A/N: This is the first story I've written. It's set between BotL and LO and a year after the begining of BD. I hope you all like it.

Chapter 1

Flying Home

I ended up flying the Red Eye from New York to Seattle. It was a little better since I was riding first class. I ended up falling asleep halfway through the flight. I woke up at dawn.

Haha, dawn. Just like my name. Wait, did I forget to introduce myself?

Well then, I'm Dawn Nelson. I've lived in La Push, Washington since eighth grade. Since I was going into eleventh grade, I'd been at the school for four years (that has to be a record). Before that, I'd moved around a lot.

I didn't really look like anyone else at my school or even n the entire town. My hair is a lighter brown and I have bright green eyes. These differences were because of my mother, the same reason I go to New York every summer, I'm a half-blood.

I couldn't wait to see my family again. It was awesome to see my cousins and half-siblings every summer, but I was so much closer to my 'other' family.

I knew that my dad, step-mom, and half-brother would be waiting for me at the gate. Just to clarify, I call my step-mom 'mom' and my real mom 'mother' (I don't really know how it got started, it's just a habit now).

Mom isn't like the evil stepmother; she treats me just like Mason. The only difference was that she fretted over me more than her real child.

Mason and I don't have any sibling rivalry type things and we hardly ever fight at all. We're just so different. Neither of us is dumb, but with the learning disabilities that half-bloods have, I don't do so well in school. When it comes to sports, I rule, but just cause Mason's lazy.

Anyway, back to my story. My family was waiting for me at the gate. Mason gave me a bear hug that might have cracked my ribs if I wasn't tougher.

I stepped away from him, once he released me. "You're as tall as me now?" I asked in disbelief.

"Actually, I'm taller now," he said with a goofy grin. "You're at least an inch shorter."

"Whatever," I rolled my eyes. He was 13 while I was 16. It wasn't fair that he could already be as tall as me. Stupid werewolf DNA.

Mom stepped forward to give me a hug. "You look so much older than when you left," she said in her soft voice. "Tell me everything that's happened."

I thought about that for about three seconds. I decided to abridge my summer.

"I'm glad you're home, Dawn," dad said as he grabbed my trunk. Mason took my carry-on and we headed to the car.

The ride home was long and fairly uneventful. I told them about the happenings at camp like the fact that I'd fallen off the climbing wall and sprained my wrist. The main event that had happened during the summer, the Battle of the Labyrinth, I kept to myself. I really didn't want to cause any heart attacks.

"Why are you wearing that clip in your hair?" mom asked after a while. I'd kind of been wondering how long it would take them too notice the metal clip with a flower on it.

"Don't you like it?" I asked, feigning hurt. I put my hand up to it and smoothed down a few stray hairs. "Mother gave it to me."

"I..I didn't mean it like.. like that," mom said, tripping over her words as she tried to make amends to a person she had never seen before but knew was quiet powerful. "It just doesn't seem like your style."

I laughed. "It's a sword, mom. Mother gave it to me as a birthday present."

"Oh," mom said. I saw a slight frown crease her eyebrows. I knew that she would be glad but also a bit sad. She wouldn't have to worry about me as much but she wouldn't be able to match the gift.

"That means that you won't have t carry a knife in your bag anymore," Mason said in a light tone.

"Yes, that's exactly what it means."

"The pack is having a bonfire tomorrow night. Sam said that you could come if you wanted to." I heard the pleading in his voice. I didn't know why, I was pretty sure it wasn't for my company, but I didn't have anything else to do.

I made the mistake of looking down at my arm. The long white scar stood out vividly against my tanned skin. Just thinking about the horse-sized brown wolf that was my brother sent chills down my spine. I wasn't quiet sure how I would react being around more werewolves.

I looked back up at Mason. "No one will attack, right?"

"No one will hurt you," he said before bursting out laughing, probably frm my expression.

"Sure, I'll go," I finally said, shrugging.

"Probably won't have to wait long to meet them," dad said, watching us through the rearview mirror. "Those boys are constantly traipsing through the house." Dad turned around and gave me a stern look. "Don't even think about flirting with them."

I laughed in a sarcastic way. "I probably won't," I said when I finished laughing. "Anyway, why not? Most girls my age have had at least one boyfriend and I haven't had any."

Dad grunted and Mason laughed. "It wouldn't matter anyway," he pointed out. "Our pack is small, there's only five of us. Jacob and Quil are taken and-"

"What does that matter?" I asked. "They could always break-up. I'm not saying I'd get anywhere near Jacob though," I added quickly.

Mason sighed. "They wouldn't 'break-up' with their girls"- he put air quotes around the word break-up- "Imprinting isn't like that," he explained to me. "Besides, they're not even dating them."

"Huh." I couldn't understand any of what he was saying. He had written to me about all that he learned about werewolves, but imprinting was part of what I didn't think I'd ever understand.

"Quil imprinted on Claire who is four." Mason paused as if waiting for me to interrupt. When I didn't, he continued. "Jacob's Nessie is only one but she looks and acts older."

"Love at first sight," I muttered. This stuff would take some getting used to.

"Then there is Seth and Embry," he continued, "which is actually possible." Mason smirked as he looked over at me. "Get ready for the weird. You're dealing with werewolves now."