Now that it was dark, we were getting ready to start the legends. The fire crackled, settling lower toward the sand. Sparks blew up in a sudden puff of brilliant orange against the black sky. I had heard them a hundred times, but it was a first for Leah, Seth and Quil as well as some of the imprints. Emily was the only imprint that had heard them, Kim and Lia were first timers, and Bella.

Billy was here, his wheelchair stationed at what seemed the natural head of the circle. Beside him on a folding lawn chair, looking quite brittle, was Quil's ancient, white-haired grandfather, Old Quil. Sue Clearwater, widow of Harry, had a chair on his other side; her two children, Leah, and Seth, were also there, sitting on the ground like the rest of us. I was sitting next to Leah, right in front of an empty chair. It was supposed to be for me, my father.

"It's getting late," Bella murmured to Jacob.

"Don't start that yet," Jacob whispered back - though certainly half the group here had hearing sensitive enough to hear them anyway, if I could so could the others. "The best part is coming."

"What's the best part? You swallowing an entire cow whole?"

Jacob chuckled his low, throaty laugh. "No. That's the finale. We didn't meet just to eat through a week's worth of food. This is technically a council meeting. It's Quil's first time, and he hasn't heard the stories yet. Well, he's heard them, but this will be the first time he knows they're true. That tends to make a guy pay closer attention. Kim and Seth and Leah are all first-timers, too."

"Stories?"

Jacob scooted back beside Bella, where she rested against a low ridge of rock. He put his arm over her shoulder and spoke even lower into her ear.

"The histories we always thought were legends," he said. "The stories of how we came to be. The first is the story of the spirit warriors."

It was almost as if Jacob's whisper was the introduction. The atmosphere changed abruptly around the low-burning fire. Paul and Embry sat up straighter. Jared nudged Kim and then pulled her gently upright.

Emily produced a spiral-bound notebook and a pen, looking exactly like a student set for an important lecture. Sam twisted just slightly beside her - so that he was facing the same direction as Old Quil, who was on his other side. I straightened and turned towards Billy.

Billy cleared his throat, and, with no more introduction than his son's whisper, began telling the story in his rich, deep voice. The words poured out with precision, as if he knew them by heart, but also with feeling and a subtle rhythm. Like poetry performed by its author.

"The Quileutes have been a small people from the beginning," Billy said. "And we are a small people still, but we have never disappeared. This is because there has always been magic in our blood."

Emily's pen sprinted across the sheets of paper as she tried to keep up with him.

"It happened long ago that Q'waeti' journeyed all over the land setting the people aright and instructing the people that would come in the future how they should act. One day Q'waeti' reached the Quileute land. There were no people here, only two wolves. Then Q'waeti' transformed the wolves into people. Then he instructed the people saying: 'You Quileute shall be brave, because you come from wolves,' said Q'waeti' 'In every manner you shall be strong.' After many decades the descendants of the wolves discovered they could enter the spirit realm, where everything was as it was before Q'waeti' righted everything.

In the beginning, the tribe settled in this harbor and became skilled ship builders and fishermen. But the tribe was small, and the harbor was rich in fish. There were others who coveted our land, and we were too small to hold it. A larger tribe moved against us, and we took to our ships to escape them. Kaheleha was not the first spirit warrior, but we do not remember the stories that came before his. Kaheleha was the first great Spirit Chief in our known history. In this emergency, Kaheleha used the magic to defend our land. The stories tell us that they could blow fierce winds into their enemy's camps; they could make a great screaming in the wind that terrified their foes. The stories also tell us that the animals could see the spirit warriors and understand them; the animals would do their bidding."

I wondered if this was why the neighboring tribes were so superstitious.

"Kaheleha took his spirit army and wreaked havoc on the intruders. The survivors scattered, calling our harbor a cursed place. The other nearby tribes, the Hoh's, and the Makah's made treaties with the Quileutes. They wanted nothing to do with our magic. We lived in peace with them. When an enemy came against us, the spirit warriors would drive them off. Generations passed, our enemies moved away, and the spirits forgot how to enter the spirit realm. Until Taha Aki, he was the last of the Great Spirit Chiefs."

There was a collective pause, everyone in the pack was related to him in one way or another, his descendants were the only ones to phase.

"But there was one man, Utlapa, who was not content."

A low hiss ran around the fire. Billy ignored it and went on with the legend.

"Utlapa was one of Chief Taha Aki's strongest spirit warriors - a powerful man, but a grasping man, too. He thought the people should use their magic to expand their lands, to enslave the Hoh's and the Makah's and build an empire."

I clenched my fists; this part of the story was always the worst. It was fundamentally against everything the Amarok stood for, everything my inner wolf fought for. Our job was to let the people be free and safe. No one trying to enslave them and no persecutions. People are free to make their choice and live without known threats of the supernatural.

"Taha Aki watched as Yut's spirit slipped away to the final lands that were barred to Taha Aki for all eternity. He felt a great rage, more powerful than anything he'd felt before. He entered the big wolf again, meaning to rip Utlapa's throat out. But, as he joined the wolf, the greatest magic happened. Taha Aki's anger was the anger of a man. The love he had for his people and the hatred he had for their oppressor were too vast for the wolf's body, too human. The wolf shuddered, and - before the eyes of the shocked warriors and Utlapa - transformed into a man."

It was amazing how legends form, there is no evidence to say what Billy is saying is wrong no matter how outlandish it sounded. The evidence was sitting in front of us, the pack proved that it happened.

"From that point on, Taha Aki was more than either wolf or man. They called him Taha Aki the Great Wolf, or Taha Aki the Spirit Man. He led the tribe for many, many years, for he did not age. When danger threatened, he would resume his wolf-self to fight or frighten the enemy. The people dwelt in peace. Taha Aki fathered many sons, and some of these found that, after they had reached the age of manhood, they, too, could transform into wolves. The wolves were all different, because they were spirit wolves and reflected the man they were inside."

"So that's why Sam is all black," Quil muttered under his breath, grinning. "Black heart, black fur." The fire threw a volley of sparks into the sky, and they shivered and danced, making shapes that were almost decipherable.

"And your chocolate fur reflects what?" Sam whispered back to Quil. "How sweet you are?"

I couldn't help the upturn of my lips; I wasn't sure why our fur was the color it was. Even the pack had varying colors and designs. Quil and Jared had chocolate fur, though Jared has a dark grey mask around his eyes, whereas Quil's face was a lighter brown. Paul was silver grey and looked like a typical timber wolf with lighter tan or white under his eyes and side of muzzle.

Embry was a grey like Paul, though he had a few brown spots thrown in, and he had a white masquerade mask marking around his eyes and a dark grey nose. Jacob looked a lot like Paul, except he had russet fur, that was a tan on the side of his muzzle.

Seth is by far the most 'colorful' of the wolfs, with a tri color. He reminded me of a Mexican wolf in color. Black on his back that bled into a russet or sandy color. His facial marking were very similar to Jacob or Paul's. Leah was a light gray wolf with sandy spots mixed in. Her facial pattern was most similar to Quil. All of them had lighter bellies and chests.

Sam and I were the only ones who were a solid color. Black. The only discernable feature was my green eyes, and I had a brown patch around my right eye.

Though patch wasn't the right word, it was like a crescent wrapped around. Not a full circle but close.

Billy ignored the jibes. "Some of the sons became warriors with Taha Aki, and they no longer aged. Others, who did not like the transformation, refused to join the pack of wolf-men. These began to age again, and the tribe discovered that the wolf-men could grow old like anyone else if they gave up their spirit wolves. Taha Aki had lived the span of four old men's lives. He had married a fourth wife after the deaths of the first three, and found in her his true spirit wife. Though he had loved the others, this was something else. He decided to give up his spirit wolf so that he would die when she did." Billy glanced at me, I knew he was thinking about my dad, who gave up his wolf to grow old with my mom. Then again maybe he was thinking about the family that descended from that man. Leah, Seth, and I were the last descendants of Taha Aki's fourth wife.