Chapter 12:

When I woke up the next morning, Emily was sitting at the kitchen table with Jake, and to my surprise, Leah. I rubbed my eyes, then stretched, yawning big. Suddenly, I tensed my body as I felt the unfamiliar sensation down below, which was my period. I quickly jumped up and ran to the bathroom, hoping that I was about to start leaking all over the floor.

When I sat down on the toilet, I was shocked to see that there really wasn't that much blood. To me, it felt as though I was just peeing out blood. This was very strange. I didn't like this one bit. Was this how it would be for the rest of my life? Awkwardly feeling like I was peeing for an entire week as I walked around, trying to go through my normal life?

I rubbed my nose in frustration, then quickly switched out the toilet paper, and headed into the kitchen. When I walked in, Jake, Emily, and Leah all stopped talking, and looked at me. I stopped, looking around the table at them, feeling like a bug under a magnifying glass.

"What?" I wasn't sure if I really wanted to know the answer to that question.

Jake glanced at Leah, who raised an eyebrow at him and gestured with her head to me.

"What's going on?" I pushed, starting to feel nervous. "Did something happen? Is something wrong?"

"Nothing's wrong, sweetie," Emily said, holding a hand out. "Why don't you come sit with us?"

"No." I said, shaking my head as I took a step back out of reach. "I'm not sitting down until you tell me what's wrong. I know it's something, I'm not stupid!"

Jake brought his hands up to his face and rubbed them up, then down, before plopping them back down in his lap.

"We don't know for sure if there's something wrong . . . And even then, it's not really a bad thing."

"So just tell me what it is, Jake!" I snapped, starting to get irritated. Jake looked at Emily and Leah once more, then let out a sigh, pushed back from the table and walked towards me. I took a hesitant step back, but he reached out and grabbed my shoulder.

"Let's go outside." he suggested, turning me towards the front door. I drew my brows together, confused, and glanced over my shoulder as I began walking outside, seeing Leah and Emily following. I could feel my heart starting to beat a little faster. What in the heck was going on?

When we were in the yard, closer to the woods than to the house, Jake stopped. Emily and Leah held back, watching.

"Jake-"

"Phase." Jake ordered. I tilted my head to the side.

"Why?" I asked.

"Because I said so. Do it now."

"But I don't want-"

"Do it!" Jake snapped, and I jumped. I stepped back, looking at him, feeling as though he just slapped me. He knew how I felt about this. He knew I didn't want to. I wanted to argue with him, but I was afraid. I took another step back, taking a deep breath, then letting it out slowly.

I closed my eyes, imagining myself as a wolf, remember the sensation of what it was like to phase.

I opened my eyes and looked down. I was still me. I closed them, trying again. I clenched my jaw and squeezed my eyes shut, willing myself to change.

When I opened them again, I was still me. I looked at Jake, my eyes wide, tears starting to form.

"I'm trying, Jake!" I promised. "It's not-I can't do it! I'm sorry!"

Jake walked towards me quickly, and I stood there frozen to the spot, wondering what he was going to do when he reached me. Instead of grabbing me and yelling, shaking me, telling me how terrible of a wolf I was, he wrapped his arms around me, lifting me into the arm, holding me tight.

"Oh thank God." He said against my hair.

"W-what?"

Jake set me back down and Leah and Emily came running over.

"What's going on!" I yelled suddenly, feeling lost. "I want to know, right now!" I stomped my foot in emphasis.

"Honey, you're not a wolf anymore!" Emily told me, smiling. "When I told Sam about your period-"

"You told Sam?" I groaned, covering my face. Great, now everyone in La Push will know I got my period.

"Well, yes. But that's not the point. When I told Sam, he mentioned to me that he heard Leah say how when she phased, she stopped getting her period."

"Okay?" I said, slightly lost.

"It means that, if you were a wolf, you wouldn't have gotten your period at all. So somewhere between phasing for the first time, and now, you reverted back to being only human, and because of this change, it must have kick started something inside you and caused you to get your period early." Leah clarified.

"So . . . So you're saying . . . I'm normal?" I asked, looking directly at Jake.

"Yeah," He smiled, nodding his head. "You're normal."

I stood there, letting it sink in. Normal. No more phasing into a big hairy wolf. No more brain connections to the Pack. No more split personality. But that also meant, no more warmth. No more being included in what was going on in the Pack. But those were small prices to pay.

I looked at Jake with tears springing into my eyes once again.

"You don't mind," I asked. "That I'm not a wolf anymore? You're not disappointed?"

"Disappointed?" Jake repeated, kneeling down in front of me. "Baby, I'm so happy, you don't even know. I didn't want this life for you. It's not a bad life, but," he shook his head. "I didn't want my baby sister to be a part of it."

I let out a breath, a smile spreading. I ran into his arms, nearly knocking him over. We were both laughing and smiling as I wrestled him to the ground. I didn't care that I was feeling uncomfortable right now. I welcomed it. I would rather feel this once a month, than be what I was.

When we ceased our wrestling, I got serious.

"But why did I turn back? How could I? None of you did."

"We have a theory, but we're not entirely sure. We think it's because after the first time you phased, you never phased again. When we all phased, we phased again within a few hours." Leah explained.

Jake wrapped his arm around me and kissed the top of my head as we headed back towards the house. I snuggled into his side, smiling to myself.

For a while, it wasn't easy being the younger sister to an Alpha wolf. For a while, I thought that my life was over. But I would never change having Jake for a brother. And I realized, my life wasn't over. It was just beginning.

END

Authors Note: So, I know some of you are probably yelling at the computer screen and cursing my name, but I can assure you, that this not the end, it is only the beginning ;)