By the middle of January things were finally settling. The pack was safe, and we had good self-control, Jared and Paul could return to school if they wanted to.

Bella was starting to improve, my mom said she went out with Jess and was starting to hang out with Jacob. That was good news. If we were lucky Jacob could remain human. But he was starting to show the signs, just like Embry did.

That stirred its own issues.

As far as we knew Embry was from the Makah tribe, not Quileute. It begged the question who had he descended from.

There were only 4 sons of Taha Ahki only four families that carried the gene for phasing. One of the families is technically gone since the last male heir (my great-great grandfather) he only had daughters, 2 wife's, 2 daughters. But that family was gone and only exist through its descendants – technically I was the descendant of the Bayak family.

Embry didn't know his father, his mom never told him, but there were 4 options; Billy, Quil, Joshua or my dad. Everyone seemed to want to believe it was Joshua, Sam's dad, seeing as he wasn't the ideal father and there was plenty of years in between Sam and Embry, about 5 or so.

Whereas Quil, Jacob and I were all around the same age, I mean they were all close to a year older than me. But it would mean that our fathers cheated two while they were pregnant. Of course, only Billy was around to be asked, but no one dared ask.

We would say it was possible that Embry got the gene somewhere else, but all the ones who currently phased had great grandfathers in the pack. Jared was the descendant of Quil Ateara II, Paul, Sam and I were descendants of Levi Uley, I was also a descendant of Ephraim Black.

So Embry had to be too, but all those ends were tied up, I guess it was possible that he was related to one of the relatives that moved away. Billy had a few sisters I think, they could have had sons. Douglas passed in a car accident before Embry could be born... We still treated Embry like our brother.

He didn't seem to have any problem with me around, I didn't have to prove my strength to him. I wasn't someone that was watched like a kid needing protecting. Sure, he would look out for me, but he was content with letting me take the lead.

The addition of Embry only changed the pack dynamic a little bit, Jared and Paul patrolled during the day. It was easier seeing as Jared they didn't need to go to school anymore. That left Sam, Embry, and I to patrol at night.

Another instance for Sam to 'protect' me.

Our radius extended past Forks and the entirety of the Olympic range, since the Cullen's were gone. Previously my great grandfather, Ephraim made a deal, a treaty. Mutual secrecy, and protection. The Cullen's agreed to not hunt or hurt humans or turn them because that was equal to death. They also agreed not to venture onto our land, while the wolves wouldn't go to their land, Forks.

Thankfully the pack isn't all serious and patrol. When we were in human form we often acted like a dysfunctional family. We'd race, arm wrestle, fix homes and buildings around La Push and cliff dived. The last one was one of my favorites, the adrenaline was something I couldn't get use to. It was a rush and fun as hell.

We used to jump from the lower cliffs, but back then we were humans and weren't willing to risk our lives for an adrenaline rush. With the physiological enhancements our chances of being injured from the fall was close to none. And if we did get hurt we healed a broken bone could heal completely within a few hours.

I still had to prove my 'masculinity' more than the others, but the reveal of my sexuality helped that along, only a little bit. I often overdid some stunts to prove I wasn't afraid to get dirty...

Logically I knew their protection wasn't just because I was a girl but years of protective instincts. I mean Paul and Sam were kinda like my big brothers.

The worst part, phasing in front of them. Everyone could see everything. Of course, no one tried to think of it, but sometimes it would filter through, not in a sexual light thankfully.

Paul would grumble about the fact that I had better abs than everyone mostly.

But I was able to limit the chances of others seeing me naked by stashing bags of clothes in the woods. I'd bury them slightly and mark the tree that they were located under, though I never lost them.

The clothes issue was the biggest issue I had to deal with, my hair was another. I didn't need to worry about my fur length like the others for some reason, though if we were being honest as long their hair didn't fall below their shoulders it wasn't an issue, it was just easier.

Thankfully my hair grew slowly so I only needed to cut it once, it was a funny moment at the pack house, mostly for Jared and Paul.

Embry and I walked through the house just after a patrol. I had taken to wearing shorts and a tank top, sports bra only if we were cliff jumping. I of course had other clothes kept in my car to keep up appearances.

I shook my head trying my best to put my hair into a ponytail. It would have been easier to braid but that took time, and I wasn't interested in that at the moment.

"you missed a piece" Embry laughed flipping a piece of my hair as he walked by. I groaned again trying to pull it all into the band.

"I don't get why it can't just do what I want it to" I grumbled messing with the irritating strands. I never had this issue before, then again, I never really needed to worry about my hair. I just left it down.

"you're getting straggly" Paul snorted. Jared and Embry barked out a laugh. I gave them a fake glare.

"I'm not the only one who's getting straggly; besides you guys need to worry about it more than me" I replied.

"you all need a haircut" Emily commented as she walked into the dining room with a plate of muffins. I couldn't fathom how she always had food prepared for when we arrived. It was like she was a full-time chef... or mom. Sam showed up soon after with some clippers and scissors.

"we all do" I looked at the boys and thought how my hair would turn out if I let them cut it. I may not like it to be touching my shoulder blades, but I did not want a buzz cut or it to be uneven.

"I'm not letting either of you touch my hair" I pointed at Paul and Jared.

"I'm offended" Jared gasped in fake protest. Paul nodded his head agreeing with the boy. I couldn't help letting out a laugh before answering.

"nope, I'm not sure you guys can cut it straight enough and I do NOT want a buzz cut."

"not a buzz cut, but maybe a bowl cut" Sam chuckled. My eyes widened.

Emily patted my shoulder. "don't worry, I'll cut your hair"

I smiled then turned to Sam "if you're pulling out the bowl already, I worry about any of your future children" The others snorted and let out a loud laugh while Emily's face turned red slightly.

That was about a week ago and it would probably be another few months before it grew long enough for a cut.

Everything was going well, with one exception. The hikers saw a monstrous black bear.

Which means they saw me, or Sam. Sam was more bear like, but we couldn't be sure who they saw. I felt terrible, I wasn't sure if it was me, but I ran through Forks more than the others. I felt like I gave away everything.

Harry assured me that there were contingency plans for this, I didn't ruin anything. But as far as I was concerned the only luck we got was that everyone thought it was a bear.

A huge one.

That was easily dismissed with a 'be more careful' or 'don't go into the woods'. So, there were no repercussions, right now. Eventually people would go looking, like bigfoot.

The next few days were somewhat the same.

I did catch a whiff of an almost, painfully sweet smell, it was like being assaulted with cotton candy or sweet alcohol. It didn't stink, but it wasn't the scent I would associate with pleasant – it was too sweet and chemically.

Like manufactured perfume a ton of it, nothing natural about it at all. The first time I caught it, it was like someone hit me in the nose, painful. I thought I would loose all sense of scent, that I would forever be overwhelmed by the scent.

It got better thankfully.

But it was skittering along the edge of Forks, another problem. I made sure to tell the others a Vampire was in the area – either it passed through or was going to, but there was definitely one near. This was one thing Sam trusted me fully with. I had the best sense of scent if I said something was close it generally was. Sometimes a little further than we originally thought.

One time I told them Emily was coming and it took nearly 10 minutes before she showed up... she wasn't even in the drive yet. That was when they realized it. Jared had the best sight, and I had the best sense of smell.

We all kept alert for the threat. I kept the knowledge from my family, but I make extra patrols around the home. They didn't ask much but I played it off pretty well. As far as they were concerned I was still learning control, and we needed to run off any extra energy.

And more good news, with Bella starting to become normal Charlie worried about her less and less, and my mom was starting to spend more time with him, her relationship was returning to normal.

"you know it's only a matter of time before we hear wedding bells" I laughed setting my fork down.

"yeah, Val. It's the only logical next step" Eve added.

"the next step is living together"

Of course, that led to Eve joking about some things I did not want to hear, and I had impeccable hearing. I was glad they didn't live together; I don't know what I would do if I had to hear that.

"okay... I don't need to know" I laughed getting up to rinse my bowl out.

"I agree, Eve. Al doesn't need to know about that. You don't even need to know about that" my mom laughed placing her hands over my ears.

"But I'm your sister, your closest confident. I know everything" she added a sly smile on her lips and a wiggle of her eyebrows "besides, you're going to see Charlie today"

"o-okay. I'm out of here, you guys have fun talking about that."

The last thing I heard was rambunctious laughter. And I was positive I heard my mom smack Eve on the arm.