CHAPTER 24

Sorry for the delay, I kinda used all my laptop's battery (the little I had left) for writing (didn't even finish btw) and couldn't post, I didn't have electricity (I just got it tonight) … y'know Hurricane Ike and all, I hope all you guys are okay… if you live anywhere near where it hit… but before that I just really didn't have time… I apologize…

NOTHING'S MINE

Ralph turned to me, a knowing understanding, even loving glint in his eyes "how much trouble did you get in while I was out?"

"Ralph this is Edward Cullen, Edward this is my stepfather Ralph Turner" I said, trying to ignore the anger in Edward's eyes

"I know" Ralph said glaring at Edward I know everything, Mirari Swan Cullen I stared at him wide-eyed, he knew?! How could he know?!

"I don't care what you know, or think you know, Ralph" Edward said answering Ralph's thought and glaring at him, while I did nothing but stare at Ralph, completely dumbstruck "but Mirari isn't alone anymore, there is no way I will let you harm her" Edward declared, Ralph turned to me, ignoring Edward's angry rampage

"What's this clown doing here Mirari?" Ralph asked me, I gaped at him, unbelieving, he didn't know, he couldn't have known. What kind of sane person would stay with mom after hearing her say that story?, any sensible, rational person would've had her committed…

"Cullen leave" Ralph said to Edward, his eyes still fixed on me "I… I need to have a talk with my daughter" he said and I immediately turned my head up to see him at the word, daughter? "Edward please leave" I said softly, that tiny word had made me want to hear him, but not the word, but how he said it… or maybe I was just being stupid

"I'm not leaving you alone with him"

"Leave! Ralph's not going to do anything to me!… Leave Edward! I just want to have a talk with my stepfather, ok?" Edward turned to look at me, his eyes pleading

"Leave!" I ordered him, but was interrupted by Ralph's laughter "ahh" he said "nice couple's quarrel" my eyes widened "what did you say?!" I demanded my face distorted in disgust "no use denying it Mirari Swan Cullen" he said, straining Cullen in a mocking way, a few seconds passed in astounded silence, until a laugh broke trough my lips, I laughed at his conclusion, as disgusted as I was with it I felt like such an idiot, he didn't really know, at least not the truth, he, I realized, fighting the urge to run to the restroom and vomit, thought Edward and I were a couple! "Oh, no! that's, just.. ewww!" I exclaimed my laughter unceasing, "then why do you now have his last name?" Ralph asked, shit!, I hadn't thought about that, what could I say? "well, that's… umm…" suddenly the perfect excuse hit me "I'm best friends with Edward's sister, she gave it to me, to symbolize how much she cares for me" I said "and that she thinks of me as her family, or something, I don't know who really understands Alice…" I went on with my babbling "but yea, it's like she's welcoming me to her family" I ended with a smile, it was partially true, Alice had given me the locket, though it was from everyone, and it was a kinda welcoming to the family, so I wasn't technically lying… except the friends part that couldn't be faker.

"then explain why this buffoon is here making a scene" Ralph said, glancing at Edward, I simply shrugged my shoulders "I haven't the slightest idea, Alice's hard to understand, Edward?, he's just impossible"

"Edward" Ralph said turning to face him "why are you here?"

"I was worried about Mirari is all" he replied in a calm tone, which it would've been convincing if he hadn't been making such a scene seconds before. "she is, after all my sister's 'bff'" he said, forming quotation marks on the air and smiling slightly

"I'll buy your story" Ralph mumbled "but now that you've seen she's okay, can you leave me to talk to her alone Mr. Cullen?"

"absolutely, I'm sorry to have caused such troubles Mr. Turner" Edward said and with one last look my direction left

"Ok, what do you-" "wait" Ralph said interrupting me "wait until he's gone, I don't want him listening" he explained "don't be ridiculous, he's out the door, no way is he… go…ing to… he..ar…" I said trailing off as Ralph shot me a look, his eyebrow raised

"Sit please" he said softly. I did as told, he immediately followed suit and flopped on next to me on the couch. He just sat there as I waited, nervously playing with my hands in my lap, after taking a few deep breaths he turned to look at me "Mirari" he said, as nervous as I was I almost jumped out of my skin "sorry about that" he apologized meekly, ok that was weird, something was wrong, it wasn't in his nature to apologize, and to me, never.

"I don't want any of the Cullens knowing this, not right now, although they probably already do, or will very soon" he mumbled the last part to himself but I still caught "what do you mean?, what do they probably already know?"

"Mirari, do you the story of how your mom and I met?" he asked, I looked at him confused, what did that have to do with anything?

"uhh… yeah, in her job, back when she was Mrs. Johnson's assistant" I answered slowly, trying to find the reason behind the question, he smiled softly, I looked at him bewildered, his smile was so soft, so pure, he truly looked like a father right there, I had never seen him smile like that, at least never at me "actually that's not it" I was about to interrupt but he held up his finger to stop me "I had just moved to Phoenix when I saw your mom for the first time, running away again" he sighed "life truly sucks when you have to move every so often, but I guess you'll discover that soon enough"

"running away?" he smiled at me, that same soft, gentle smile "do you where I'm from?"

"umm… Missouri… Minnesota… Michigan… something with a M, right?" I said unsure, I really didn't remember "we said I was from Michigan, but the truth is I'm from the Makah reservation near Neah Bay, here in Washington"

"why did you lie?" I demanded, why would he and mom, I caught the 'we', lie to me? And why did it matter where he was from?

"My name is Ralph Wulf, with a 'u', I got a kick out of that one" he said chuckling slightly. I was lost, so he changed his name, he isn't from where he said he was, he ran away… was he a criminal? was that the reason? "I was born October 23," he said "1921... I am 103 years old" I had to laugh there "sure you are" I said laughing "Ralph, you went to Texas right? I think the heat got to you" I laughed again, but when I saw the look on his face I immediately stopped "I mean how do you expect me to believe you're over a century old, you don't look a day over 35 Ralph!" this was too much, shaking my head at my deluded stepfather I raised from the couch and walked towards my room

"well Edward doesn't look a day over 18, and he's what? A few years older than me?" he said as I was about to take the first step on the stairs "what?… what did you say Ralph?"

"I'm a werewolf Mirari" I already knew about werewolves, but to believe Ralph was one? He was from the Makahs, the werewolves were from the Quileutes.

"sure you are and I'm a vampire" I replied, as a joke of course, forcing a chuckle

"I know" he said simply "I've known all along, come sit" he said patting the seat besides him, studying him I went and sat back down "I'm a werewolf" he repeated slowly, carefully

"but werewolves don't come from the Makahs" I said smartly "or so do myths say"

"how do you know?" he asked, a little surprised I had ANY kind of inside information on werewolves "my boyfriend is… really into Native American folklore, his grandfather's from LaPush" I said

"it's true, my mother was Makah, but my father, he was a Quileute, I never knew the guy, either his name was Matthew or Joseph Rynders" He said the last part mostly to himself, but I couldn't keep my curiosity and asked, "Rynders?"

"yes, you sound surprised, what's wrong?"

"my boyfriend's last name is Rynders"

"really now? Uh, I might be a great granduncle, hey that would make you my great-grandniece, as well as my daughter… funny world" he said laughing

"more like creepy" I muttered, a bit amazed he found the whole thing amusing

"yes, unbelievable, how everything is connected." he said shaking his head slowly

"Like I was saying, I went trough the process of becoming a wolf alone," he turned to look at me, his eyes full of hurt, and sadness, an infinite ocean of bottled emotions trapped inside those dark eyes "you have no idea how scared I was, the first time I phased, the first time I morphed," he shook his head again "that was the most terrifying experience to ever happen to me, I had no idea what had happened, I was mad at my mother, she wanted me to meet my father, but I refused, he had left her knowing she was pregnant, I resented him for that," I nodded, encouraging him to go on, "I left for the woods to calm down, I was shaking, out of anger or so I thought, when I just… exploded," I looked at him, I saw what he saw, I saw the moment a built teenage boy was running trough the woods, his whole body trembling so much the boy had to stop, but the trembling didn't cease, I saw the fear in the boy's eyes, how helpless he felt, more violent spasms came and there was a loud ripping sound, even I was startled, remnants of the boy's clothing flew into the air, along with fur… thick, coarse, deep brown, almost red animal fur, the both waltzed trough the air as they made their way to the damp forest floor, slowly my vision cleared and the boy was no more, "and I realized what I was, a giant red wolf," he said softly at the same time I saw him, an enormous beast, the color of the flying fur, with a pair of too-smart black eyes, very much like Issac's, in fact the whole beast was not unlike Issac's wolf form, of course they were the same species, but their color, their eyes, the texture of their fur... So alike… "I was scared, I tried to change back, even though I had no idea how to, but I couldn't." That fear that had been in the boy's eyes remained but was dulled, muffled in this new form, I could almost feel the desperation he felt "I spent a month roaming the woods as a wolf, still unable to morph back, after that month I gave up, I was sleeping on the ground, when this guy found me, I thought it was a guy… he reeked, instinct took over, and against my judgment to not attack him I did, and I tore him apart," I saw the glimpses of the bloody battle, pieces of pale flesh being thrown in all directions, the limbs trying to make their way back to the owner, to the pale, frosty, red-eyed vampire. "of course he put up a fight but I was a much better fighter than him" yes, ultimately, he won, the vampire was no more "I learned to live as a wolf and eventually morphed back into my human form, which was supposed to be my original form, but a feeling of lost overcame me, there was no longer fear of not understanding my wolf side, because I wasn't human anymore, that first time I morphed back I felt uneasy, uncomfortable, not like I should've, like coming back home after a long time away, that was what I was expecting, a sense of welcome. But none came. I had been a wolf too long, and I wanted to stay that way, that was the only way I knew how to survive." his eyed settled back on me and upon seeing my expression he smiled softly, "soon there were people looking for me, and reluctantly, I morphed back, and went back to the reservation, walking awkwardly, having lost practice moving with two legs, completely covered in dirt, long messy hair, and beard and my naked body covered in bruises and scratches" he forced a single laugh from his lips "I looked like Tarzan… minus the loincloth" I kept my mind closed, I did not want to see that "nobody knew what had happened, but because I wouldn't talk, rumors started… they said I had joined some kind of gang, even a satanic cult… they would say they saw me performing some kind of ceremonies in the middle of the forest." He laughed there, a contagious, loud, and rumbling sound, I found myself smiling "they said they saw me dancing naked under the moon and chanting in unknown tongues!" he stopped again to laugh a heartily laugh "but I wouldn't defend myself… and people back there… they were more gullible, they would believe anything, life with the tribe became uncomfortable, not unbearable but uncomfortable… but being 16 and looking the way I looked people were intimidated by me, and 5 years later, after mom died, I saw no more reason to go trough that any longer, to feel people judging me, to feel people following my every move, waiting for me to snap, or something, I left. I was 21 years old, looking the same as I had when I was 16... I turned wolf again and ran… ran away to deal with my grief and to start off somewhere else…" he sighed and turned to look at me "I met your mom one of those times" it was hard to believe him but the tale was interesting, and I found myself wanting to know more "what happened before mom? What did you do, where were you before Phoenix?" I asked and he smiled "I traveled, didn't really set in one place for long… started hearing voices" he said and looked at him questioningly, my head slightly to the side "werewolves can communicate with each other trough our minds" oh yea, I remembered "so you found more werewolves then?"

"yes, although at first I thought I was crazy, but all of those voices I heard were scared, and frightened, at once I understood, they were new, they were barely going trough the change. I saw that and I tried to help them, trying to communicate with them, telling them what was going on, and just being there… I made it my personal mission to help all those new wolves cope and assimilate"

"that's so nice" I mumbled, who would've thought Ralph, my stepfather Ralph, was capable of such a thing? But then again, this wasn't the Ralph I knew, this was something new, someone real, a person with emotions and feelings, not the stone-hearted stepfather of mine

"well it's a frightful experience to go trough alone, I didn't want anybody else to suffer that fate… not alone, never alone" suddenly he reached and grabbed my hands with his, my hands lost and growing warmer under his touch "I'm sorry Mirari… I'm so sorry, I promise I won't leave you alone, whatever you need I will be here for you" he said fervently, a promise. What to do? Did I believe him to be a werewolf? Yes, the story had been believable, but what did that mean in the end? That he was a good storyteller… nothing more

"Show me" I said "I want to see you" he looked at me, his eyes wide with horror "No!" he almost shouted taking me by surprise and making me jump back yanking my hands from his, "that is absolutely out of the question!" he continued jumping to his feet, I stared at him bewildered "why?" I asked softly "Mirari," he said kneeling in front of me "you're a vampire, I'm a werewolf… I don't think I'm strong enough, I couldn't bear it if I did something to you, you're the daughter of the woman I loved… you're my daughter in so many ways" I desperately wanted to believe him, I wanted to believe that there was a reason he had acted the way he had all my childhood, that that hostility towards me had been nothing but a façade to protect me, because in reality he loved me and wanted my safety even if it meant possible hate from me… but it was all so… selfless, so noble… so out of a fairytale and impossible!

I just realized I never gave dates, here they are: Mirari was born in 2007, (New Moon came out '06) and the year right now is 2024, making her 17, Ralph 103, Edward 123. Man Bella really liked older guys huh?

I'm curious do u want anything special to see happen?…