Disclaimer: If you recognize it, it's not mine.

I'm currently doing some editing on this story. It's still getting moderate traffic (HOW?!) and if I've still got awesome people like you reading this thing after four years of neglect on my part, it really needs some cleaning up. Thank you so much to everyone who reads, reviews, follows, etc. Even after all this time, it is much appreciated.

Chapter One

The beach was full of teenagers: running around, laughing. Having fun. The bonfire was just getting ready to begin—the Elders had given Sam the order to light the logs that had been so carefully collected earlier that day. The sound of laughter could be heard from nearly a mile away. I would know—I'd heard it.

I phased quickly, and hurried down to the beach where the others were waiting for me.

"Clip!" Seth called to me, using the pack's nickname for me. "Hurry up- it's getting ready to start!"

"I'm coming, I'm coming," I laughed.

Clip was supposed to be short for Calypso, which meant "she who conceals". It was Greek…or maybe Latin. I'd dropped Latin after my first semester of the language, so I didn't know…but honestly, it doesn't exactly matter a whole lot. It was a nickname Jacob gave to me when I first turned, as his way of simultaneously making me feel better about the whole werewolf situation and showing of his clear intellectual superiority. Anyway, it's the meaning of the name that holds the most significance for me. As the pack's smallest wolf, I oftentimes did the pack's sneaky work. Of course, I'd much rather be out tearing apart vampires with Seth and Jacob and the rest of them, but let's be honest here—my wolf form wasn't really a wolf. I was little more than a glorified dog. On more than one occasion, I'd been called "cute".

"Where've you been?" Seth asked, pulling me by the arm over to the bonfire. "We've been waiting for you!"

I blushed. "You guys didn't have to do that…I was just doing one more round. I get antsy, leaving the guard down." I frowned. I hated leaving the tribe unprotected, especially against a vampire like Victoria. She was ruthless, and smart, and way too quiet lately. Knowing that she was out there somewhere…well. Let's just say I had difficulty enjoying the frivolity of a bonfire with a psychopathically vengeful vampire on the loose.

"Look," Seth ordered, pointing to the other side of the beach, where a pale girl with long brown hair and chocolate brown eyes was laughing loudly, Jake on her arm. She was pretty enough, but nothing special, and definitely not worth all the trouble she'd been causing since she moved back into town. "Bella's here. Victoria doesn't care about anybody else—she just wants Bella, and right now Bella is surrounded by werewolves. Nothing's going to happen, so will you just chill already?"

"Yeah, Clip," Embry agreed. "Relax. This is supposed to be a fun night—don't ruin it with your worrying."

I frowned again, my eyebrows furrowed. "If I don't worry, then who's going to?" I asked. "Not Jacob, obviously." I looked over at the teenage boy who was flirting shamelessly with Bella, making her cheeks flush. "He knows that she's got a little bloodsucking boyfriend waiting for her on the other side of the border, right?"

"Someone sounds a little…jealous," Seth commented suggestively.

"I'm not jealous," I lied easily with a shrug. "I just know that if I found out that my boyfriend was cheating on me, flirting it up with another girl…"

"You don't have a boyfriend," Quil teased me.

"Only because I'm too busy picking up your midnight rounds," I glared at him. "Watch yourself."

"Sorry," he apologized with a grin, clearly not at all sorry.

You see—here's the thing. I'd known Jacob Black all my life. We'd grown up together. When I was little, he and I used to go swimming in the ocean. When Bella visited every summer with her dad, she'd join us. I'd loved every moment of it. But then Bella moved back to Forks and stirred up all that trouble with James and Victoria…and Edward dumped her and left Forks…and suddenly, all my Jacob-time was gone. He was always hanging out with Bella—fixing her motorcycle, teaching her how to ride it, going with her to the movies…

Yeah, I was jealous—jealous because Isabella Swan had stolen my best friend from me. I was not, nor had I ever been, romantically interested in the boy. He was my best friend, and I didn't like seeing him hurt the way he was being hurt by Bella.

I sighed, shaking my head. "You two are impossible. You know that? Absolutely impossible. Come on, already—we should be helping Sam with the fire."

Soon enough, we had a roaring bonfire going on the beach. I watched as Jacob and Bella talked…and then I realized that they had completely forgotten about Bella's other friends, who were shifting uncomfortably on their log. I heaved a sigh, ashamed of Jake's lack of manners, and headed over to them.

"Hey," I greeted them, smiling widely. "You guys look lonely."

They just sort of smiled at me, looking uncomfortable. I sat down next to one of them—a boy, with light blonde hair and bright blue eyes. "You mind?" I asked.

"No, of course not," a taller girl with curly black hair replied. "I'm Angela. This is Jessica, Mike, Eric, and Owen." The group nodded at me, some of the smiling, a couple of them looking wary.

"It's very nice to meet you. I'm Freya Lust," I introduced myself.

The girl—Angela—laughed.

"I know," I sighed. "My mom had quite the sense of humor—naming her kid after a goddess of love, when her last name is Lust. I get that a lot." That was a lie. Most people weren't up to date with their Norse mythology, but it's rude to laugh at someone's name, and I was feeling sassy. Sue me. "But hey…is everybody here treating you ok?" I continued, turning down the sass for now. "Some of the boys can get a bit…" I struggled to find the right words, "obnoxious," I finally decided with a nod. "Especially around kids that aren't from the reservation."

"They've been fine," the girl that was introduced to me as Jessica assured me. "They've left us alone well enough."

I frowned. "Left you alone? I told them to…ugh!" I threw my hands up with frustration. "Be right back," I muttered. I huffed over to Quil and Embry. "Guys!" I exclaimed angrily. "What are you doing?"

"Uh…playing football?" Quil replied nervously, holding up a brown football for me to see.

I sighed. "Could you at least invite Bella's friends to join you? They're all alone over there…and I told you to include any guests," I glared.

"Take a chill pill, Clip," Embry grinned, ruffling my hair as he bounded off toward the fire. "We're on it." Pretty soon, Eric, Owen, and Mike had joined the two wolves in a game of football on the beach. I was left alone with the two girls.

"So…" Jessica began, twirling her hair nervously.

"Tell me about your school," I suggested, hoping to get some sort of conversation going. I'd always been curious about Forks High School—my dad taught there, but he never really allowed me to come visit him. Probably because of all the vampires roaming the halls.

"It's ok," she shrugged. "I mean, school's school—you show up, see your friends, and get out. Am I right?"

I shrugged, not quite seeing eye-to-eye with her on this subject. I patiently moved on to something else. After about ten minutes of trying to talk to the girl, I decided that it was quite unlikely that we would agree on anything—I gave myself an excuse to leave the conversation and then did so quickly.

As I was getting up, I thought about changing my mind, sitting back down, and trying again…but I'd never been one to force my friendship down anybody's throat. Besides, Jessica and Angela looked much more relaxed than when I'd been trying to start up a conversation. I sighed, and walked down the beach to where the boys were playing football.

"Mind if I play?" I asked Quil.

"Sure," he replied. "You guys want her?" he asked the opposing team. They looked at each other, then looked at me.

"Nah," Mike replied.

"Suit yourself," I grinned. Quil, Embry, and I huddled up together in a fashion that I was absolutely certain looked over-the-top-cheesy, working out our plan of action in quiet whispers. "Break!" I cried when we were done.

"Hey!" Quil whined. "I'm captain. I get to break!"

"Then you should have said it," I grinned. "Too late now."

Quil grumbled as he got into position, looking at me. He raised his eyebrows, and I nodded, grinning.

As soon as Quil gave the signal, Embry went after Mike, and I took off running straight toward the biggest guy on the other team—Owen. His eyes lit up in surprise as I tackled him, bringing him easily to the ground. Embry brought down Mike, and Quil was easily able to avoid Eric. He scored the touchdown.

"Way to go, Quil!" I exclaimed, laughing as I got back on my feet. I held my hand out to Owen, grinning. "You alright there?" I asked him.

He hesitated for a moment, but eventually, he took my hand and allowed me to help him up to his feet. "That was…impressive," he admitted. "Sorry we underestimated you."

I shrugged. "Happens all the time. Doesn't it, Embry? Quil?" I turned to the other wolves, my hands on my hips.

"We do not underestimate you, Clip," Quil replied with a roll of his eyes. "Nicknames are earned."

"Let's just play already," I grumbled. He and Embry laughed, but they handed the ball over to the other team. Owen, Mike, and Eric huddled up, whispering. My teammates and I did the same, but we weren't really making plans. Quil and Embry were having a heated discussion about whether bacon flavored ice cream was ethical or not, while I struggled not to collapse with laughter.

"You ready?" Owen asked us.

"Just a minute!" I gasped, clutching my side, still unable to stifle my laughter.

"Shut up, Clip," Embry chuckled. "We've got a game to play."

I nodded, finally calming down. "Alright," I nodded, taking a deep breath. "I'm ok."

When both teams were finally paying attention—oops—Owen handed the ball off to Eric. I began to chase after the awkward, uncoordinated teenager. I'd almost caught him when suddenly my center of gravity shifted and my back connected with coarse sand. Owen was pinning me to the ground, breathing heavily.

"Hi," he grinned from above me.

"Hi," I replied with a smile. For the first time, I noticed…he had really pretty, sea-green eyes. They were being partially concealed by the reddish-brown bangs hanging in his face. Wanting to see his eyes, I brushed his hair back. As soon as my fingers touched his skin, I knew it had been a mistake. The incredible spark that flew between us was impossible for me to ignore. My eyes grew wide, still unable to look away. It was harder for me to breathe all of a sudden, and my heart was pounding. Owen's eyes were still locked on mine, and he was beginning to lean closer…

I coughed. "Owen."

He blinked. "Yeah."

"You're kind of pinning me to the ground," I reminded him.

"Oh…right. Sorry," he apologized. He stood up, offering me his hand. I ignored it, and stood up on my own.

"I'll see you guys around, ok?" I said as I hurried off in the opposite direction.

That did not just happen.

That did so, so, so, so SO not just happen! It was impossible—Sam had told me before that it was impossible!

Then why couldn't I get those eyes out of my mind?

I ran toward the bonfire, looking for Sam. When I finally found his large frame, I pulled him aside. "Sam, explain," I begged.

"Explain what?" he asked, taking a large bite out of a hot dog he'd recently finished toasting over the fire. "Life? Death? Trigonometry? There are some things none of us understand, Freya."

I rolled my eyes. "Sam. I thought you said that female wolves can't imprint."

"I didn't think they could," he shrugged.

"Then what the hell just happened back there?!" I exclaimed, gesturing to where Owen was playing football with the others. My eyes lingered on his finely toned arms. I gave myself a quick mental shake, and continued. "One second, he's just some guy Bella brought along from school, then he goes and tackles me, and all of a sudden…"

"Wait," Sam grinned. "He tackled you?"

"I tackled him first," I waved off his question.

"Oh, I see how it is. Little Miss Warrior Goddess made the first move," he teased me.

"Sam!" I groaned. "Please! Of all the times for you not to be serious…"

He chuckled, ruffling my hair. "Look, Freya. I don't know nearly as much you all think I do about imprinting. I don't know why werewolves do it—I have theories, but no way to prove any of them. I could easily be wrong. Maybe it is possible for female wolves to imprint. Or maybe…you've just developed a little crush," he teased again.

I glared. "You know me, Sam. I don't get crushes."

"Oh?" He raised his eyebrows.

"I don't like Jake, ok?" I snipped. "I never did, I never will."

"Hmm…defensive…"

"Sam."

He just laughed at me. "Go. Enjoy the bonfire. This is your night, after all; the telling of the tribal stories is, of course, meant mostly for the pack. Maybe you can spend some quality time with Owen."

"You are no help," I snapped. I turned angrily on my heel, and headed to where Jacob was sitting on one of the logs. Bella had finally remembered that she'd invited friends along, and was trying to make them feel comfortable. I plopped myself down next to Jake.

"You ok?" he asked me, looking concerned.

"I'm fine," I replied angrily.

He pulled the marshmallow he'd been roasting over the fire off its stick, and handed it to me. It was at that stage where the outside was the perfect stage of golden brown. I took it with a sigh, stuffing the whole thing in my mouth.

"Wow," Jake chuckled. "Somebody's upset. What's up, Clip?"

I swallowed the marshmallow. "I'm only telling you this because you're going to find out on patrol tomorrow night anyway," I warned him.

"That bad?"

The way we wolves' minds were joined together when we phased made it incredibly difficult to keep secrets. I was usually pretty good at keeping my thoughts private—I wasn't called Calypso for nothing—but if something was bothering me enough, everybody would know.

I nodded. "I'm afraid so, Jake," I sighed, resting against his arm. He wrapped his arm around my shoulder.

"Go ahead," he prompted me.

"It's Owen," I admitted.

"Bella's friend?"

I nodded. "Yeah. The big one- reddish brown hair, sea-blue eyes…" I sighed. "Gorgeous smile…"

"Oh, God," Jake groaned. "Please don't say what I think you're going to say."

"I'm afraid that I might have imprinted on him."

"Shit, Freya." He ran one hand through his hair the way he sometimes did when he was stressed.

"Yeah," I nodded. "That's what I was thinking, too."

"Don't you know?" he asked. "Whether or not you imprinted?"

I shrugged. "You'd think I would realize it if I had…but I don't know. Sam had always said it was impossible for me or Leah to imprint."

"Then…I suppose you'll just have to find out," Jake shrugged.

"How?" I asked, scoffing.

"Stay away from him," he suggested. "See how long that lasts."

"So…just…ignore him?" I asked, trying to make sense out of his twisted advice.

"Yup. Or try to, at least. If what I've heard from Jared and Sam is true, that won't last very long," he yawned. "Hey, did Sam say when they Elders were going to start?"

I shook my head. "No. But it should be soon."

"Hey, Jake," Bella greeted him happily as she sat down on his other side. Mike, Jessica, Angela, Eric, and Owen sat behind us on another log.

"Freya," Owens voice was whispering.

"Ignore it," Jacob reminded me.

As the tribe Elders retold the Quileute legends for the millionth time since I'd been born, my usual sense of peace the tribal legends offered was interrupted. Owen was poking me in the back with a stick, trying to get my attention. I spun around to glare at him…but I made the mistake of looking into his eyes and smiling.

This was going to be harder than I thought.

Thanks again for reading! I'll be posting more edits soon.