AHHHHH! The last chapter of this story! Holy crap! I am so excited. I love this chapter. Most of it wasn't going to be here, but a reviewer asked if I was going to put in Tricia's and Haleigh's shifts. I wasn't going to, but the thought kept bothering me, so I went back and added the first couple of POVs. This chapter was intended to be super short.

Also, another reviewer asked if the kids' stories would be written with individual plots or a flow from story to story like Jake and Nessie's. I'm thinking individual with some overlapping incidences, but I won't know for sure until I actually start writing. I know the gist of Will's story, so hopefully there will be a new story posted soon from me. And speaking of Will, we get a peek at an older Will at the end of this one. Not as old as he'll be in his story, but older than two.

*Disclaimer*

Please Enjoy!

EmbryPOV

Weak light flowed through the blinds in the room Tricia and I were crashing in. The partying had lasted two days. It was now Monday. Luckily I'd taken the day off at the shop because I was in no condition to work mechanical equipment.

Stretching out, I realized that my wife's side of the bed was empty. "Tricia?" Sitting up, I looked around the room. "Trish?" I said louder.

"Oh, thank God." Her voice drifted from the bathroom. "Can you shut the blinds? Please."

"Yeah, hold on." Rolling out of bed, I did as she asked. "It's all clear."

When she came back into the bedroom, I could see that her eyes were severely dilated, the blue nearly eaten up by the pupil.

"Are you okay?" I asked, rushing at her.

She winced. "Please, not so loud. Is it hot in here to you?"

I just stared at her. Inspiration crowded my mind. Instead of answering her, I walked up and peeled the bandage from her neck. I was not surprised by what I saw. Walker's puncture wounds were just pink scars up the column of her neck.

Her eyes widened as she reached up to touch them. "They're healed," she whispered.

"Then infection…it's working."

"Yeah, but it's super-hot in here." She pulled her hair up away from her neck and fanned herself. Her breathing picked up and I could tell that she was having issues.

"Sit down before you pass out. I'm going to call Elias and Walker."

But we didn't get that far. She took one step and collapsed.

"Trish!" I caught her before she could hit the floor. "Elias! Walker!"

A minute later the door opened but it wasn't either of the men. It was Haleigh. "Dad had a meeting and Elias went outside to smoke." Then she saw Tricia and rushed over. "Aunt Tricia? What happened, Uncle Embry?"

She was in training to shift and she was one of the Children. Maybe she could help. "Light sensitivity. She was saying that she was really hot. The punctures have healed."

"The infection," she said, reaching out to touch her aunt's forehead. "She's burning up. It's a sign that she needs to shift. I can't help with that. Garrett!"

There was thumping on the stairs before the fifteen year old burst through the door. "Haleigh? What's wrong?"

Haleigh stood up, kissed his cheek, and went into the hallway. "Stay with her. See if you can help. I'm going to find Elias." Then she was gone.

Garrett knelt down beside us and felt her forehead just like Haleigh had. "She's ready to shift. Already. That's quite impressive."

"Why isn't she? Is she okay?"

"Her brain isn't frying, if that's what you mean. As for why she isn't shifting, think of it this way. The wolf inside of her is like a newborn giraffe. It's on shaky legs and doesn't really know what to do. This is rare. Her human body is ready for the shift, but the wolf is not."

"So how do we get her back to normal?"

"We force the shift."

I growled. "Nobody is beating the hell out of her to piss her off. You better tell me there's another way," I said in a warning tone.

He held his hands out but didn't back down. "There is. But no matter how we force it, this will hurt. It's just part of the process."

"Garrett?" Elias knelt next to the boy. "I don't have the ability that you're speaking of. And neither does Walker, not that I know of."

The two of them shared a look before Garrett swallowed nervously and nodded. "That's fine. I do."

"Are you sure?" Elias asked.

Garrett's demeanor changed in an instant. He slowly turned to glare at the other wolf. "Because we're pressed for time, I'm going to forget that you just questioned the son of an alpha with a stupid question like that. Of course my father taught me." He looked to me. "We need to get her outside. Shifting in here will only scare the wolf more."

I noticed an order when I heard it. Not asking any questions, I scooped her up and followed Garrett out of the house. Walker and Christa ran up to us as we headed for the woods behind the cabin.

"What happened?" Walker demanded.

Haleigh answered for me because I was too focused on Tricia to pay attention to them. She didn't look paler than usual, her lips weren't blue. She just looked like she passed out. Garrett stopped at a clearing that was far enough from the village to avoid prying eyes.

"Lay her down and step back. You're not going to want to be that close."

I did as he said. Right now, the kid was the smartest one here. But I couldn't help it. I had to ask, "Are you sure you know how to do whatever it is you're about to do?"

He smiled slightly as he knelt by her. "You're her mate so you get a pass at the question. And yes, I know what I'm doing. My father started teaching me how the moment I came back from my first shift." He held a hand up. "No more talking."

Taking deep breaths, he closed his eyes and pressed his hand across her forehead. Instantly, the air in the clearing changed. It tightened, becoming solid, electric. The pressure was so intense that my eyes were pounding in their sockets. I looked to Garrett. That fifteen year old boy had that much power inside him. Now that was impressive.

He bowed his head and held his hands up, hovering them just over her body. As I watched, it seemed like something around her shimmered. The something solidified the more Garrett poured his power through the clearing. The leaves and brush started to flutter, and then pick up pace, and I realized that the power was circling the clearing.

Elias moved in front of us. "Move back. We need to move back. Now."

I stumbled back but kept my eyes on them. Now the power looked more like a tornado. I could almost see the shape of it as it condensed around Garrett and Tricia. Garrett lowered his hands, palm down, closer to her body and then slowly curled them into fists as if he were gripping the fabric of her shirt. Now, Tricia started to move. Her body arched and lowered with the rise and fall of the power around her. Those blue eyes rolled back into her head.

It seemed like all of this was taking forever, but a look at my watch said that he'd only been kneeling over her for a couple of minutes.

Suddenly everything went quiet. Looking up, I found that Garrett had laid his palms flat over Tricia, one over her heart and the other just below her breasts. The power had disappeared. No, wait. It was inside Tricia. Her skin was faintly luminous under the shade of the trees.

Without warning, Garrett closed his hands back into fists and yanked them away from Tricia's body. A burst of power threw him backward as a yelp sounded out. All I could was stare as a wolf lay on its side exactly where my wife had just been. The wolf was panting and whimpering as if in pain. She was absolutely stunning with her golden fur. It was so light that it was as if someone had taken golden powder to white fur, just dusted it enough to give it color.

"Tricia?" I breathed, taking a step forward.

The wolf opened her eyes. They were the blue of spring skies, a few shades lighter than Tricia's in human form.

"Haleigh!" Christa shouted as the girl fell to the ground.

When her body started to writhe, Walker pulled her back. "She's shifting, too."

Where Tricia's wolf just appeared, Haleigh's broke her small body on its way out, the bone popping, muscle slipping. Garrett's power must have been strong enough to force hers as well. Behind me, Tricia whimpered again. I turned to find that she was slowly getting to her paws. In wolf form, her shoulders hit my sternum. But God, she was gorgeous. She slowly came to me, rubbing her muzzle against my hand.

"Hey, beautiful," I whispered. "Welcome to your new life."

She purred as I rubbed between her eyes.

"Oh, Haleigh. I'm so sorry," Garrett was saying while the smaller wolf panted on her side. "I didn't even think about you having not shifted yet."

She studied him with pain-filled green eyes from her nondescript brown fur.

"It's alright, Garrett," Walker said, gripping his shoulder. "Better this way than not at all."

When Haleigh whimpered, Tricia broke away from me to go over to her. My mate gently cleaned the smaller wolf's muzzle and helped nudge her to all fours.

"They need to hunt," Elias said. He walked up to Tricia. "There are deer on this land. If you follow and trust your senses, you'll be able to find your food. Our land is fenced off, so you don't have to worry about wandering to outside territory."

Once he was out of the way, Tricia and Haleigh took off into the woods.

"Should someone go with them?" I asked.

Garrett shook his head and shakily made it to his feet. "No. Females, especially alpha females, are more aggressive about learning to hunt on their own. If they aren't back in a few hours, that's when we search for them. For now, we wait."

With nothing else to do, we all followed him back to the cabin. We spent the rest of the day going over what to expect from two newly shifted alpha females.

As I sat there, waiting for Tricia to come back to me, I realized that I was relieved it had worked. I wanted her to be like me, to be able to run with me. To live with me. Now, our children would be born to a mother who would live a long time with them.

I finally felt like I could breathe again, knowing I had longer than just a mere fifty or sixty years left with her.

JPOV

"You sure?"

"Yeah, we're fine. Just wanted to let you know what was going on."

Balancing the phone between my ear and shoulder, I picked up Ash, who was getting ready to scream for food. I grabbed him up before he could and reached for the bottle Nessie had set on the table. I'd thought twins might be easier to deal with since they usually needed the same things at the same time. Hell no. It was harder because it meant that you needed more than two hands. How Nessie did it when I was at the shop was a complete mystery. Not to mention that she also dealt with Will and Jules all day, too. The woman was a saint.

Embry had called just before I was about to feed my son.

"Okay, thanks. I appreciate the call. Let us know if you or Walker need anything."

"Thanks, man. I gotta go."

We hung up and I threw the phone to the couch. Jules grabbed it and started playing on it.

Nessie had Maddox in the crook of her arm. "What was that about?" Before I could answer, Will came around the couch from the kitchen holding a pack of gummy candies. She gave him a look. "No, Will. Put those back."

"No," Will whined. "I want them."

"You just ate breakfast. No candy until after lunch. You know the rules. Put them back."

Still standing, he threw a fit-jig and started that you're-mean-cry.

"William Edward Black," Nessie commanded in her mother tone. "Put. Them. Back. If I have to tell you again, you're not getting any after lunch and you'll have to stay in your room alone until dinner. No playing with Daddy or Jules."

"No!" he screamed in denial of his impending punishment.

Nessie raised her eyebrows. "Then put them back like I told you."

He stopped his screaming and vertical convulsing, but pouted and cried all the way back to the pantry. I moved so that I could watch him to make sure he did as he was told. When he shut the pantry door, I nodded to Nessie. She was a wonderful mom, able to be stern with them when needed. Like most kids, he pitifully cuddled up against his mother's legs.

She smoothed her fingers through his hair.

"Momma?"

"Yes, sweetie?"

"Play wif Jues?"

"Yeah, baby, go play with your sister."

He scampered off upstairs where Jules was playing in her room. Nessie let out a breath and shook her head, going back to focus on feeding Maddox.

I chuckled. "You're cute when you're stern."

She grinned sheepishly. "Hush. So what did Embry want?"

"Oh, right." I walked around with Ash. "Apparently, Tricia shifted today."

Her eyes widened. "The infection worked?"

I nodded. "Yeah. But something rare happened and Garrett had to use some serious mojo to force her shift. When he did, the power also worked on Haleigh. She and Tricia are out on their first hunt."

"Oh, wow. What was the something rare? Did he tell you?"

Going over to the couch, I sat down beside her, pulled a burping towel from the bag we kept under the coffee table, and tossed it over my shoulder. "Embry said Garrett told him it was like her human body was ready for the shift but the wolf inside wasn't. I think he compared it to a baby giraffe. Wobbly legs and all that. So Garrett used his…whatever it is…on Tricia to bring the wolf out because she'd passed out. It wasn't an immediate threat but if they hadn't done anything, apparently things could have gotten worse."

"Is Haleigh okay?" While she asked, she set the empty bottle on the table and then rocked Maddox. He was happy as a clam there in her arms.

Ash was close to finishing his own bottle. "He didn't say she wasn't okay. Just that the shift surprised her, or rather, all of them. Garrett said he'd focused his energy on Tricia. It shouldn't have affected Haleigh. Caden, however, says that Haleigh and her wolf felt the power of an alpha and had to bend to his will even though it was focused on someone else."

She whistled. "So the kid is powerful."

"Oh yeah. According to Embry, he even forced big, bad Elias into the submissive position."

"Elias?" she said in disbelief.

I nodded. "That's what I thought." As I set Ash's empty bottle next to the other, Ness lifted Maddox to be burped against her covered shoulder.

"Well," she said, patting his back. "At least he's an ally."

"How do you figure that?" It wasn't that I disagreed. I just wanted to know her thought process.

She shrugged. "He's clearly attached to Haleigh. Hurting Walker would hurt Haleigh. And hurting us would hurt Christa, therefore Walker and right on to Haleigh. If they end up mated, he's an ally. And as far as we know, Calahan is still friendly toward us. Garrett has influence over his father and future pack should that change."

"Good point." I lifted Ash up to my shoulder, rocking side to side and patting his back.

The patter of little feet moved down the stairs and around the couch. Jules threw herself beside me, elbows in the cushions, fingers playing with the remote. Will did the same between me and Nessie.

"Daddy," she said, "wath toons?"

I reached for the remote. "Yeah, let Daddy turn it on for you. Go sit down."

"Otay, Daddy!"

Giggling, they ran around the coffee table and sat down on the carpet where toys were already littered around the front of the fireplace. I turned on the TV to one of the cartoon stations. They weren't really picky about what they watched as long as it was a cartoon.

"Do you have to go in today?" she asked as we watched them and rocked the twins.

I shook my head. "I hired Sam so that I could stay updated about Emily and make sure he would have the days off he's going to need with Emily pregnant again. He offered to work for me today. Xavier's teaching him the systems."

"That was sweet of him. And of you."

I shrugged. "Working for the community center wasn't really going anywhere. Besides, Emily has her job online now, remember? He can take as much time as he needs after Tate's born. They'll still be able to have some income while he's watching the baby."

"True. I'm so happy for them."

"Me, too. Sam's excited about a boy."

"I bet. And Leila's going to have a little brother. I know from experience how lonely it can be being an only child."

I looked over at her sharply. "What are you talking about? You were never alone."

She took a minute to collect her thoughts, looking down at Maddox. Will and Jules affectionately called him Dox. It was the only way they could pronounce his name.

"I know I had people around me at all times, but I never had that sibling feeling. That feeling where I had somebody to protect, somebody only I could pick on. Shelby was and is great now that I'm older, but I had nobody my age that I could pal around with, not like Will has Jules. Or you with your sisters. Though I was surrounded by people, it was still lonely sometimes. There wasn't another kid in the house whose room I could run to at night and we have our imaginary worlds. You played with me, but it was more like how we are with the kids. We don't see what they see, but Jules? She sees, in her head, what her brother sees. I never had that."

Well, when she put it like that…"I never thought about it like that."

Smiling, she reached out a hand to stroke my cheek. "I know. And I never complained about it. I was growing so fast that I didn't understand the world except for how I read about it or watched it on TV. Not until my year at Forks High. That's when I really started to understand that what I'd been feeling was loneliness. All my 'friends' were family and other adults. You were the only one I really considered my best friend. And even then, I knew that you were older, that you were an adult and in another world even though you were beside me."

I caught her wrist and kissed her palm. "You're right. You understand. And now that you've explained it, I'm glad that Leila will have her brother, too. More so than I was before."

She smiled. "And I'm happy our kids have each other."

Nodding, I looked out over Will and Jules who were building a small town while they watched their cartoons. I had no doubt that they would take care of their little brothers the way they took care of each other. It was there in the way the both of them would occasionally stop what they were doing and look around the room until they found the twins. After they stared for a couple minutes, they'd smile and go back to whatever they were playing with.

I was already proud of Will and Jules for how wonderful they were, how fast they learned even while staying children. Maddox and Ash would be the same because they had two older siblings to look up to as examples. All four of my children would make me proud. I knew it. I also knew that tough times would sneak up. All the uncomfortable conversations, the attitudes, and the eye rolls. Not to mention the hormonal, emotional stuff. But that was a part of life, and of being a parent. Ness and I had gone through that stuff so we should be experienced enough to help them when they needed us. And it wasn't like we were going to be humans trying to understand our supernatural children. We knew the world they were going to grow up in. It was a comforting thought.

After the twins did their thing with the burping towels, Ness and I spent the day on the floor with all four of the kids. We built towns and destroyed them with toy dinosaurs. Will and Jules helped us with the sitting up exercises with the babies. Once we showed them how to do it by gently gripping the twins' arms and pulling their torsos up off the floor and gently laying them back down, we watched them do it on their own. Already, I could see the sibling bond being made. The very fact that Will and Jules wanted to help their baby brothers brought a sense of ease to my very being.

My family would be strong. I'd make sure of it.

Eleven Years Later…

RPOV

For some reason, I just couldn't sleep. Pulling myself out of the half sleep I was in, I stared at the ceiling. Something upstairs moved with a thump and it wasn't the creaking of the floor or house. When it moved again, I reached over and patted Jacob's chest. He was flat on his back, one hand resting over his heart.

"Jacob," I hissed.

He didn't respond.

Growling, I got out of bed and went for the stairs. Now that the kids were older, we stayed dressed for bed just in case they needed to come down into our room for some reason. The house was dark except for the nightlights we had plugged in throughout the rooms, giving off just enough light to see where you were going. They only came on when the lights went off. Upstairs, I blinked in the light of the kitchen. When my eyes focused, I saw Will sitting at the table with a mug in front of him.

"Will? Baby, what are you doing up? It's after midnight."

He startled and turned to look at me. The fear in his eyes scared me. "I had a bad dream. Sorry if I woke you up." The older he got, the more like Jacob he became. Though he was still a momma's boy, he was definitely his father's son. Will loved to hang out with Jacob whenever he could. Jacob had taken him down to the shop on the days the kids didn't have classes with my family. Like his father, Will had a love of cars and bikes. Jacob was all too enthusiastic about nurturing that love.

I made my own mug of hot chocolate and sat down. He was sitting in Jacob's normal chair. He liked to sit there when Jacob wasn't in it, like he was filling in as man of the house while his father was out of the house.

"It's okay, baby. I couldn't sleep anyway. I guess I knew that you were up. You wanna talk about it?"

He shrugged, shoulders huddled around the mug.

"Ness?"

"Up here," I called softly.

Jacob appeared at the head of the stairs a moment later, blinking in the light. He was in a pair of plaid pajama pants and spiky hair. "What are you two doing up? Will, what's wrong, buddy?"

When he didn't answer, I did. "Bad dream. He came down for some comfort chocolate."

Jacob came over to the table and Will made to move out of his father's seat. "No, buddy. You can stay there." He sat down across from me on Will's other side. "What's up?"

"Like Mom said, bad dream."

Jacob nodded as if he understood. "Those aren't fun. Your mom used to have bad dreams, too. Always scared me when she couldn't sleep." He smiled at me across the table. "You're a lot like your mom. You wanna talk about it? It made your mom feel better to talk."

I nodded in agreement and encouragement. "He's right."

That seemed to relax our son a little. "It was about Jules. She was older in the dream. I guess that means I was, too, but I was seeing it through my own eyes. Anyway, something bad happens to her." He looked up, meeting Jacob's eyes. "And it's my fault." A shaky breath rattled out of his chest, but he didn't cry. "I don't wanna hurt Jules. She's my little sister. I love her."

Jacob scooted closer to him and put a hand on his shoulder. "Listen to me, son. In any universe, this one or any alternate, you will never hurt your sister. Ever."

"Not on purpose," he said, implying he might by accident.

"Will, I want you to do something for me, for your old man."

I grinned behind my mug.

"What is it?" Will asked.

"I want you to remember the dream. Don't try to forget it. If you do, it'll just get worse. Remember it, but don't let it control your life. You're thirteen years old and have too much other stuff to worry about right now. If or when something happens, we will deal with it. As a family, okay? You won't go through anything alone. I promise. Your mother and I will always be there. You just have to talk to us. Don't ever feel like you can't. Can you do that for me? Remember the dream and talk to us when you need to?"

It took a moment, but after a couple heartbeats, he nodded. "Okay."

Jacob reached over and lifted his chin. "I'm serious, Will. I know that you're thirteen, and I know how thirteen year old boys think. If there's something you don't want to go to your mother with, you can come to me. Guy to guy. There is nothing that you can't come to me for."

Now Will looked more relaxed. "Okay, Dad. I promise."

"Hey," Jacob said sternly, "in this house we keep our promises."

That made Will laugh. He held out his pinky like Haleigh always did when she was a kid. "I promise, Dad."

Jacob took his pinky with his own. "That's my boy. Now, how about we get you back upstairs?"

Nodding, Will got up and dumped his cup. Jacob stood up and wrapped his arm around his shoulders and ruffled his hair. "I'll take him up."

I nodded. "Get some sleep, Will. Summer break is calling your name."

"Good night, Mom. Love you."

"Love you, too, baby."

Once they were upstairs, I dumped the rest of my cocoa and went back downstairs to lay down. Jacob came back a few minutes later to lay down next to me.

When he pulled me into his arms, I said, "Nightmares, Jacob."

"Don't, Ness," he said, hands rubbing my back and hair.

"But Jacob, my nightmares-,"

"Are not his. He's a kid, Ness. Kids have nightmares. I did at that age. Hell, I still do."

"What if it's more? What if they have mental abilities like I do?"

Jacob squeezed me tighter. "Ness, you haven't used that ability in a long time. I know you want normal, and I know you're scared. If they have abilities, we'll deal with it. The nightmares, we can't help."

"Maybe we can talk to Mara."

Like he had with Will, he lifted my chin to look me in the eyes. "Nightmares are normal, baby. We can't hide them from him. He needs to go through these things. They're learning experiences." When I looked away, he stroked my cheek. "You're his mother, and you want to protect him from everything, even himself. I want to protect him, too. But he's going to be alpha one day, and he's going to phase soon. We'll be his safety net, but he needs this. They all do."

I dug my nails into his skin. "I hate this. So much. But you're right."

"Nessie, listen to me. Bad things have happened to us, but we've gotten through everything. We're not human. We have higher responsibilities, so we have to be stronger because those responsibilities come with tougher evils that we have to face. But we're strong, Nessie. We're fighters. Our children will be, too. They have to be. It's what they were born into."

Nodding, I collapsed against his chest. "Deep down, I know that."

"Just think that this is how your parents felt with you; how Billy felt with me. So young to be put through so much. We have to trust them, Nessie. They aren't normal kids, and they're smart. Not to mention that they have each other. They're in this together."

"I just hope that's enough."

"It'll have to be."

There was no arguing that our children had a rough road ahead of them. The packs, both ours and Walker's, treated all four of them as royalty. Henry, now nineteen and phased, watched over his cousins something fierce without any orders that I was aware of. When he wasn't watching them, he was hovering over a fourteen year old Leila, who spent a lot of time around Claire. Quil and Claire had finally mated and had just had their first baby, Mika. Embry and Tricia had added to the pool of girls with three of their own: Nechole, Katie, and Parker. Embry was in estrogen hell, but he loved every minute of it. His brother-in-law, Walker had two children with Christa. Ryell and Wren joined their older, adopted sister, Haleigh, even though she'd moved to her mate's pack a year or so ago. Garrett's father, Calahan, had succumbed to his wounds from a fight. When Garrett had shown up to claim his place as pack leader, no other males opposed him. Which was good. The kid was a beast.

Jacob's sisters, Rachel and Rebecca had added to the baby boom. Rachel and Paul had another girl and one boy, Linley and Dane. Rebecca gave Henry a brother, Colton. Leah and Caden only had one child, Gage. But they were more than content with that. He was a gem and loved to hang out with the boys. Piper, Jules, and Ava watched over the girls.

Overall, the pack was well populated for the next generation. All the parents had made sure that the children were close. They didn't have to hang out or like each other, but they had to respect each other, just like siblings. They can love each other but that didn't mean they had to like each other. Kind of like my children. The boys may pick on Jules, but if an outsider tried, they'd team up and go after the outsider. Nobody messed with their sister except them. Tiffs among the pack was fine, but if an outside force threatened any member of it, that outside force had just made a pack-full of enemies. You threaten one, you threaten all.

"You know what?" I said, relaxing.

"What?"

"You're right. We have people that would protect them, other people that they can go to if they feel they can't come to us. All I wanted was for you and everyone else to trust me, to treat me as if I had a mind of my own. With them nearing phasing age, the only way they'll learn to trust us is if we show them that we trust them. I just need you to promise me something."

"What is that?"

"That you'll help me through my panic attacks because I'm pretty sure I'll have them."

He chuckled. "I promise, Ness. That is my job after all."

Feeling a bit better after talking my fears out with my partner, I cuddled down with him and finally slept. Before I fell into sleep, though, I promised myself that I could and would be strong for my children. Jacob was right. Whatever came at us, we would handle. As a family.

The End

So, so, so? What do we think? How cute was Will's temper tantrum? Omg! And the father/son bonding at the end? I am as excited as you guys for Will's story! Please review or PM and let me know! I love all of you! xoxoxoxoxo