"That is how the magic came to us, but it is not the end of the story..."

He looked at Old Quil Ateara, who shifted in his chair, straightening his frail shoulders, the last Wolf of his pack. Billy took a drink from a bottle of water and wiped his forehead. Emily's pen never hesitated as she scribbled furiously on the paper.

"That was the story of the spirit warriors," Old Quil began in a thin tenor voice. "This is the story of the fourth wife's sacrifice."

The atmosphere turned somber, and everyone looked down in respect.

"Many years after Taha Aki gave up his spirit wolf, when he was an old man, trouble began in the north, with the Makah's. Several young women of their tribe had disappeared, and they blamed it on the neighboring wolves, who they feared and mistrusted. The wolf-men could still read each other's thoughts while in their wolf forms, just like their ancestors had while in their spirit forms. They knew that none of their number was to blame. Taha Aki tried to pacify the Makah chief, but there was too much fear. Taha Aki did not want to have a war on his hands. He was no longer a warrior to lead his people. He charged his oldest wolf-son, Taha Wi, with finding the true culprit before hostilities began. Taha Wi led the five other wolves in his pack on a search through the mountains, looking for any evidence of the missing Makah's. They came across something they had never encountered before - a strange, sweet scent in the forest that burned their noses to the point of pain."

Bella shrank a little getting closer to Jacobs side. Everyone here could tell where this was going.

"They did not know what creature would leave such a scent, but they followed it," Old Quil continued. His quavering voice did not have the majesty of Billy's, but it had a strange, fierce edge of urgency about it.

"They found faint traces of human scent, and human blood, along the trail. They were sure this was the enemy they were searching for. The journey took them so far north that, they discovered another tribe, the Amarok. Taha Wi sent half the pack, the younger ones, back to the harbor to report to Taha Aki. While he and the other pack searched for the enemy. Taha Wi and his two brothers did not return."

"The younger brothers searched for their elders, but found only silence." It was common belief that the sons died, even the Amarok had died. They were young and not as skilled, they never planned to find a vampire or anything, so they were vastly unprepared."

"Taha Aki mourned for his sons. He wished to avenge his sons' death, but he was old. He went to the Makah chief in his mourning clothes and told him everything that had happened. The Makah chief believed his grief, and tensions ended between the tribes."

"A year later, two Makah maidens disappeared from their homes on the same night. The Makah's called on the Quileute wolves at once, who found the same sweet stink all through the Makah village. The wolves went on the hunt again. Only one came back. He was Yurok Uta, the oldest son of Taka Aki's fourth wife, and the youngest in the pack. He came back with an Amarok wolf, Diakos"

This wasn't the first time the Amarok joined the Quileute's though, Taha Aki's fourth wife was an Amarok. She settled with the Quileutes as she got older. Diakos was related somehow but I wasn't sure how.

"- a wolf younger than Yurok, they brought something with them that had never been seen in all the days of the Quileutes - a strange, cold, stony corpse that he carried in pieces. All who were of Taha Aki's blood, even those who had never been wolves, could smell the piercing smell of the dead creature. This was the enemy of the Makah's."

I glanced over to Bella to see her so interested in the story. Her face was focused and serious. Though I worried what she would take away from this.

"Yurok Uta described what had happened: he and his brothers had found the creature, who looked like a man but was hard as a granite rock, with the two Makah daughters. One girl was already dead, white and bloodless on the ground. The other was in the creature's arms, his mouth at her throat. She may have been alive when they came upon the hideous scene, but the creature quickly snapped her neck and tossed her lifeless body to the ground when they approached. His white lips were covered in her blood, and his eyes glowed red. Yurok Uta described the fierce strength and speed of the creature. One of his brothers quickly became a victim when he underestimated that strength. The creature ripped him apart like a doll. Yurok Uta and his other brother were more wary. They worked together, coming at the creature from the sides, outmaneuvering it. They had to reach the very limits of their wolf strength and speed, something that had never been tested before. The creature was hard as stone and cold as ice. They found that only their teeth could damage it. They began to rip small pieces of the creature apart while it fought them. But the creature learned quickly, and soon was matching their maneuvers. It got its hands on Yurok Uta's brother, Yaha. It was only with the help of Diakos that Yurok Uta was able to find an opening on the creatures throat and he lunged. His teeth tore the head off the creature, but the hands continued to mangle his brother."

I closed my eyes, even ripping them apart couldn't kill a vampire, they would still fight, and if you were the unlucky one who was still in its grasps.

"Yurok Uta ripped the creature into unrecognizable chunks, tearing pieces apart in a desperate attempt to save his brother. He was too late, but, in the end, the creature was destroyed. Or so they thought. Yurok Uta laid the reeking remains out to be examined by the elders. One severed hand lay beside a piece of the creature's granite arm. The two pieces touched when the elders poked them with sticks, and the hand reached out towards the arm piece, trying to reassemble itself. Horrified, the elders set fire to the remains. A great cloud of choking, vile smoke polluted the air. When there was nothing but ashes, they separated the ashes into many small bags and spread them far and wide - some in the ocean, some in the forest, some in the cliff caverns. Taha Aki wore one bag around his neck, so he would be warned if the creature ever tried to put himself together again. Diakos took one as well."

Old Quil paused and looked at Billy. Billy pulled out a leather thong from around his neck. Hanging from the end was a small bag, blackened with age. A few people gasped. It was the ashes, passed down through the generations so we will forever know if the beast begins to reform.

"They called it The Cold One, the Blood Drinker, and lived in fear that it was not alone. They only had one wolf protector left, young Yurok Uta. Diakos had to protect his people but honored the truce that if Yurok should need him he will come. They did not have long to wait. The creature had a mate, another blood drinker, who came to the Quileutes seeking revenge."

Just like Victoria, my eyes met Bella's and I knew she figured that as well.

"The stories say that the Cold Woman was the most beautiful thing human eyes had ever seen. She looked like the goddess of the dawn when she entered the village that morning; the sun was shining for once, and it glittered off her white skin and lit the golden hair that flowed down to her knees. Her face was magical in its beauty, her eyes black in her white face. Some fell to their knees to worship her. She asked something in a high, piercing voice, in a language no one had ever heard. The people were dumbfounded, not knowing how to answer her. There was none of Taha Aki's blood among the witnesses but one small boy. He clung to his aunt and screamed that the smell was hurting his nose. One of the elders, on his way to council, heard the boy and realized what had come among them. He yelled for the people to run. She killed him first."

The imprints winced, even hearing the story a hundred times Sue still flinched, most of the pack had sneers on their faces but none made a sound.

"There were twenty witnesses to the Cold Woman's approach. Two survived, only because she grew distracted by the blood, and paused to sate her thirst. They ran to Taha Aki, who sat in counsel with the other elders, his sons, and his third wife. Yurok Uta transformed into his spirit wolf as soon as he heard the news. He went to destroy the blood drinker alone. Taha Aki, his fourth wife, his sons, and his elders followed behind him. At first, they could not find the creature, only the evidence of her attack. Bodies lay broken, a few drained of blood, strewn across the road where she'd appeared. Then they heard the screams and hurried to the harbor. A handful of the Quileutes had run to the ships for refuge. She swam after them like a shark, and broke the bow of their boat with her incredible strength. When the ship sank, she caught those trying to swim away and broke them, too."

Billy paused to allow everyone, especially Bella, to understand.

"She saw the great wolf on the shore, and she forgot the fleeing swimmers. She swam so fast she was a blur and came, dripping and glorious, to stand before Yurok Uta. She pointed at him with one white finger and asked another incomprehensible question. Yurok Uta waited. It was a close fight. She was not the warrior her mate had been. But Yurok Uta was alone - there was no one to distract her fury from him. When Yurok Uta lost, Taha Aki screamed in defiance. He limped forward and shifted into an ancient, white-muzzled wolf. The wolf was old, but this was Taha Aki the Spirit Man, and his rage made him strong. The fight began again."

"Taha Aki's fourth wife had just seen her son die before her. Now her husband fought, and she had no hope that he could win. She'd heard every word the witnesses to the slaughter had told the council. She'd heard the story of Yurok Uta's first victory, and knew that his brother's diversion had saved him. The fourth wife grabbed a knife from the belt of one of the sons who stood beside her. They were all young sons, not yet men, and she knew they would die when their father failed. The fourth wife ran toward the Cold Woman with the dagger raised high. The Cold Woman smiled, barely distracted from her fight with the old wolf. She had no fear of the weak human woman or the knife that would not even scratch her skin, and she was about to deliver the death blow to Taha Aki. And then the fourth wife did something the Cold Woman did not expect. She fell to her knees at the blood drinker's feet and plunged the knife into her own heart."

Billy's eyes met every pair looking at him, as if to share the power of the story and our collective ancestors.

"Blood spurted through the fourth wife's fingers and splashed against the Cold Woman. The blood drinker could not resist the lure of the fresh blood leaving the fourth wife's body. Instinctively, she turned to the dying woman, for one second entirely consumed by thirst. Taha Aki was so weak that he fell to the ground. That was not the end of the fight, but Taha Aki was not alone now. Watching their mother die, two young sons felt such rage that they sprang forth as their spirit wolves, though they were not yet men. But they did not need to fear the beast because at that moment two more wolves joined. Diakos and his mate Elpis. Together the four finished the creature"

Billy's eyes met mine for a fraction of a second before continuing to perhaps the hardest part of the story. The part about heartbreak.

"Taha Aki never rejoined the tribe. He never changed back to a man again. He lay for one day beside the body of the fourth wife, growling whenever anyone tried to touch her, and then he went into the forest and never returned. Trouble with the cold ones was rare from that time on. Taha Aki's sons guarded the tribe until their sons were old enough to take their places. There were never more than three wolves at a time. It was enough. And in times of need our brothers from the north would join us. Occasionally a blood drinker would come through these lands, but they were taken by surprise, not expecting the wolves. Sometimes a wolf would die, but never were they decimated again like that first time. They'd learned how to fight the cold ones, and they passed the knowledge on, wolf mind to wolf mind, spirit to spirit, father to son."

For a moment there was silence, only the sound of the wood cracking was heard.

"Time passed, and the descendants of Taha Aki no longer became wolves when they reached manhood. Only in a great while, if a cold one was near, would the wolves return. The cold ones always came in ones and twos, and the pack stayed small. A bigger coven came, and your own great-grandfathers prepared to fight them off. But the leader spoke to Ephraim Black as if he were a man, and promised not to harm the Quileutes. His strange yellow eyes gave some proof to his claim that they were not the same as other blood drinkers. The wolves were outnumbered; there was no need for the cold ones to offer a treaty when they could have won the fight. Ephraim accepted. They've stayed true to their side, though their presence does tend to draw in others."

"And their numbers have forced a larger pack than the tribe has ever seen," Old Quil said, and for one moment his black eyes, all but buried in the wrinkles of skin folded around them, seemed to rest on Bella. "Except, of course, in Taha Aki's time," he said, and then he sighed. "And so, the sons of our tribe again carry the burden and share the sacrifice their fathers endured before them."

All was silent for a long moment. The living descendants of magic and legend stared at one another across the fire with sadness in their eyes. All but one.

"Burden," he scoffed in a low voice. "I think it's cool." Quil's full lower lip pouted out a little bit. Lia his imprint smiled at him, amused at his response but there was an undeniable concern.

Across the dying fire, Seth Clearwater - his eyes wide with adulation for the fraternity of tribal protectors - nodded his agreement.

Billy chuckled, low and long, and the magic seemed to fade into the glowing embers. Suddenly, it was just a circle of friends again. Jared flicked a small stone at Quil, and everyone laughed when it made him jump. Low conversations murmured around us, teasing and casual.

Soon it was getting late, and I knew I had to make an appearance at home. As I stood and said goodbye to the others I stopped by Bella. "hey, I'm heading home, you want me to take you home or do you want to stay?"

I could see Jacob throw me a glare, but it wasn't his choice. Bella stood up "yeah, that'd be great. Thank you"

I nodded and led Bella to my car, I had a feeling I might be giving someone else a ride, plus Rosalie and I had spent some time together before she went hunting. Bella was silent for the entire ride; I was actually convinced she might have fallen asleep.