Alex carried the basket of muffins to the center of the table and placed them there gently, right next to the several other plates of baked goods that Emily had prepared.

The brunette often wondered how she kept up with it all—if Alex's home ever became the wolf pack meeting place then she wouldn't even know where to begin. But Emily was a natural, her mother instinct had been out ever since Alex had met her. It made her the perfect person for Sam—to help keep the wolves in check.

"Anymore news on the vampire running around?" Alex asked Emily, who had orange juice in hand and carried it over to the small table.

Jordan was spending the Sunday afternoon with their father, which left Alex with not much to do. Then add in that all of her friends were out patrolling and keeping an eye on a freshly turned Jacob, and Alex didn't have much places to go beside Emily's. This didn't bother the girl however, Emily had always been nice to Alex and she enjoyed her company.

"Not since yesterday when they chased her to Canada," Emily answered Alex, although it was something the brunette already knew. Paul had kept her up to date with it all but Alex simply wondered whether anything else had come forward since she last saw him.

Which was last night.

It wasn't very often that Alex and Paul spent the night apart, he always insisted on climbing through her window each night. Something about making sure she didn't freeze—although Alex knew it was for the kisses and cuddles he got in return.

The girls both turned at the sound of yipping in the driveway after a car had rolled up. That confused both Alex and Emily—the pack didn't usually use cars, they were faster on foot.

Jared walked through the door not long after. Alex watched from where she had come to sit at the table, a confused look on her face.

Jared noticed this and let out a small laugh. He was shirtless as per, jean cutoffs the only thing that hung off him. "Your boyfriend just got punched and it was amazing."

That made Alex's eyes widen. It wasn't like Paul couldn't take a punch, but it still only made the girl more confused as to what had happened. Her stomach bubbled slightly in anger, not wanting Paul to get hurt in any way. "What one of you idiots would be stupid enough to punch my boyfriend—who has a history of anger outbursts?"

"Wasn't one of us, Lexi."

That didn't help the confusion in any way shape or form. The only thing she took from the small conversation with Jared was that the boy didn't seem too worried about Paul, which gave Alex wind that this wasn't too serious. Her stomach still bubbled in nerves despite this.

"You're not going to happy with your boyfriend," Embry announced as he walked through the door. He looked directly at Alex as he said this before his gaze moved to Emily. "And you probably won't be happy with Jake—Sam's not."

"We leave you lot alone for a few minutes," Emily breathed out, sure that the drama the boys were talking about wasn't much. It usually wasn't.

Alex looked between both Embry and Jared now, the pair already having digged into the food on the table. They weren't paying that much attention to her.

Alex hit Embry's shoulder with her hand, which caused the boy to look at her with slight confusion. He was a lot more relaxed recently—it had been around a week since his imprint and it had all come full circle. He hadn't made the biggest effort to talk to Jordan yet, but it was all still new. Although Alex knew that Jordan was due to go back to Ohio soon and she had yet to bring it up to Embry, not wanting to add extra pressure.

"What?" Embry muffled through the biscuit in his mouth, Alex grimaced at the small crumbs that tumbled.

"Be more specific about what Paul did, and Jacob. I want to—"

It all made a tiny bit more sense when Alex heard someone else walk through the door. She turned in her seat to see that it was Bella Swan—one of the last people she expected to walk through the doors to Emily's home.

Although with mention of Jacob doing something that would anger Sam, it didn't surprise Alex to see that Bella was a part of it. Her and Jacob had become fast friends since the Cullen's had left town—and Paul complained most nights about Jacob's unrequited love for the girl. No imprint was made however so it clearly wasn't forever.

"Who's this?" Emily asked kindly as she too noticed Bella's presence in her house.

Alex smiled shyly at the Swan girl, as Bella looked at her with slight surprise. The pair knew of each other—Alex had previously been at Forks High when Bella moved. The two had never talked, but were both aware of the other.

"Bella Swan, who else?" Jared muttered with his mouth full so the sound was muffled.

"So, you're the vampire girl," Emily stated with a small smirk. Alex rose her eyebrows at the sass and a small smile tugged on her lips.

She would never have thought Bella to be a vampire girl, but that was clearly the case.

"So, you're the wolf girl," Bella reiterated back to Emily. The brunette walked further into the house, although still tense like she was out of place.

Alex smiled even larger at the girl not being afraid to give it back to Emily—not that the brunette was a scary person, but Alex would never have dreamed of doing that when she first met Emily.

Emily laughed at that. "Guess so. Well, I'm engaged to one."

"You're not alone though, Em. Alex is wolf girl number two," Jared quipped from beside the short brunette. He expertly dodged the hunk of muffin Alex threw his way—the boy had been the target of Alex's launching of things before.

Bella seemed to pause at this comment, but didn't seem to dwell on it for too long.

Jared and Embry both eagerly reached for the fresh muffins Emily placed in front of them, only to have their hands slapped away by the baker herself. "Save some for your brothers. And ladies first. Muffin?"

Bella nodded at the gesture to her and she grabbed one off the tray. Alex continued to nibble on the one she had grabbed earlier from the previous plate. It annoyed her how she got quieter with a new face around, Bella wasn't someone that Alex had a problem with but she was a shy person. A random girl in her space wasn't exactly going to make her speak up.

Alex wondered where Paul was—to both make her feel more comfortable and see if he was okay.

"Leave it to Jacob to find a way around Sam's gag order."

Alex agreed with this, if anyone was to tell an outsider about the wolf pack then it was Jacob—and to Bella Swan. The brunette curiously wondered how he did it, Sam's orders weren't something he could have simply ignored.

Bella looked frantic as Emily said this. "He didn't say anything to me."

"It's a wolf thing," Embry reassured Bella, his muffin held tightly in hand. "Alpha's orders get obeyed—whether we want 'em to or not."

There was a small pause before Embry grinned again. He focused back on Bella. "Oh, and check this out. We can hear each other's thoughts."

Jared seemed to gape at the words Embry had spilled. Alex smiled slightly at the pure look of astonishment on his face. "Would you shut up? These are trade secrets. This chick runs with vampires."

Alex guessed Jared had a point, albeit if it was any good. It wasn't a secret to vampires what the wolves could do, so it was really only a matter of time before Bella found out without their help. Embry saying a few things wouldn't change much.

"You can't really run with vampires," Bella replied, causing everyone in the room to look back at her. "Cause they're fast."

Emily was clearly amused as a low chuckle came from the older woman. Alex bit her lip nonchalantly, quite proud of how Bella had faired against the bunch of rowdy boys. They were a lot to handle, especially if you liked something they didn't.

Jared shot Alex a small glare as he noticed her amusement. He quickly moved back to stare at Bella. "Yeah? Well we're faster. Freaked out yet?"

Bella shrugged, not looking overly phased with what the boys had told her. Alex presumed she had heard and seen worse, the brunette imagined that vampires were slightly more gruesome—whether that was her own assumption or it came from what Paul had told her. "You're not the first monsters I've met."

"Jake's right. You're good with weird," The low voice of Sam Uley spoke from the doorway as the tall man entered his fiancée's house. He briefly glanced at Bella in acknowledgement before all his attention moved to Emily, arms opened towards her.

Alex's attention spiked then and she wondered where Paul was. He had to be close if Sam was back.

And then the brunette heard the sound of scuffled gravel outside, she knew then that more people had arrived. Alex's head instantly turned to see Paul and Jacob playfully shoving the other, they both entered the house at the same time.

Alex had no clue what Embry had been going on about. With a quick glance at her boyfriend she could see that Paul was fine—the gentle smile on his face told her so. There were no visible marks or bruises on her boyfriend, which was the first thing Alex looked for.

Paul was in the house quickly as he spotted Alex, his smile grew even bigger when he saw the small brunette. His arms easily picked up Alex so that he could take up the seat she sat on, her petite frame getting placed on his lap once Paul was secure.

His lips met hers in what Alex could tell was desperation. She easily let him in, already more comfortable with Paul around her. Alex allowed her lips to linger on his—both grateful he was back and that he was okay. The brunette gripped his neck at the thought of him nearly getting hurt, making sure he was actually here, and pulled him closer.

"Hi," Paul said quickly once the pair had broken apart. One of his hands kept Alex sat on his lap, her legs dangled off one side. The other moved to where his girlfriend held one of Emily's muffins and he broke some off with his fingers.

"You okay?" Alex knew that his angry outburst was something Paul wouldn't have been proud of. The brunette wasn't naive, she knew that her boyfriend had issues that he was working on with his anger. But since she had known him, he had been doing so well. One slip up didn't mean anything—Alex was just thankful no one got hurt.

Paul shrugged and his eyes moved to where the muffin sat in his hand.

Alex moved her lips to kiss his cheek before they moved back more to his ear. She knew everyone but Bella in the room had hearing that could definitely decipher what she was about to say. But truthfully, Alex had forgotten that anyone else was in the room.

"It doesn't change anything—I'm still proud of you. Always."

That made Paul smile and lift his head. Alex's smile matched his own, now that Paul was somewhat happier she felt similar.

Alex now turned to where Bella stood. The brunette was watching her with a look of astonishment, Alex could feel her eyes on her and it was the reason the girl had turned in the first place.

"Sorry." Paul had his attitude back with the simple words of encouragement from his girlfriend. He sent Bella a wink before he started to eat the muffin in his grasp.

The brunette didn't hold any anger for Bella punching Paul, although she felt for the girl and the pain she probably felt from it. Her boyfriend probably did the provoking, that wouldn't surprise Alex.

Alex could understand the confusion in Bella Swan's stare though. Paul and her didn't seem like the most likely couple—they were complete opposites in fact. The brunette only smiled in return, feeling slightly guilty that her boyfriend had nearly blown up in Bella's face. Bella sent a small one back to Alex.

Then her and Jacob walked out the door as fast as they came in.

"He really likes her doesn't he?" Jared asked the group.

Embry let out a howl of laughter and he clutched the table to try control himself. "Oh yeah. How did you only just come to this conclusion, Jared?"

"The worst part is that she totally doesn't feel the same way," Alex added on quickly. In the small space of time she had seen Bella with Jacob, their exchange didn't seem romantic to her. And the last time she checked Bella was smitten with Edward Cullen—it was the talk of the school before she and Jordan left. "She's in love with Edward Cullen."

"Unrequited love is a bitch," Emily muttered from where she stood with Sam in the kitchen. Not necessarily drawing from her relationship with Sam but more so previous ones. Most people had been in that situation and could empathize with Jacob.

The group fell silent after that. Everyone was respectively digging into the baked goods present curtesy of Emily, probably trying to make sense of what just happened and how much Jacob had revealed.

"Can you tell me how amazing this punch was?" Alex broke the silence as she looked at Jared. He grinned back at her with glee. "You don't know how many times I've wanted to punch him. Start from the start, tell me how it went down."

Paul squeezed Alex's sides after that, which made the girl let out small noise of surprise. His mouth came to tug on her ear playfully.

Jared and Embry both laughed loudly at Alex's comments before the two started to relay the events of less than an hour ago. Sam and Emily laughed along with them, the alpha even popped in when he had something important to add.

And Alex laughed along with them—along with her family.

---

Alex was about to knock on the door of the room her brother had somehow claimed as his own in the short time he had been back in La Push, but then she caught a glimpse of Jordan.

Jordan had always been a large boy—his height towered over most people at six-foot and his body definitely wasn't scrawny but rather packed a lot of muscle. But right then and there, Alex had never seen her twin look smaller.

The tiny study room that her parents had quickly converted into a bedroom for their eldest child seemed to swamp Jordan, and made him seem miniscule. Jordan's frame was hunched over on the edge of the bed, phone gripped tight in his hand. He only stared at the floor.

Alex felt herself deflate then. His sadness was infectious, much like most of Jordan's moods were. Everything he felt, you wanted to feel too. Without even knowing, the teen had so much influence on those around him, just by feeling what he wanted to.

Alex didn't end up knocking, but simply walked through the slightly ajar door and sat next to her brother on the bed.

As her weight sunk into the mattress, Jordan looked up at the girl who had just walked into his room. Alex felt her heart sink at the sight of tear stained cheeks, with water harboured in his eyes as if more were about to fall.

She didn't need to know why, not yet anyway. Alex simply tugged Jordan's now fragile looking frame so that his head laid on her shoulder. Her arms wrapped around Jordan's shoulders and she hugged him—squeezed him tight so that he knew she was there, like she always would be.

And with that Alex felt her older twin brother start to sob in her arms—and she swore a piece of her soul broke off right then. Something bad had happened to her brother and Alex knew she probably couldn't do a thing to help.

And that was what hurt the most.

---

bye, sad jordan is not what i am here for.

this book is nearly over??? what the heck i'm emotional, but paul & alex will live on forever—well at least they will be back in jordan's book lmao