen door, and Sam follows him. I watch the two men, both fighting the urge to shift, and I slowly approach them.

"Jake, this isn't how I wanted you to find out, but I have made my decision. I have accepted the imprint. I want to be with Sam." I say and I watch as Jacob shivers, and his fists clench at his sides.

"I love you Bells. I've loved you for most of my life, please just give me a chance. Give us a chance. You told me you were thinking about it-"

"I did think about it-"

"Yeah, while you're spending nights with him, kissing him, playing fucking house, that seems fair. Let me guess, he finally wore you down with his 'poor me' story-"

"Your issue is with me, not her. Don't speak to Bella like that." Sam said angrily.

"Oh, you're even speaking for her now? Are you just going to take over every part of her life because you fucked yours up?" Jake sneers.

"Jacob Ephriam Black, do not talk to him that way!" I scream and Sam puts a warm hand on me, grounding me without saying a word. I reach for the hand, threading our fingers together and pulling him closer. I can feel him trembling, and I realize just how much control Sam really has over his wolf. He's considered quiet, too serious, but people just don't understand what this man has gone through in the past five years.

Or just how much he sacrificed for his own tribe.

Or how much he continues to sacrifice for me.

"You of all people should know better than to interfere with a pack mate's imprint." Paul says as he approaches, "You're the future Chief, the Alpha one day, and I know Billy has explained all of this to you. What did he say about this situation, Jacob?"

"Fuck you." Jake says.

"No, what did your father say? What did our Chief say?" Paul presses and Jake shakes his head almost violently, "I already know that he told you to back off. He told you to respect your current Alpha, and to understand that Sam has done you a tremendous favor by running this pack until you could man up to do it yourself. I get that you love my sister, but can't you also see you're hurting her? You're hurting your own damn pack. Your immaturity is making it so every one of us doubts your ability to lead when the situation calls for it. We all get our hearts broken at least once in our lifetime man, you've got to deal with it and move on. My sister is not going to magically love you, but you're her best friend, and if that's not good enough for you I'll personally make sure you never see her again."

Jake's dark eyes meet mine, and I can see the sheen of unshed tears in them, "You don't love me?"

"Not in the way you want me to, Jake. Not in the way you deserve." I admit, "You've always been my best friend. Please don't throw it all away."

"But this imprint shit… had it never happened you wouldn't even be with Sam." His shoulders drop.

"That's an assumption, just like you are assuming that I would have been with you had the imprint not happened. We have been best friends our entire lives, and you mean so much to me, but I can tell you this, even without the imprint I would feel the same way about you right now. You're my best friend, and I do not have romantic feelings for you. With Sam, it's not the imprint; he and I have a real connection, and it's nothing I can, or want to fight. I want our friendship, Jake, I can't imagine going on without it, but if it's too hard I'll give you the space you need."

"I can feel it shifting." He says quietly, "Your acceptance is part. Once it's sealed," He stops speaking, swallowing back a sob, "it'll be gone. Just… I don't think I can hear about it… not in the pack mind, not anytime soon. Just do that for me?" He looks at Sam.

"I'll never throw it in your face, Jake. I respect her, and you as well." Sam replies.

"Promise me you'll take care of her. I know there are leeches here, and one with their sights set on her, promise me, Sam." Jake says, and I look between the two men.

"You have my word."

With one more sad look in my direction, he finally turns and walks away. I know he needs space, and time to work through his own feelings, but every part of me wants to run to him. I want one of his bone-crushing hugs, and his bright smiles, and to hear his laughter. Paul looks over at me, his face a bit softer than usual, and he presses his lips to my forehead before heading inside.

"Birdie, I'm sorry." Sam says softly and I turn to look at him.

"No, you are not apologizing for this. Sam, you did NOTHING wrong. You can't help an imprint, and you gave me nothing but time, space, and most of all respect. You've allowed me to make my own decisions, even when it was hurting you. I'm happy with you, Sam."

His usually serious face breaks out in a smile, and he leans towards me and presses his lips to mine chastely, "I'm happy with you too."

Charlie was surprised to see both Paul and Sam home for dinner, and when Emily eventually joined us, I remarked it was the first true family dinner we'd had since my arrival in La Push almost two months ago. I didn't miss Charlie's expression when I called us a family, so Sam and I let him know that we were now officially in a relationship. My uncle didn't seem too surprised, and mentioned he'd noticed how close the two of us were getting, and when Jake stopped coming around so much, he'd figured that the younger man had gotten his feelings hurt. My brother laughed heartily at Charlie's observation, and in true Paul fashion he said that Jacob Black would never be man enough for his baby sister.

Even Sam got a good chuckle from that.

Things fell into a good routine from there. Charlie was unable to hold back his happiness when he learned that I wanted to stay in La Push. He told me I could stay in his house for as long as I wanted, and promised me I would always have a home with him.

I worked my shifts at the station, usually overlapping with Sam, and always with Charlie. I'd gotten to know Charlie's girlfriend Tiffany much better, and through their relationship Embry and I were becoming closer as well. Tiffany had finally admitted it could either be Joshua Uley who was Embry's father as many had assumed, or it could be Jerome Lahote. A DNA test performed on Paul, Embry and me proved that we shared the same father, and we were all stunned to learn we had a brother who was only six months younger than me.

Charlie was now officially a father-figure to all three of my father's known children, and the three of us who grew up as only children were getting to know each other as siblings.

With Sam by my side, I finally sat down with Charlie and told him I didn't want to go back to Renee's or home to Phil, who had always kept his home open to me even when Renee fucked him over. I'd slowly started opening up to my uncle more, telling him some of the easier to digest incidents in my childhood, and even those made him turn red in anger. He'd been estranged from his younger sister for most of their adult lives, though he'd heard through the grapevine that Renee was a mother, he was never successful in getting her to allow us to meet. It's as if she always knew that I would leave her the first moment I had stability in my life.

Charlie's normally stoic expression failed when I tearfully told him that I was terrified of making the call to my mother, not knowing if she was even alive anymore since I had always taken care of her in the past. I explained that as soon as Renee found out where I really was, she was going to be angry. It was the first time I'd confessed to the lie I had been living with in order to get away from her for the summer – my stepfather Phil, who remained in Florida, was covering for me. Legally, he and Renee were still married, and Phil is the only man she's ever had in her life to treat me like a true daughter. He was the first person I'd confided in when Jake had found out that Jerome Lahote was likely my father. Phil helped arrange the DNA testing, he was the man who would send in child support checks for a daughter who wasn't biologically his after he and Renee had split for good, and even with his own faults he loved me fiercely. Phil could never get custody of me even though he'd remained legally married to Renee, his own drug habits, while nowhere near as out of control as Renee's, prevented that from ever happening. The country would rather leave me with a strung-out addict that I shared a bloodline with, than a loving stepfather who's habit of occasionally smoking pot before it became legal labeled him a druggie.

I now had Phil, Charlie, Paul, and Sam in my corner, all good men who vowed to always protect me. I had Leah, who was like a sister to me, and Tiffany and Embry were my family as well. Then there was Jake, sweet, kind Jake whose lifelong friendship was the balm to my troubled past. He'd had a hard time with accepting my relationship with Sam, but we soon understood it was the wolf who couldn't submit and not the man, and once he had better control of his wolf, we'd finally found our friendship again.

Things were almost perfect, except the silent threat of Edward and Alice Cullen that remained in the back of our minds. Sam and I still had not physically sealed the imprint, not because we didn't want to be together, but because we wanted to take things as slow as our connection would allow. Sam's only experience was with his ex-girlfriend Kenna, and it was prior to him shifting, and we both respected the bond we had and the knowledge that we would be together forever. There was nothing we needed to rush, however it allowed for a slight spiritual loophole when it came to other supernatural species and their beliefs. It was the pack's belief that other members of the Cullen's extended coven were, at minimum, passing through Forks, causing more of the boys from La Push to shift. The pack was once only Sam, then Jared and Paul, then Embry, Quil and Jake. Younger boys started to shift when the Cullen's had returned, including fifteen-year-old Seth Clearwater, and thirteen-year-old cousins Brady Fuller and Colin Littlesea.

Because of my uncle's deep ties with the families of the shifters, and the eminent danger the Cullen's and any rogue vampires brought to the area, the elders consisting of current Chief Billy Black, Quil Atera III who we all called 'Old Quil', Harry Clearwater and Kevin Littlesea decided it was time to let the police Chief know about the shifters, and it was during one of those private bonfires that my uncle heard for the first time what his two "sons" actually were. Charlie was quiet, his hand threaded with Tiffany's when he watched Paul and Embry shift, and eventually Jake, Quil V, Seth, Colin, and Brady shifted too. When Sam dropped my hand and pressed a sweet kiss to my lips, I knew what was about to happen. He took off into the forest as well, and came out in his beautiful, black wolf form, and Charlie watched in awe as his pack submitted to him in respect.

His jaw fell almost to the ground when he watched the same black wolf crouch down with his head bent towards me, showing his full submission to his mate. I rubbed his silky ears and pressed my lips to his snout, whispering to him just how proud I am of him as Charlie tried to gather his thoughts.

"That's… that's Sam?" Charlie asked me without taking his eyes off my majestic wolf.

"Yes. He is the current Alpha." I replied proudly and Charlie's eyes got wider.

"You're okay with this?" He asks and I nod.

"Paul tells me I am surprisingly good with weird things." I reply cheekily and I hear a huff from my wolf, who eventually lays on his stomach and drops his large head in my lap. I rub his silky ears and press kisses between his large hazel eyes.

"Holy shit." Charlie murmured and I looked up at him, "It's a lot to take in." He admits.

The elders chimed in, explaining the need for the secrecy, and when the pack phases back I'm happy when Jake drops down next to me, with Sam on my other side. We had slowly been rebuilding our friendship, and after a couple of awkward exchanges he had been cordial to Sam. Earlier this week he had finally apologized to Sam for his blatant disrespect of his Alpha, and told him that he appreciated the longer than normal leash he'd been given to work through the situation we were in.

A broken howl in the background interrupted the conversation, and I looked at the pack in confusion. Sam kissed me briefly, but Paul put a hand on his shoulder.

"We've got this, boss." He said and Jared nodded. Jake looked down and smiles briefly.

"You deserve a night off with your mate." Jake says and nods once towards Sam before jogging off into the forest.

I drop my head on Sam's chest as he wraps an arm around me, and listen to the easy conversation between him, my uncle and the elders.

"What's with the howling?" Charlie asked and Billy glanced at Sam and nodded.

"It's one of our alerts. We have at least two of us on patrol at all times. We watch the borders of the rez to ensure none of the cold ones get in." Sam explained and Charlie nodded, "If we scent one, we alert, and depending on how recent the scent was left we sound different howls. The one you just heard was an alert of a fresh scent, but not active."

"Not active?" Charlie asks and Tiffany watches the exchange with wide eyes, finally getting an understanding of what her son has been dealing with since his first phase.

"It just means that they don't see anything, they just smell a trail. Our senses are heightened, so we can distinguish between a freshly left scent trail, or determine the time if the scent isn't as potent." Sam explained.

The entire time they were talking I watched Harry Clearwater, the normally stoic father of Leah and Seth was gesturing angrily at the other elders. I tried to listen as he and Billy Black had a hushed conversation, with Billy obviously trying to keep his friend calm. I heard my mother's name in a hissed whisper and Billy's eyes immediately met mine before he held a hand up to silence Harry. I wanted to ask Sam about it, but he and my uncle were deep in conversation, so instead I watched as Harry stormed off leaving Billy sitting in his wheelchair with his eyes closed and his hands scrubbing across his face. When Billy finally opened his eyes, they met mine and I no longer saw the man I considered my uncle from my childhood, instead I could almost feel his palpable anger, but he simply turned away and asked Charlie to help him get home.