Chapter 7! The book is coming to an end, sadly. Well, enjoy!

-M&M

Jake faced me in full wolf form, and instructed me on fighting techniques. For now, everyone's thoughts contributed to my lesson. Jake spoke.

Full grown bloodsuckers and newbie bloodsuckers are different. The new ones are stronger, but stupid. They'll react to anything, they're really... volatile.

Quil spoke. Volatile. Isn't that an awfully big word for you Jake?

Hey Quil. STFU, dude. Jake said before returning to me. Anyway, they're a bit more dangerous but easier to kill. Full grown vamps aren't as strong, but they're smarter; harder to kill. I'm going to teach you how to fight them without getting killed. He said lightly, but I could hear the angry, almost scared tone in his voice.

Theoretically.Embry said.

Jake mentally shot daggers at him, along with a mental image of Jake beating him in his sleep. I could feel Embry's amusement, but he didn't say anything else.

Now that key is for you to keep your reflexes sharp, be quick, and above all be vicious. Never feel sympathy or doubt your movements, because a blood sucker will never show you the same kindness. The pack grumbled its agreement. Now I'm going to come at you, slow at first but its gonna get faster-

Quil broke in, That's what she said!

Jake dropped his head and let out a sigh. Bella, um, if you wouldn't mind...?

Sure. We had practiced more before, and now it was a lot easier and quicker to block out everyone. I took in one breath and searched my mind for the 'off switch', as we had been calling it.

Hey! Embry said. That's no fair- And then it was quiet except for Jake and I.

That's better. He said. So, anyway, watch what I do, then you try and copy me. He took a few steps back from me then ran and jumped in mid air. He came down with paws grasping at an invisible upright figure and teeth clamping and tearing around the invisible figures head. I took a running start and tried to copy him. Watching the replay through his mind I saw my jump was not as high or fast, and my paws kind of flailed out to the side. I sat down and scowled.

Try again. Jake encouraged.

I did, and then again and again. I was just beginning to see improvement nearly fifteen minutes later. Jake nodded, ready to move on. But I don't have it yet...I said, confused.

You don't need to be perfect, just know enough to keep you alive. Moving on, try this...

We must have gone over twenty different moves, from zig-zagging around enemies to ambushing from behind fallen logs to full on frontal attacks; all with the aim to keep me in one piece if we were attacked. I didn't master any of them, didn't even come close, but apparently it was good enough for Jake, even if I didn't feel totally confident with my fighting.

Chill, Looka, He said. You're a natural.

Whatever you say...My skepticism was apparent.

How's this. You get that zig-zag right, and... I'll let you come to the bonfire with the rest of us tonight.

I raised my eyebrows, or as much as I could as a wolf. Oh, you'll let me? Well. How kind of you.

Well, of course! You gotta earn it.

I sighed. What ever. Let's do it. But it's NOT because I'm playing into this 'earn it' thing. I wanna get it right.

Yeah, sure. Okay. Remember, dig your claws in. The whole point is to move quickly. Go as fast as you can without falling over.

It was nearly three o clock, according to my stomach, when Jake finally called a stop to training. I could feel his satisfaction, and maybe a little pride, when when walked away from the claw-torn clearing. He had a tiny gash in his side from when he decided we should spar, and even though I was fairly frantic, he promised it would be healed before we got back to my house. I let everyone's minds trickle back into the flow, but only Sam, Quil, Embry, and Paul were there.

Quil and Embry both noticed at the same time that Jake was in fact bleeding, and I could hear the yipping laughter from where we stood in my own ears. Dude, you got beat by a girl. Embry said.

I got a scratch. Bella would turn you into a cat toy if you guys fought. He said with smug assurance, clearly proud of me.

Well duh. I mean, after all, it is Embry. Quil said, like he was talking about a special-ed kid.

You little- Embry's thoughts cut off as he jumped Quil and they began rolling around on the ground like a mass of puppies.

Well, anyway, how'd she do? Sam asked, trying not to notice Quil and Embry's growling and muffled curses.

Great, as always. Jake said.

I noticed with some annoyance that everyone was asking Jake about me. Shouldn't I be included in this? I sighed.

Oh, sorry Bella. Sam said.

It's all good. I think Jake might be overstating things a bit though. Really, its not like-

Don't even bother Bella. You rock, and everyone knows it.

What? I'm just saying, there's plenty of room for improvement. I said, not comfortable with the praise.

Well, whatever. If we get in some kind of fight, we don't have to worry about Bella. She'll be fine. Jake said, assuredly, like he was talking about some prized possession... I liked it.

Quil and Embry resolved their scuffle with Quil coming out victorious. Hah! You just got pwned, sissy man. Suck it!

Yeah, well I say you lose because you actually used 'pwned' seriously in a sentence. Therefor, you suck. Embry said with finality.

Jeez, no need to be a sore loser. Quil said, mockingly.

Hey, are we still having that bonfire tonight? Paul asked.

Yeah. You gonna be there? Sam asked.

Yeah. Dude, free food. Who isn't coming? Paul asked rhetorically.

We all laughed. I still wasn't used to this humongous appetite. It was insanity, that I could eat a whole bag of pizza rolls and still be hungry. Embry spoke. Yeah, and you're a chick. Imagine how we guys feel? It's ten times worse.

I know. I've seen Jake eat, like when he raids our kitchen. (A/N: Ugh. Any of you have those friends who come over just to steal your food? *Cough* *Megan* *Cough* … jk, ily!)

Quil laughed. You have an open kitchen? Sweet, I'm coming over tomorrow!

Hey, you gotta fight for your right at that table. You gotta go through me first. Jake said.

No prob, I'll just dangle a picture of Bella in front of you and let you drown in your own drool. Once your taken care of, the fridge will be mine! He even topped his thought off with an evil laugh.

Next time I see you Quil, you're dead. Embarrassment and anger bubbled through Jake's words.

Oh, I'm scared. You have me shaking in my skin. He said, joking.

Jake turned to me. I'll be right back, okay? Just gotta go take care of somethin'... He ran off in the general direction of Quil and Embry's patrol. I could feel Quil's fear, and it wasn't long before he broke off of their trail in the opposite direction of Jake. He didn't have a chance though. Only a mile separated where they were and where I stood, and Jake was twice as fast as Quil. I felt the impact of Jake's body slamming into Quil's through the link and heard Jake cussing Quil out as he tore him to shreds.

Okay fine. Fine! I give! Damn, man, you didn't have to bite so hard... Quil grumbled as Jake turned and jogged back to me.

By now we were at my house, and Charlies car was parked out front. He must have had a half day or something. I sighed and turned my back to Jake, pulling my human skin over me and slipping on the cloth shorts and t-shirt that had been previously tied to my leg. Jake turned as I turned, and gestured towards the house dramatically. We walked up the path to the front of the house, instead of going in the back door that led off to the woods; wouldn't want to raise unnecessary suspicion. Charlie sat at the kitchen table, news paper in one hand and a sandwich in the other. Oldie music played lightly in the background from an old radio that sat on the kitchen counter.

"Hey, kids. Whatcha up to?" He asked around a mouth of ham and cheese.

"Nothin'. Why are you home so early?" I asked. "Half day at work?"

"Yeah. It was a slow day and we're over staffed so they told me to get outta dodge. Hows your day been?"

I shrugged, ignoring the small smile peaking at the edge of Jake's mouth. "Slow. We were just hanging out down by the rez with some of Jake's friends. Speaking of which, Jake, me, and some other people were going to a bonfire tonight. Cool?" I hated asking for permission, I should be old enough now that I didn't have to, but I decided to throw in the 'cool' just for good measure.

"Hmm? Who?" I could picture all the druggies and gang bangers he was imagining in his mind.

"Well, Billy'll be there and Sam, then there's the Clearwater kids and a few others. You know Quil, Embry, Jared, Paul...?" Jake said.

Charlie nodded his approval. "Sounds great. When ya gonna be back?"

I shrugged.

"Just get back before the sun comes up. No... drugs. No smoking, drinking..." His voice trailed off and he gestured with his hand for me to fill in the blanks of the list that went on and on. I knew the drill.

"Yeah, yeah. I know." I said, walking over and ruffling his hair. He grumbled and smoothed his thinning dome fuzz.

Jake turned to me and asked, "So... I'll be back here when the sun starts to go down. 8:30?"

"Sure. What should I bring?"

"Well it can get chilly, so bring a hoodie," He winked at me. I knew I wouldn't get cold, werewolf perk and what not. "And food. Lots of bonfire cook-able foods. Hotdogs, marshmallows, so on and so forth."

"Gotcha. Well, I'm just about getting sick of you. Go on and shoo, or I'll sick the dogs on you." I said, humor concealed in my words.

"Oh yeah. 'Cuz I'm so afraid of the big bad wolf." He winked and slipped out the front door.

I walked back into the kitchen, pulling open the door and shuffling around left over containers looking for something to eat. I heard Charlies muffled voice from behind me. "Looks like you're awfully fond of Jake."

"Yeah, Jake's great." I said, hoping he'd drop it.

He didn't. "So are you two dating or something?"

"I guess you could say that..." I trailed off pitifully.

He was quiet for a few seconds, then, "Well good. Great! He's a good kid, always has been."

"I agree." I said, hoping he'd drop it. I didn't want this conversation to-

"So are you two, you know, being safe-"

"Bye Dad!" I said, bolting up the stairs with my prize of cold pizza and left over macaroni and cheese.

"Hey, wait a minute! I'm still talking to-" My closed door cut of his voice, and I sighed in relief. I was almost worried that I may have insinuated something by fleeing from the kitchen so fast, but then again it would be funny to see him sweat. Charlie had never exactly been comfortable with the whole 'I'm female' thing, so maybe I'd turn up the PDA with Jake, if for no other reason than to see what he'd do. I laughed quietly to myself and grabbed a book from beside my bed and sat down. If I had some time to waste, I might as well try to relax. Soon, though, I felt my eyes drooping shut.

A rustle outside my window woke me, and startled into a upright position, my head whirled expecting some kind of vampiric attacker but instead was confronted with a squirrel. I sighed and rolled over, looking at my alarm clock. This was just as shocking and had me on my feet: 8:15. I had 15 minutes to get ready. I sighed heavily and walked to my dresser, pulling out the first things my hands touched, ending up with black denim shorts and a bright green tank top, just one shade darker than lime green. I grabbed a pair of black running shoes from my closet and fled to the bathroom.

I figured a five minute shower, then another five minutes to dry my hair and maybe put a few waves in it, then off to raid the kitchen and hopefully I'd be done by the time Jake got here. I twisted the knobs on the shower, not even bothering with the temperature seeing as I wouldn't get too cold or too hot anyway. I was in and out, dried and hair done with a few stray waves from the curling iron and into the kitchen by 8:27, and with three minutes to go flung open the freezer and grabbed all three packs of hotdogs there. It was lucky, I supposed, that we had so many, but that was only because hot dogs and eggs were all Charlie knew how to cook.

I had the three packs in a bag and sat down at the kitchen table just as Jake walked in. "Jeez Jake, took you long enough. I've been sitting here for like fifteen minutes!"

"Jeez, Bella. I'm like, right on time!"

"I don't wanna hear it." I looked at his face, which actually looked ashamed and remorseful. "I'm just joking. Come here, does some one want a hug?" I opened my arms.

He perked up like a kid in a candy shop and romped across the room, picking me up and spinning in two full circles. Charlie must have heard the commotion because he ambled into the room just as Jake set me down, and thinking back to my revenge on Charlie for making lunch awkward, I leaned up and pressed my lips hard against Jake's. At first he seemed surprised but got over it fairly quickly as he settled into the kiss moving his lips against mine. I figured there was a 50/50 chance of Charlie gathering his balls and saying something, or just scurrying out of the room, leaving his poor gonads behind. The frantic pitter-patter of steps on the linoleum told me he had returned to the refuge of the living room.

I broke the kiss off laughing, not only at Charlie, but at Jake's confused, half happy, half dazed face. "I'll explain later. Let's go."

"Yeah. Alright, sure. Um, did I miss something?" He asked as I dragged him out the front door, passing Charlie on the way out, who made a point not to look at either of us.

~At the Bonfire~

The Bonfire was on cliffs overlooking the ocean. The water was illuminated like fire by the sunset, like it had been doused with gasoline and the suns rays had ignited it. The fire cast a yellow glow on the faces that surrounded it while the sun illuminated the silhouettes from behind. I could smell the acrid, but natural, smoke as well as hot dogs already cooking over the flames. The fire crackled like it was alive, and I noticed the one log still open had a worn, smooth top from years and years of use. Sam sat next to Emily on one seat, Leah and Seth shared another seat, then was Quil and Embry, Jared and Paul, Billy and Henry (A/N: Yeah, yeah. He died, but ya know what? Too bad.), and an open one for us that faced out to the water. I sighed happily as Jake took my hand and led me to our seats.

I tossed my bag of food on the flat rock where other things were sitting. I saw hot dogs by the dozen, same with the marshmallows, and more soda in two liters and cans than I had ever seen at any other party. Sam saw us first, and he just nodded a little, but once Quil and Embry noticed us, they jumped up and nearly tackled us to the ground. I was a little surprised by the physically greeting, which consisted of grabbing us by the shoulders and giving us each a rather thorough shaking. I didn't expect to be this warmly accepted this soon. Jake must have seen the surprise in my eyes because he looked down at me and gave my hand a squeeze. I could nearly hear his words in my mind: Welcome to the Pack.

Paul, who was closest to the flat rock that held the food, tossed us each a stick, with two hot dogs each already stuck on it. I slid off the log and onto the ground, leaning into the flames and holding the hotdog just low enough that it would bubble but not burn. Jake slithered down nest to me, doing the same. As I watched the meat sizzle, bubble, and brown, Billy stood and began to speak. "Now that we're all here, I think we can start." He looked pointedly at Jake and I, but resumed talking. "The legend I'm going to tell you now is one of the first imprint." I fell into Billy's hypnotic story voice that rumbled, low and soothing, and found myself seeing the story behind my lids as he narrated it. I barely noticed myself pulling the hot dogs out of the flames, eating, then going right back in with a new pair. I leaned into Jake's big welcoming body and rested my head on his shoulder. He ran his hand down my thigh and grabbed my free hand, squeezing it.

Legend after legend fell on my ears, sending me deeper and deeper into a soothed meditation, absorbing the tribes history, the packs history, but most importantly, my history like a sponge. When Billy finally ended, sitting back down, I was almost disappointed that it was over, but just as soon Jake reached for the bag of marshmallows and passed it around. The sounds of the clearing went from quiet and reverent to the raucous and loud, usually insulting, voices of the pack that I had come to know. Inevitably, Quil and Embry broke out into a fight but this time Seth and Jared joined in, leaving the rest of us to watch, bemused.

By now, the sun had completely set and the full moon rose above the water turning it a steely silver color where the moonlight touched it and then a dark gray-navy in the shadows. I could hear the surf crashing against the cliff but couldn't see it. Suddenly, Sam stood and gestured for me to follow him. We walked away from the flames and even though my body itself was warm, I felt the cool night air brushing the hair around my face.

"What's up?" I asked, slightly nervous.

"Well, I was thinking about you wanting to tell Charlie about the pack and... I think I'll allow it."

"Really?" I asked, ecstatic.

Sam nodded. "I could tell how important it was for you to be truthful with Charlie, and seeing as he is practically the only real cop in Forks, I'd hate for him to get the pack involved with some kind of teen rebellion act, or something. And I think it'll be better for you, too." He smiled a bit down at me.

"Thanks, Sam." I smiled broadly, even thought it was just beginning to dawn on me that I had no clue how to go about actually telling Charlie. I couldn't just walk up to him like 'Hey Dad. Lovely weather. And oh, by the way I'm a werewolf. So yeah, have a good day at work.' No, that wouldn't work at all.

I returned to the fire, happy, but muddled. This was going to require more thought than anything else I had encountered this whole summer. Aww, I hate thinking on vacation. I thought to myself. I sat down next to Jake.

"What's wrong Looka?" He asked, his voice really concerned.

"Well Sam told me I could tell Charlie." I trailed off.

"That should be good though, right?" He asked.

"Yeah, but it's not like I can just drop a bomb like that on him. I mean how could I possibly go about telling him about something like this? Maybe I'll wait to see if it becomes a problem, or until I find a really good time to tell him."

He pulled my head into his chest and kissed the top of my head. "Whatever makes you happiest." He said smiling.

Quil and Embry cat whistled from the other side of the clearing. "Yeah, Jake. Get some!" That sounded like Embry.

"Quiet you." Jake said, throwing a red hot poker that had been left in the flames at his head. Embry dodged it smoothly, grabbing it's cool handle and flinging it tip over handle back our way. Jake stuck his hand up to catch the handle's loop on one finger then twirled it into his hand and shoved it down in the ground.

Quil said, "Party pooper! Jeez Jake, no need to be such a pacifist."

"Pacifist? That's an awfully big word for you, huh Jake?" Quil said, mocking what he had said earlier that day.

"Not for me, but I'm surprised you understood it. How did you get past the third grade anyway? Didn't anyone ever tell you it's wrong to bribe the teachers."

"Pssh." Quil said, dismissing the thought with a wave of his hand.

Nothin like a good bonfire! Speaking of which.. we're headed off to one now. Woooooh! I love summer! REVIEW, REVIEW, REVIEW!

-M&M