Disclaimer: I do not own anything except for things you do not recognize. Song credit to Forever the Sickest Kids

"I should've known better not to wait around
why did I come home because I hate it here"

My Worst Nightmare

I still didn't fully understand why we were moving back. When we had moved after eighth grade I had been just fine with the situation; happy in fact. My younger brother had been upset, but I was so eager I had already packed up all my stuff two weeks before the moving trucks were due. So obviously I wasn't too thrilled that my parents had decided to go back.

Of course I didn't have to go back with them, I was twenty one, but I was jobless and that meant that if I wanted food and shelter my only choice was to follow my parents and brother back to La Push.

My seventeen year old brother, Matt, was beyond happy and that was scary enough in itself. For the past few months he had been really weird. He'd shot up five inches, put on some serious muscle, and had a short temper. Hell, one day he practically blew my head off when I asked him to hand me the phone.

After that incident others had followed and just last week Dad had sat us all down and announced that we were moving back into our old house in La Push. We had never really sold the house, but rented it out to a small family that finally earned enough money to buy their own house on the outskirts of Forks.

So that's why I found myself staring blankly around the walls of the bedroom of my youth. It was…pink. The color my mother had picked out when she found out she was having a girl, the color she promised we would change just before we moved away. Well, it seemed I had a project already…getting rid of these pepto bismol walls.

It took me two hours to situate all my crap and as soon as I opened the door to my bedroom the delicious aroma of spaghetti greeted my nostrils. I had barely taken one step out of my room when my brother darted out of his room and down the stairs at a break neck speed. Holy hell, what was with that kid? He ate all the time! I just saw him smuggle two boxes of snack cakes in his room!

I followed at a much slower pace and by the time I reached the table Matt was already stuffing his face full of garlic bread and spaghetti. My parents didn't even bat an eyelash at his behavior. I rolled my eyes and took my own seat, hoping that the retard would leave some for the rest of us.

"Does it feel like home?" Mom asked a bit hopefully, her gaze meeting mine across the table.

"Not really." I replied honestly.

"It will in time."

I didn't reply and instead dug into my own helping of dinner. I hoped it wouldn't come to that. This was just a temporary fix until I was able to actually put my college degree to use. I wasn't about to let four years of my life go down the drain in La Push.

***

"Oh my gosh! Is that you, Natalie?"

I really didn't expect anyone to recognize me. I left when I was an awkward fourteen year old girl complete with baby fat, pimples, and crooked glasses. Now I was a mature woman complete with curves, clear complexion and dark rimmed glasses that accentuated my eyes nicely.

Obviously I didn't expect anyone to recognize me in the grocery store, but sure enough here in the produce section I had been spotted. By none other than…

"Kim?!" I asked equally disbelieving.

Kim had babysat Matt and watched over me since she was really only two years older than me. Last time I had seen her she had been a shy sixteen year old girl, but with a little girl in the front of her cart staring at me with a toothless grin, Kim looked very much grown up. Especially with the simple diamond ring on her finger.

"So it is you." She grinned. "I heard you guys were back, but I wasn't sure if that included you."

"Yeah, I didn't find a job yet so I came back here with them." I shrugged.

She smiled, "It's good to have you guys back. How's your brother?"

"Moody."

"Seventeen right?"

I nodded, "But look at you! You have a toddler!"

Her smile increased as she ran a gentle hand over her daughter's dark hair. "This is Abby. Say hi, Abby."

The little girl smiled bashfully at me through her pacifier which stayed perfectly in her mouth. She was an adorable child and I was sure that when she grew up, she'd be just as beautiful as her mother.

"I married Jared."

"You did!?" My eyes widened.

I remembered how she mooned over him, but he had never returned the feelings. Of course that had been years ago when she was only a sophomore in high school. Well at least it worked out for her; when I was fourteen I had thought she was a bit pathetic.

"Yup…listen we should get together. Right now I've got to get her home for a nap, but don't hesitate to come over. We live next door to my parent's."

I sent her a last smile before she rolled her cart towards the front of the store and then I got out of there before I ran into my old PE coach or something equally as disturbing. But as fate would have it, I didn't escape without running into someone else I used to know.

"Natalie!"

I recognized the voice vaguely. It was a very deep male voice, but within it I heard a voice that I heard a lot in my youth…of course it had been a bit squeaky the last time it had graced my ears. And when I turned around none of my mental images of what I remembered him to look like prepared me for what he did actually look like.

"Holy hell, Jake!"

"Nice to see you too, Nat." He chuckled as he approached me.

I was still in a state of shock, so I just stood there staring at him as he took the grocery bags from my hands and started walking towards my car in the parking lot; the only vehicle that wasn't a truck.

"Are you going to say anything?" He asked as I popped the trunk for him.

"You are definitely not fourteen anymore."

"Like what you see?" Jake grinned.

Jacob Black and I had been pretty close from the time we were in diapers. Sure we had grown apart by the time we were in middle school and he made guy friends, but we had always been on good terms with each other.

"Have you been giving my brother secrets? Because he's headed in the direction you are."

I thought he would laugh at that, but instead he got a thoughtful and concerned look on his face; like he was contemplating something.

"Why did you guys come back?" He finally asked.

"Beats me; Dad just sprung it on us. But right now I need to get back before Matt freaks out about there being no food in the house…such a temper lately. Nice seeing you!"

I sent him a wave and hopped into the car while he just stood there and stared at me. Weird. I shrugged it aside and prepared myself for the assault I was likely to receive as I carried the food into the house.

***

Nothing could have prepared me for this. No sooner had I gotten the bags from the trunk had Matt come charging at me and started to rifle through the bags. I just stood there and watched as stuff spilled out onto the ground as he searched for something to stuff his mouth with. Seriously, what the hell was wrong with him lately?

Then things got worse. After he had sufficiently torn through every bag he looked up at me with anger flashing in his eyes.

"You didn't buy any snack cakes?" He growled…yes growled.

"No I didn't buy your damn snack cakes. You just ate two boxes the other night."

Apparently he did not like my answer because the next thing I knew the sound of cloth tearing filled my ears and a giant ball of fur was standing before me. Holy mother of ham! My brother had just exploded into a wolf!

"MOM!" I screamed as Matt lunged at me…or what I assumed to be Matt anyways.

Of course what could my Mom do about it anyway? If I really wanted to help myself I should have started running, but instead I just stood there and watched as his claws and teeth came closer and closer to my delicate mortal flesh.

Just as one of his claws was about to come down on me another ball of fur crashed into him from the side, pinning him to the ground with a loud thud.

"Natalie! Oh my…what happened?!" Mom shrieked as she ran out of the house and to my side.

I didn't answer; I thought it was pretty obvious what had just gone down. Matt had turned into a wolf and some other wolf had just saved me a lot of pain.

My Mom and I watched as another wolf ran out of the woods and started to make its way to the two on the ground struggling with each other, but before he could reach the two of them he stopped and stared at me. I stared right back; taking in his silver fur and comparing it to the russet and dull brown colors of the other two.

He finally looked away from me and trotted over to the other two. After a minute the two of them had managed to move wolf Matt into the woods, away from our sight.

"Mom, what the hell just happened?" I finally asked as we stared at the spot in the woods they had disappeared into.

"I guess it's time we told you."

***

By the time Dad got home the house was overrun with werewolves. Yes, werewolves. After what happened in the front lawn Mom had taken me inside and explained everything to me, and when I say everything I mean everything. I was on an information overload, but instead of hiding in my room like I wanted to do, I had to play hostess to a pack of hungry wolves. Pun completely intended.

"Natalie! I heard what happened." Kim said as she entered the kitchen where I was mixing up a pitcher of lemonade.

"How do you…?"

"Jared is a werewolf, and I'm his imprint."

"Oh…is he the one in the green shirt?"

"Yeah, but are you okay? I mean you were almost attacked by your brother; I'd be pretty shaken up if I was you."

"More like an information overload. My Mom finally told me what they had been hiding from Matt and me for years." I sighed. "Apparently that's why we moved back; they knew Matt was getting close to phasing."

Kim nodded understandingly and helped me finish mixing the beverages for the pack that was camped out in our living room waiting for Jake and Paul to come back with a somewhat controlled Matt. Sam, the alpha, had already informed us that he wouldn't be staying with us until they were sure he was under control. So in the meantime he'd be staying at Sam's.

"They're here!" Someone shouted.

Sure enough a few minutes later Matt entered the house flanked by the other two. I could tell Matt was in pain but I hardly paid him any attention as my gaze was riveted to the one they had referred to as Paul. It was hard not to look at him, especially when he was looking at me. He was tall and muscular just like the rest of them, but he was so much more attractive to me than the rest of them.

"Whoa, what's going on here?" Jake asked the room as he looked back and forth between Paul and me.

"Holy shit! Paul imprinted!"