Title: Scattered Thoughts

Author: WhimsicallyAwkward

Disclaimer: I own nothing. Not Anna, not Charles. Written purely for entertainment with no copyright infringement intended.

A/N: This is going to be a series of oneshots relating to Anna, Charles, or Anna and Charles. I was chilling on my couch a few weeks ago, writing a little bit for my other stories and thinking about what I wanted to do next for the world of Alpha and Omega. This was one of several ideas that popped into my head.

I wanted to know what people think of Anna when they meet her, like what Bran thought, what Samuel thought, and what Angus thought about the girl with whiskey curls. This led to me wondering what people thought of Charles, of what people though of Charles and Anna. So, instead of writing ten million oneshots all having to do with people's thoughts on Charles or Anna, I decided to combine them like I'm doing for a Twilight story of mine.

I hope you enjoy it...This first oneshot is centered around Samuel and Anna. It's not when Samuel first laid eyes on Anna, but rather shortly after Anna, Charles, and Bran have returned from Seattle.

I'm going to quit yapping now...Here we go :)

Samuel didn't know what he thought of Anna Latham the first time he saw her.

She had been sitting all shy and demure next to the slender figure of his dad, and the hulking one of his brother.

Samuel thought she appeared to be trying to sink into the pew, trying to blend in.

It wasn't working very well.

Samuel figured that even if she hadn't been wearing the bright yellow shirt, people would still be sneaking glances.

The stranger in their midst, all small and pretty, escorted by none other than Charles Cornick.

The whispers of mate flowing.

"Charles Cornick with a mate?"

"He was only gone a few days!"

"Didn't know he even had a heart."

"She is very skinny."

"Quit looking! Can't you tell she's afraid? And Lord knows if you get her riled up you'll have Charles to deal with. I love you hunny, but that's a battle you won't win."

He'd have to say he didn't think she was much when he first met her.

Pretty yeah. But so fearful, half hiding behind his brother.

She'd stood up to Asil though, so the little girl had guts somewhere within her.

Then his father explained her history further to him, and suddenly Samuel thought she might very well be stronger than him.

Samuel hadn't been gone more than a month when his da was calling him up, telling the tale of Seattle, Arthur, and Dana.

Samuel had had enough. He flew home the next morning.

The first person he saw was Anna Lat - no, no Anna Cornick.

Charles had called Samuel on the flight home to say that he and da were tied up, but that Anna would be there to drive him in.

He didn't know what to expect. He knew what she'd done since he'd been gone. Trekked up a mountain with his little brother, killed a witch, befriended Asil - which amazed Samuel more than even killing a black witch -, killed a vampire, been kidnapped, shot, and lastly, had saved Charles' life. Saved his life by killing Dana.

He knew all this, but Samuel still expected to see the timid, too skinny woman from before.

Because despite knowing what she'd done, it hadn't sunk in. He'd seen her only briefly for the wedding and then Samuel was gone again

She was sitting on the top of Charles' truck when Samuel first exited the plane. Her legs stretched out on the windshield, her weight supported by her elbows as she appeared to study the clouds.

She'd gained the weight she needed back, giving her more curve from her hips and waist. And she had color. Not tan - no, not tan, but she was flushed in the cheeks and her sun-kissed skin glowed.

The woman he remembered had been 10 pounds too small and so very pale.

But that wasn't her biggest changes. No, nowhere near them. When her eyes met his, the lovely brown shade was sparkling.

She smiled at him, a brief flash of white teeth as she gathered herself and jumped to the ground.

She was walking toward him now, and Samuel knew she wouldn't get anything from his expression - his father and brother weren't the only ones with poker faces - but he was thinking hard.

The biggest change in her, he thought, was that she wasn't trying to disappear into the crowd. She definitely wasn't trying to stand out, but her back was straight, her head high, and she walked forward confidently.

She was closer now. She stopped about five feet in front of him, and no matter how hard she tried to hide it, there was wariness in the curve of her shoulders.

Samuel was amazed.

That this woman, so brutalized by dominant males, was smiling surely at him, with only a little bit of wariness holding her back was a testament to her strength.

Killed a black witch.

Saved Asil from himself.

Killed a vampire.

Killed Dana and saved his brother's life.

Made his brother smile every day.

Samuel figured that the combination of the little things going on around her and Charles every day helped her move forward. And, of course, his brother's blind stubbornness.

Samuel loved her without knowing her because of his brother.

She made Charles so happy, gave him someone he could always trust other than Samuel and da.

She made Charles smile and that was good enough for Samuel. The fact that their da also loved Anna just made Samuel that more desired to know her.

Her clothes, he saw now, were soaking wet - clinging to her skin. It had been raining heavily as he flew in, but she should have been protected by the truck.

"Hi, Samuel."

"Hello Anna."

She stuck her hands in her pockets, and grinned a little.

"We don't even know each other that well do we? Well you know Bran, he was supposedly needing Charles for help and couldn't do without him. And conveniently no one other than me was available to pick you up. Charles told me before he left that he was pretty sure Bran just wanted me to be the one to pick you up."

Samuel nodded - that sounded like his da.

"Why do you think that is?"

She shrugged, a tiny shift of her shoulders "Eh, maybe he thinks that you and I should bond or something like that."

Samuel nodded again but he didn't think that was it.

He knew his da worried about him, knew that he thought Samuel was well on his way to self harm, and Anna was a damn good Omega wolf.

Since she'd stepped up to him, Samuel had fallen prey to the waves of calm she was sending off. What she'd spoken wasn't a lie - she didn't know why Bran had forced them together, but she sure as hell was sending her Omega talents at him.

Maybe she just thought he needed some relief, and that made Samuel wonder how prominent his emotions were.

She was quiet, from then on out, sliding into the car and taking a minute to turn on the heat.

Samuel stuffed his duffel bag between his legs as he took to the passenger seat. He looked at her sideways; he wanted to talk to her.

"So, I hear you've been busy."

Anna snorted, loudly. Then she blushed, just a slight tint of red high on her cheeks.

She cleared her throat, and cranked the engine before addressing him again.

"Yeah, that's an understatement. It's been crazy, but you know, Charles and I are back, and things are settling down - at least as much as they can for this pack."

She was lovingly exasperated as she spoke the last words. Her smile was tender and her eyes fond.

She loved the pack, but she also acknowledged that they were all pretty much crazy. Samuel respected her even more, even as he felt his smile grow.

"Um, yeah, living here can be very - um -"

"Action-filled?"

"Pretty much."

She pulled out of the parking lot, driving five miles slower than the speed limit on the rain slick pavement.

He took notice again, of her clothes, of her hair. The light brown locks were plastered to her, hanging dark and dripping to mid-back. And her clothes - the over large flannel shirt unbuttoned over black and her jeans were soaking wet too. She had a towel spread over the seat to avoid any water getting on the seats.

She smelled of rain, Charles, and a scent uniquely her own.

Her eyes met his as he asked, "Was it raining at you're house? When you were getting in the truck?"

She turned back to the road, but her eyes jerked down to look at her appearance. To look at the rain drops still clinging to her skin.

She blushed again, more this time, a flush in her cheeks.

"No, no it was only sprinkling then, but the weather said that it would be pouring by the time I got to the airport."

This didn't really explain the state of her drenched body.

He didn't say anything, only raised his eyebrows and waited.

Anna sighed. "You're as bad as your father. And your brother. They do this to me all the time."

Samuel felt his lips tug into a grin. "It runs in the family."

A Honda cut them off, and Anna turned her attention to the road as she pressed her palm on the horn. The driver of the Honda stuck her hand out the window, flipping them off.

Samuel knew that he would have been mad any other time, but he was to busy being amused.

Anna's eyes narrowed, her mouth hardened, and she glanced in the mirror while stepping on the gas quite a bit.

Samuel braced himself when she jerked the car in the other lane.

Her eyes were still angry, her foot pressed to the floor, and when they passed the car it contained a girl, a teenager who was sneering at them childishly. Anna smiled at her, a radiant flash of teeth, before passing and then reclaiming her spot in front of her.

Anna then slowed considerably, chuckling a little bit as the girl pulled off behind them, her phone at her ear and talking a mile-a-minute.

Anna continued to laugh before she seemed to jerk herself, her smile slipping.

"I'm sorry, Samuel. I didn't think about you. I know Charles hates when I do stuff like that."

He smiled reassuringly at her.

"Don't be, that was quite entertaining. That's the most fearsome I've ever seen you. Besides staring down Asil, that is."

She chuckled kind of, and their conversation slipped for a while.

They were almost home when Samuel broke the silence.

"So, you never told me why your are wet."

She looked thoughtful. "No, I didn't, did I? Well, it was impulse on my part. It's been warmer recently, which has been wonderful. So, when it was still warm outside and Charles said it was going to rain I decided to take the towels with me. In that case, if it rained I could, well - uh - play in it while waiting on your flight to land."

Samuel's eyebrows shot up. "Really?"

"Yeah, I mean, why not? I wanted to play in the rain and since I knew I wouldn't get hypothermia, I grabbed a towel on the way out the door."

"What did Charles say to that?"

Anna laughed, a melodious tinkle that warmed Samuel.

"He didn't say anything, not really, but his face conveyed his thoughts. I'm pretty sure he knew what I was going to do. But, bless him, didn't tease me about it - although I'm sure he will later."

Samuel laughed then too. Because he could picture it, Anna grabbing her keys and glancing at the weather before snatching up a towel too. She'd probably have an impish grin, and he could picture his brother's reaction.

They pulled into Charles' - and Anna's, he reminded himself - driveway.

Anna laughed just a little again. "My brother and I, when we were younger, would always play in the rain. Always. I remember being four years old and the babysitter was screeching at us to get out of the rain. Didn't matter if it was 90 or 20 degrees outside."

Samuel thought of the tall, smiling guy who'd hugged Anna at the wedding, swung her around, and he could picture this.

Charles could be heard inside now, walking towards the door. Anna grinned at him once more before almost running towards front door.

It opened before her to reveal Charles, whose eyes widened a little bit when he came face to face with the charging - wet with rain - female.

Anna pounced - quite literally, pounced on Charles who seemed to instinctively throw his arms open to catch her.

Charles hissed, a barely audible rush of air, upon Anna's contact with him.

"Christ, Anna. You're cold. And wet. Why are you so cold?"

She pulled back while wrapping her arms around his neck and shrugging.

"I don't know. It's not cold outside, and I had the heater on in the car. It just comes naturally."

Anna smiled again, kissing Charles on the lips quickly before disappearing around him.

Charles narrowed his eyes at the wet blotches on his shirt before looking up to meet Samuel's eyes.

"Samuel."

"Charles. It's good to see you. Alive."

Charles looked at him solemnly - like he always does - and said, "It was a close one, but you can thank Anna that I pulled through."

Samuel shook Charles' hand firmly before pulling him in to hug him.

"I'll be sure to do that little brother."

Samuel had sunken onto Charles' couch when Charles next spoke.

"How are you Samuel?"

"I'm fi -"

Even Samuel could smell his lie, so when Charles' eyes narrowed and the stench of a lie arose he changed his answer.

"Better. I'm better."

"Good."

Anna's voice flowed through the house.

"So Charles? What was the drop-dead important thing that you're father needed?"

Charles smiled at her voice. It was a smile that still amazed Samuel. Smiles could be pried from Charles occasionally, but none like the ones Anna brought forth.

"He was looking over reports of an out-of-control wolf in Florida somewhere, and decided that he couldn't do without my help."

"Ah. Very crucial."

As she said this, she danced into the room. She'd changed out of her wet clothes, and pulled back her long brown hair.

She winked at Samuel before planting herself in Charles' lap.

Anna jumped when she leaned back against him, her eyes growing playfully resentful as she muttered, "You're wet."

"Yes, because a mad-woman jumped me with her soaking wet body. Forgive me."

"Never."

"That's a shame, because the mad-woman was also wearing my favorite shirt. The one that she'd worn out into the rain, and most likely ruined."

Anna's mouth dropped, just a little bit, as she whirled to face Charles.

"You are such a drama queen. You're shirt can take a little bit of rain."

Samuel felt his shoulders shake.

Charles was wearing his typical unemotional mask, but Samuel could see his eyes flashing and his mouth turning up at the corners.

Anna could too.

"Don't you laugh at me mister big bad wolf. And if you were truly worried about the shirt you would have stopped me before I left."

"Maybe I didn't know you were planning on bringing out your inner five year old."

Anna gave Charles a look of such disgust that Samuel couldn't hold it back anymore.

He laughed.

True, belly-rolling laughing that sent him gasping and brought tears to his cheeks. He could hear Anna's giggling and his brother's reluctant chuckling, and this made him laugh all the more.

He silenced his laughter when he realized - this was the first time he'd truly laughed since he didn't know when.

Maybe it was the Omega, or maybe it was the joy at seeing his little brother truly happy. Or maybe it was even a shift in Samuel, but all he knew is that he was going to stay a little while with his da, his brother, and Anna.

Anna, who was much more than he realized.

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Uggh, I really hope I captured everybody right. I wanted to make Charles more open, because it's just Samuel with him and Anna, but he can't be too open, so I hope I found the right balance. As for Samuel, I worked with what I know as I have not read the Mercy Thompson series and know only of Samuel of what is in the Alpha and Omega novels.

Anyway, I also did this with no Beta, and despite several re-readings, and scan-overs I no doubt missed errors that I made, so if you happen across any glaring mistakes just lemme know in a review or message.

Review Please, and lemme know what you think! Happy Thanksgiving!