I started a new chapter but it seemed to fit better as part of this one. I've made a few small changes too, but nothing major.

I wasn't sure if it was a nightmare or a flashback. It felt like it had been so long since I could last tell the difference between being asleep and awake.

I saw the shift in posture of the guys who weren't on patrol. Immediately alert, two of them bound out of the house before I heard the tell-tale ripping noise and growls of their shift. The one that remained stood guard at the door, his body tense and every nerve on alert.

'What's happened?' I asked. I was waved into silence. The house was flanked by forest, with a large grass clearing at its front. The back of the house opened up immediately to a thick wall of trees and bracken.

What seemed like an eternity passed in tense silence.

I heard a howl in the distance.

You could learn a lot from a howl. I'd often compared it to babies' crying, much to my pack's dismay. There were 'I've found food' howls, 'I'm messing around' howls or even the 'how you doin'?' howls. This was a howl I'd never heard, and never wanted to again. It was pain and heart ache. Jeremy, the youngest member of the pack who had been left with me tensed, bracing himself against the white paint of the window frame.

Jeremy ran to the door and flung it open; in the distance I could see the rest of the pack making their way towards us. Four massive wolves, most at least six foot at the shoulder ran alongside two people, naked. One of them was holding someone to their chest, the body's limp arm bouncing around as they ran toward the house.

All at once it was a bluster of noise and activity. The normally spacious living room was all of a sudden far too small. Seven people surrounded me, whilst someone laid Ryan on the floor in front of me.

It was a cacophony of statements and questions: Can you help him? It was a vampire. He never saw it coming. Is it too late? Look at the bruises. He's still breathing though, right?

Hard fingers dug hard into my shoulder. Any other time and I would have noticed the shooting pain. 'Why aren't you doing anything?' he shouted.

A tall figure, the tallest, shoved the hand away and barked 'enough!' at the crowd around me. Instantly, there was silence.

Ryan was lying prone on the floor. He was only wearing his canvas cut-offs, enjoying the sun whilst out running. His bare chest let me see the flush purple and black bruising around his ribs. A distinct raised ridge marked at least one very obvious broken rib. I could hear his haggard breathing under the panting of the pack members. Some of his fingers were twisted at unnatural angles and his face bore two black eyes, and a broken nose.

I dropped to my knees next to him and put my hands on either side of his head.

The world stopped.

It always took a second to adjust to the new feedback. There was no sight, smell or touch. It was now electrical impulses sent from someone else's brain to parts of their body. All I had to do was watch. Often when I was practicing this felt a little voyeur-istic, but then I didn't even think about it. The body was trying to repair the damage, sending messages to where they were needed most.

There was so much going on I couldn't grasp it all at once. His metabolism was so fast, when I'd caught one reading, it was already changing. After a few seconds, perhaps too many, I finally got a picture of what was happening: lungs punctured, heart damaged, internal bleeding, fractured skull, minor broken bones.

There was too much! I couldn't do all this. The goal was to keep him alive. Rule one: treat the patient in front of you. Who is it? What are their strengths?

Ryan's body would repair most of the damage itself, but only if he survived. So the job was life-threatening injuries.

I moved my hands from his head to his bare chest. Concentrating on the connection I'd made, I felt the broken ribs through his mind. Usually, there was a chant I'd use to help me focus, or some meditation to calm me before I began. Not so today.

I opened my mind and energy pulsed through my hands. I saw it as a tidal wave of green; others had said they couldn't see anything, but to me it was like an ocean of emerald.

His rib cage snapped back into place, pushing Ryan's chest back into its normal shape. I think I heard gasps around me, but too focused, I carried on. The bones snapping back into place had left gaping holes in his lungs that were filling with blood. Energy surrounded the damages areas, stopping the blood. With a little help, his body repaired the holes almost as quickly as I could have.

With the first major obstacle out of the way, I looked to his heart. Bruised and battered, I was worried it wouldn't carry him through healing his injuries.

A flutter of impulses shot through his body, wracking my mind. The internal bleeding was worse than I thought. Ryan was bleeding to death on the floor, right in front of me.

I pulled on my reserves, but setting his bones had taken its toll. Heart or bleeding? Heart or bleeding? I didn't know. I wasn't sure.

I had to choose one: the bleeding was bad, but if his heart stopped: game over. Although, I still had a trick up my sleeve.

I made the waves of green pulse into a single pin-point of light. I placed it carefully at the centre of his heart, and spoke a Word.

The little point of light pulsed slightly in recognition. Nothing compared to the power I poured into such a simple act. My heart gave a flutter at the effort.

His heart responded with a loud thud. Ryan's eyes flew open and he gasped for breath. He rolled onto his side and coughed up the blood that had made it into his lungs. He looked around the room confused, but with a relieved smile laid back down on his back.

I felt my energy continuing to pulse from his heart through to the rest of his body. The injuries I couldn't heal now would be kept at bay until his body could repair them. The price however, well, I wasn't sure what that would be.

I put my hand on his shoulder to get his attention. Tired blue eyes met my now dull green-grey.

'You good?' I asked.

'I'm good.' He said with a small smile. I nodded and laid down next to him, resting in the crook of his arm, my head on his shoulder.

'Good.' I muttered and then everything just kind of, well, stopped.

The pulse in his heart continued to the rhythm of my heart beat.

Over the next I don't know how long, I remember talks. Everyone sat in the living room with our Alpha, Jared, asking questions from the pack. I don't remember the questions, or even the topic, all there was was the small green light keeping Ryan alive. Unbeknownst to him.

I know there were arguments: Jeremy got angry at something, and one of the others stepped up to him. It got loud and I shuffled uncomfortably at the noise. I realised then that I was on the only piece of furniture in the large room, a beaten-up old sofa. Not alone however, as I felt a deep growl rumble through the chest that I was lying against. Gentle, steel hard arms tightened a little around me whilst Ryan growled at Jeremy and the other person who was shouting. Ryan was warm, and I let myself fall into oblivion whilst the power of my Word kept the spell working.

The next memory was blurry. I hadn't moved, and Ryan's arm was still around my waist, holding me to his chest whilst his other played with my hair. Everything else was chaos. Jared was in the middle of it, trying to direct people to this way, and take that over there. Watching was exhausting, but I remember being entranced at the pack working together and our Alpha leading the way.

I was jerked forwards out of a daze. Someone had tried to lift me off the sofa. By the time I had managed to open my eyes, I was lying flat on the sofa and without Ryan's body heat at my back it felt cold. Ryan, and the green point of light happily sitting in his heart, was stood between me and someone else. Ryan was still wearing his cut-offs and his hair was a mess, but he was crouched in a defensive stance and the other person was getting up from the floor. Guess Ryan didn't want me moved.

Being part of a pack meant the occasional testosterone stand-off. I went back to my non-sleep, unresponsive, just focus on the green light comatose state. Even with them fighting, with the pack was the safest place I could be.

Next memory: a loud growl and rumble. It wasn't the kind of growl I was used to, and managed to open my eyes in curiosity. I had someone's arm around my waste, holding me safe whilst everything seemed to bounce around. The heat from behind me and the cut-offs that I could see meant that Ryan was here. Ian 'The shadow' was next to us, driving us in the packs utility truck, the source of the growl. I was getting annoyed at not knowing what was happening; coupled with the sudden 'everyone in a truck and move' thing and I was grumpy. I gave my own version of a growl and shuffled in Ryan's arms to try and see the pack. The chest I was leaning on rumbled a little, laughing at my growl.

Bastard.

Through the small window, I could see the pack, with lots of bags, sitting behind the drive cabin of the truck enjoying the open air whipping past. Jeremy caught my eye and excitedly elbowed the person sitting next to him, gesturing at me.

I had no idea what I looked like, but attention was not what was needed. I temporarily forgave Ryan for laughing at me, focused on the green light to see it was doing its job nicely and then disappeared into oblivion, again.

Suddenly, I was back in the house with Ryan dying in front of me. Everyone was shouting, the noise keeping me from concentrating.

I cried out and jerked forward, the most movement I'd made since speaking the Word. I felt the swerve of the truck as I scared the crap out of Ian who was still driving. Ryan's arms were suddenly a gentle vice, pulling me back down. I could feel his breath on my neck as he whispered nonsensical nothings to calm me down. His insane body heat and ramblings and the safety of his arms quickly led me back to oblivion.

Oblivion. Calling it sleep would be too kind.

The gentle pulse of green in his heart continued.

There was a shuffle around me. We were in a house again, but not our house. When I managed to open my eyes, they were ground level, lying on a blanket in a large room made from wooden logs. It briefly reminded me of the log cabins you'd see in adverts. There was still the familiar body heat draped around me. I pulled at the arm that was draped nonchalantly across my hip, pulling at the heat. With what seemed like a monumental effort, I managed a half-turn towards the source of the heat. A deep chuckle and movement from the source of the heat pulled me into his chest, wrapping his arms around me to keep me warm. I wasn't so bothered about the warm, I just didn't want the change. To have to focus too much on anything else but the green light in Ryan's heart could be fatal. To him or me, I wasn't sure. I wasn't even sure which was more important.

With a flash, my eyes opened. This wasn't Ryan. The Word meant he had to be close. That was what kept the spell working. This wasn't Ryan! I tried to struggle against the arms that were holding me safe. So weak and inane were my attempts it took the body holding me a while to realise what I was doing.

There was a shout in the distance, and within seconds Ryan had me cradled in his arms.

'Hey.' He mumbled. 'You good?' He asked, worried, but hopeful.

I tried to answer, I really did. All I could manage was a grateful look at his heart, where the green light was fighting off the last of his internal injuries.

I huffed an appreciative smile, and fell back to oblivion with just the pulsing green light in my mind.

The next time I 'woke': There was a fire. It was the brief surge of panic that opened my eyes. It was quiet dark and all I could see was sky and fire. I felt the green light behind me, going strong, so I leisurely took in the scene.

There was a small fire. We were on sand and I could hear the sea. A beach. There was laughter, and I was fairly sure there were voices I didn't recognise.

There were no clouds in the sky, so the stars shone down like a million watching eyes.

'You'd love this.' Jeremy said. He hadn't noticed I was awake, albeit talking to me: he was lying on his back between us and the fire. Moon-bathing in his shorts, with his flip-flops dangling from his feet.

'There's Cassiopeia, the Big Dipper and Little Dipper.' Jeremy was pointing at the star formations as he was reciting them.

'There's Orion The Hunter,' Jeremy paused for a second, 'your favourite. Then there's-'

'Leo.' I mumbled. I felt the intake of breath from the chest behind me, and Jeremy span his head so he could stare at me. My eyes were probably glazed, and the hope on Jeremy's face dimmed. But I had managed to give them something. 'Leo's my favourite.'

The green light pulsed behind me. That was what mattered.

It could have been seconds, or years later that we were back around the fire; my pack on one side, a good sized bonfire in the middle and another group of people on the other. That was all I could get about them, that they were 'other'. Not us. Not 'my pack'. I was still on the blanket that they had bought from the house; but we'd moved. I was in the middle of my pack. Whilst sitting and talking civilly, my pack had arranged themselves in a fighting formation, just in case. Jared and his Beta, Chris, were at the edges of the group ready to charge. The others were between me, Chris and Jared. Ryan held me to his side so he could move quickly, and Jeremy was on my other side.

One of the 'others' made a crude gesture towards me I somehow knew he was going to make, maybe the thing I woke up for. It wasn't a polite gesture, and whilst I couldn't make out what they were saying, I knew we were in hot territory.

I knew the growl was coming before it started, and managed to squeeze Ryan's arm. The slight movement stilled Ryan, which managed to stop Jeremy from taking a step forward. A simple step was a declaration of war in the current climate with wolves.

A realisation: these other people; they were wolves too. The green light was staring to dim, its purpose almost complete.

Then, oblivion.

Suddenly, the fire was gone. The sound of waves crashing on the beach had turned into the chirping of woodland birds. Opening my eyes didn't take the monumental effort that it normally did. I was lying in the crook of somebody's arm, my head on their bare shoulder. The radiating body heat told me it was one of my pack. After a second I matched the scent to our Beta, Chris.

There was a moment of panic. I couldn't feel the gentle pulse of the light I placed in Ryan's heart. My mind raced through everything I could remember, and settled on the last memory of the green light, slowly dimming.

With the Word's job almost complete and Ryan being too far away, the spell had finished. Hopefully it had done enough.

I shuffled around a little, preparing myself to sit up. Moving, not just shuffling, but actually moving was hard. It was like I'd forgotten how limbs were supposed to work together and each action had to be thought about.

I managed to lean slightly away from Chris' body and propped myself up on my elbow.

Chris watched me carefully without moving. Jeremy was leaning against the front porch of the log cabin that I remembered. He leaped from his perch and landed on the other side of Chris. Before he could say anything Chris waved to sit still.

Both of them sat on the lush grass at the front of the cabin wondering whether I was going to stay awake, or go back to my oblivion.

Eventually, Chris shifted onto his side, facing me. He rubbed my arm gently and tried to make eye contact.

'How you feeling?' He asked quietly.

It took me a few seconds to remember how to speak. When I was confident I had most of the control of my mouth and tongue I grumbled a response.

'Hungry.'

Chris barked a laugh and Jeremy beamed a smile.

'Then let's get you fed!' All six foot and three inches of Chris leaped to his feet without a pause. I grumbled at how easy he made it look, and slowly began the process of standing up. I had made it onto all fours and was preparing for the Herculean effort of standing when I felt Jeremy's hands underneath my arms, helping me up.

'Although, you probably want to take a bath or something first.' Chris said, he was walking backwards towards the cabin whilst talking to me. 'You look like crap dude.'

I'm not sure how much of a scowl I could manage, but I gave it my best shot. It must have been slightly noticeable for Chris to raise his hands in defence.

'Hey, just saying.' He turned around and bounded through the door. By the time I had made it to the door, I could hear water running and smell bacon frying.

Looking around the room properly for the first time, it was very different from our spacious house in the north of Oregon. This was a cabin designed for everyday people, not a werewolf pack. The signs of the pack's presence were obvious in the changes they'd made.

The plush furniture had been pushed to the sides of the room. The pack preferred lounging on blankets and cushions that they'd put on the floor. The settee was the only piece of furniture that hadn't been ostracised to the sides of the room. They kept the settee for me, normally close to the fireplace for when the pack were out and I couldn't rely on them for warmth. This time though, the settee was in the middle of the room. I sighed a little when I saw it. The pack would have been sleeping around it, so if anything attacked it would have to go through them before it got to their weakest pack member.

Jeremy gave me a reassuring smile and ushered me towards a corridor to the left. I could see Chris in a room through a doorway on the other side of the living room. The doorway was to the side of the biggest fireplace I had ever seen. It was unlit, and probably would stay that way as they wouldn't have need of it.

Down the corridor and on the left was the bathroom. Spacious, but not exuberant, I hadn't realised how much a bath was a good idea until I saw the steam rising from the hot water plunging into the ornate bathtub. My shoulders relaxed just looking at it.

'You going to be okay?' Jeremy asked.

'I'll manage.' I smiled back, barely taking my eyes away from the clean water.

'I put your stuff in that cupboard and I'll bring you some fresh clothes.' Jeremy disappeared out of the door.

I shuffled over to the cupboard and pulled the dark oak door open. The cupboard had shelves from floor to ceiling. Fresh towels filled the bottom few shelves, along with a few bathrobes.

On one of the middle shelves was my toiletry bag. I'd never gone for commercial shampoos or bath scents. The pack had heightened sense even when human, and suffocating them with citrus scented Head and Shoulders wouldn't have been appreciated.

I did however, have a selection of bath oils that I'd made myself. Most had some purpose or medicinal use: cramp bark and rosemary helped relax ceased muscles and blood flow, tea tree was a good antiseptic, and so on.

I picked lavender oil from the small canvas bag. I inherited my 'special talents' from my mother's line, and my Nan had taught me how to make oils, lavender being her favourite. As drained as I was, a relaxing bath that reminded me of learning the Arts seemed appropriate.

I must have been daydreaming longer than I thought because Jeremy was back in the room. He put some clothes on the counter by the sink and took a couple of steps to me. He was the shortest of the pack, but he was still an easy six foot and broad enough to give anyone pause before causing him trouble.

He slowly put his arms around me and pulled me into a gentle hug. I put my hands on his back and gave him a gentle squeeze.

'Missed you.' He whispered as he let go. 'Don't do that again?'

I huffed a small laugh. 'Only if I have to.' I rubbed his arm with what I hoped was reassurance. Jeremy watched me with interest as I poured some oil into the steaming water of the bath.

Jeremy had probably spent hours watching me make oils, diffusions and poultices. He had said he found watching me work relaxing. I said he was daft.

'Jeremy,' I said, feeling the building trepidation, 'how long was I 'out'?'

'Today was the fourth day.' He said. 'Felt like longer though.'

Four days huh? I could live with that; it could have been a hell of a lot worse. Jeremy smiled and left me to my bath. I closed the door behind him and slid the lock on the door.

I couldn't imagine not living with the pack now, but they're social animals to the very end. Life was lived with no thought that everything you did wouldn't be known, seen or experienced by everyone else. Whilst I loved every single bloody one of them, I wasn't a wolf and sometimes needed to just 'be me'. Hence a locked door was a sign that I was having that time. It had only been a little while ago that I realised how seriously Jared enforced it among the pack. I'd come out of my room at the house in Oregon to find that Jared had sent the pack on an extra patrol to give me the house to myself. When Jeremy disturbed my meditation because he came back early to show me some plants he thought I'd need, Jared had sent him on laps of the Deschutes National Forest. The forest itself was over 230 miles away.

The bath water was more incredible than I thought it was going to be. I could feel the muscles in my back start to unwind. There was a knot in my neck that I knew wasn't going to go anywhere for a few days, but I would take what I could get. I breathed the lavender in deep and felt it calm the anxiety I hadn't realised had accompanied my four days of oblivion. I was mentally and physically exhausted, but I was relaxed and happy. I couldn't wait to see everyone again; I hadn't known how long I'd been out, but it had felt like forever. I hated the idea that everyone had been so worried.

I'd been in the bath long enough for my fingers to start to wrinkle and the water to go lukewarm. With a great show of will power, I hauled myself out of the bath and wrapped myself in the fluffiest towel I'd ever seen. Seriously, it was like a length of cotton wool.

I managed to get on the canvas slacks that Jeremy had brought me, as well as a large maroon hoodie. Comfy and warm, just what I wanted.

Opening the door of the bathroom, the steam fled the room in a rush as it met the cold air. Jeremy was crouched by the opposite wall, waiting for me. His brown hair was long enough to cover his eyes when he held his head down. I gave him a tired smile and nodded towards the kitchen. He got up with a puppy-like bound and walked with me. I put my hand on his shoulder just to steady myself a little as we went.

Through the living space and into the kitchen, everything smelt of bacon. I was nearly drooling by the time I got to Chris who had made the biggest bacon sandwich he could have possible managed. It was like a skyscraper, but with more bread.

I went to take the plate from him when he pulled it away and held it behind him. He held out his other arm for a hug.

'You're black mailing me for affection with a bacon sandwich.' I said, deadpan.

'Yep.'

I shrugged my shoulders and walked into his outstretched arm. He wrapped it around me and put his chin on top of my head.

'Welcome back kid.' He said.

'Glad to be home.' I mumbled into his chest. He smelt of sunshine and grass.

'Lavender?' he asked.

I pulled away from him and nodded. I put my hands up, waiting for my sandwich. Chris put the plate in my hands with a grin.

'Bon appétit. Go sit and eat.' He shooed me and Jeremy out of the kitchen into the living room.

Jeremy sat in silence whilst I ploughed through my 'sandwich of immense bacon and colesterol'. It. Was. Good.

When I had finally finished, I put the plate on the floor and fell back onto the sofa.

'Clean, relaxed and full. Happy now.' I said while I rubbed my stomach.

'We have a bed if you need it.' Jeremy said.

'I'm shattered, but I've spent four days asleep.' Chris walked out of the kitchen having cleaned up from his bout of cooking. Chris cooking didn't happen very often.

'Can we go to the beach?' I asked Chris.

'Hell yeah!' Chris said with a beaming smile. 'Didn't think you'd be up for it.'

'I can get there and back on my own steam, although I doubt I'll be up for Frisbee.' I laughed at Chris' sad pout.

A few minutes later and we were making the walk to the beach. We'd left a note saying where we were. Jeremy had made a point of not mentioning I was awake, wanting to enjoy the pack's surprise. Chris had brought some of those small portable barbecues with him and a stack of burgers and sausages. He was insistent that I had four days worth of food to make up for. It seemed that making up for it involved eating as much cow and pig as possible.

The walk was pleasant, and took us through some forest before we came out on the beach. It had been raining the night before and the leaves of the trees glistened with moisture.

The beach wasn't too wet, and I was happy to watch over the cooking burgers whilst Chris and Jeremy played some version of rugby that I didn't know the rules to. As I watched, I was fairly sure that there actually weren't any rules.

Whilst sitting by the barbecue I let my mind settle. I wasn't meditating exactly, but you could be forgiven for not noticing the difference.

I felt the damp sand of the beach and listened to the gulls above us. A gentle breeze took my thoughts into the nearby forest. I felt the life pulsing through it. The sturdy spirits of the trees that lined the beach, the flashes of insect life that seemed so short compared to the trees they lived on. I touched the mind of a falcon as it glided the pockets of warm air. I felt the wind through its feathers as it spotted its prey and dove through the branches. All the while I was pulling energy slowly from the world around me, helping me recharge my batteries even if it was just a little.

I came back into myself just in time to stop the burgers from burning. I shouted the boys over to help themselves. Bounding over, their smiles were infectious. Chris ruffled my hair before carefully picking a burger of the grill and handing it to me in a bun.

We 'chinked' our burgers as if they were champagne flutes and sat on the blankets munching away.

'So, fill me in. What's going on?' I said, then taking another bite of my burger. Guess I was hungrier than I thought.

'Jared knew that the pack here was having problems with vampires.' Jeremy blurted through a mouthful. I gave him a playful tap on his foot at his manners. Jeremy had managed to get ketchup on the white t-shirt he was wearing.

'Their Alpha, Sam, had called us about a month ago to warn that we might see some coming through our forests.' Chris continued. He helped himself to another burger and stretched out on the blanket. He was wearing bright yellow and pink knee-length shorts that often made me laugh. A six foot three tower of muscle that could turn into a nearly seven foot killer wolf, and he wore pink and yellow shorts. Go figure. Oregon got a little more sun than Forks, which meant that with all the time they spent outside and there seeming aversion to shirts, my pack were nicely tanned.

'Jared thanked him for the heads up and said they'd keep each other updated.' Chris continued, running a hand through his short, brown hair.

'One of the vampires got Ryan?' I asked.

Chris nodded. 'We don't know if it was planned or if they just crossed paths.'

'What happened to it?' I asked.

Jeremy answered first, 'Miriam got him. He was in pieces before we even got there.'

Miriam was the only female wolf in the pack. She was tall, like the rest, but a touch paler. Her features were slight and her raven black hair fell just short of her waste. She was also part of the only couple in the pack that had imprinted.

Miriam was a qualified physiotherapist, whether that was what gave her the special talent she had for fighting vampires I wasn't sure, but she knew exactly what to push which way to break one. She'd taught the pack techniques she'd developed to help them fight, but nobody did it better that her.

I nodded approval.

'After Ryan was better, Jared, well,' Jeremy paused, 'he was, angry.'

'That's putting it mildly.' Chris said. 'The business of another pack had brought vampires to our door, had nearly killed Ryan and we weren't sure what was happening with you.

'Jared was talking about war, but I managed to calm him down enough for him to talk to us and think it through.'

'Wow.' I mumbled, I looked up at Chris with an impish grin, 'you were going to go to war for me?'

Chris didn't smile back, just looked at me from his laid back position. He didn't move, but suddenly he was dangerous, radiating menace: pink and yellow shorts and all. He was now a creature ready to break someone, anyone.

'Yes.' He said, simply. There was silence for a few seconds whilst Chris looked at me, making sure I understood.

'You're pack.' Jeremy said, 'they hurt you, we pull their stomachs out through their nose.'

'Ah, Jeremy, that's the sweetest thing you've ever said.' I laughed, holding a hand to my heart and pretending to cry a little. Jeremy threw some of his burger bun at me, catching me square in the face.

Our antics had pulled Chris out of his serious mood as he laughed at my indignant, and ketchup marked face. He handed me a paper napkin, then lay back on his blanket.

'This was the first vampire we knew of that had been in our territory, and it had done damage. All of us wanted blood. Fighting our own though didn't seem right. We packed the truck and told Sam and his pack to expect us.'

'We didn't ask for permission?' I asked, confused. The interactions between werewolves were different than ordinary people, but I had gotten pretty good at understanding it. However, there were still things I got wrong, but as far as I knew, 'inviting yourself' to another packs land was generally received badly.

'Nope.' Chris said with a shake of his head and a mouth full of burger. 'He made it clear that we were coming to help and that it was now personal for our pack. I'm not sure how Sam took it, but things sorted themselves out when we got here.'

'The meeting at the bonfire?' I asked.

Jeremy nodded. 'It was kind of cool before the Alphas got there. It was fun playing ball with other wolves.'

Again, Jeremy could make me laugh. Eighteen, built like a heavy weight boxer, six foot tall and six foot at the shoulder when he was a killer juggernaut of wolf-like destruction. But 'it was kind of cool to play ball'.

'I can't imagine the meeting itself went without a hitch.' I said, chucking some more burgers onto the small barbecue.

'Two Alphas sharing the same territory doesn't happen.' Chris said, 'It was essentially Sam and Jared negotiating how it'd work, with the packs providing back up if things went bad.'

'One of the Quileutes was out of line.' Jeremy growled.

'Yes.' Chris agreed, 'but weirdly, you picked that time to wake up and calm Ryan down. Nicely timed.' Chris saluted me with his burger.

'Can't explain that one, I'm afraid,' I said, 'although I'm sure said Quileute will have a good explanation when he meets me.' I said it with a smile, but Chris knew how difficult I could be and chuckled. He then started choking on his burger as he was laughing.

Jeremy gave Chris a slap on his bag, definitely harder than what was needed. Chris stopped choking and looked at him from the corner of his eye.

'Gee, thanks.' He mumbled.

'No worries!' Jeremy said, obviously delighted.

'Anyway, we agreed that whilst each Alpha has ultimate control over their own packs, Jared is to follow Sam's lead whilst in his territory.' Chris said.

'Sounds fair.' I nodded.

'There was another complication.' Jeremy said, looking at me with worry. I knew this wasn't going to be good.

'Oh God, what?'

'They wanted to know about you.' Chris growled. 'They knew you weren't a wolf, but they could sense something and wanted details.'

Ah crap. Without a decent and diplomatic explanation, that might have gone really badly.

'What did you tell them.' I whispered, really quite worried.

'Nothing!' Jeremy said, very enthusiastically. Chris raised him hand slightly at Jeremy, signalling for him to calm down.

'Jeremy reminded us that you've always been very careful with what you tell and to whom. Jared refused to tell them anything. He said that it was up to you to explain what you felt best.'

Jared. Now there was a character. Actually younger than Chris, but he was a natural leader and loved every member of his pack. At nearly six foot seven and another heavy weight boxer frame, he led his pack with confidence and pride. Not to mention that if anyone ever got out of line, the fight would be very one-sided. The welfare of the pack was always first, for him to have stood by my privacy was incredible, and heart-warming.

'The idiot of a Quileute who nearly had his head ripped off by Ryan suggested that Jared wasn't Alpha enough to command a human.' Jeremy growled.

Huh. An open insult to our Alpha with two packs waiting for something to go wrong. How weren't we all dead?

Chris laughed. 'One of the other Quileutes slapped him upside the head and Sam apologised for him. Weirdly, it might have been the insult that made Sam agree to Jared's terms.'

'Okay then: that could have all gone horribly wrong.' I said, finishing off my burger. I know I had some days worth of eating to make up for, but I think I'd just eaten a cow. Well, maybe not a whole cow.

Chris sat up and reached over to me. He pulled me onto his blanket and wrapped me up in a hug against his chest. His arms wound around mine and his legs circled me, lying on top of mine. I was warm and safe. I also couldn't move. At all.

'You're pack.' Chris said as if that explained some deep and complicated question. 'Totally worth it.' He said, breathing in the lavender smell from my hair. One of Chris' fingers twitched into my ribs.

'Noooo.' I whined as he started to tickle me. Totally pinned into his chest, there wasn't a great deal I could do.

'Uh oh. No mojo to break you out, huh?' Chris laughed, continuing his onslaught.

'Jeremy! Help!' I called out, my voice muffled by Chris' arms.

'Ooh, we haven't cooked the sausages yet.' Was his response. Seriously? I was being attacked by a tower of malicious tickle-tactics and Jeremy was on about sausages. I'd get him later.

Chris continued tickling me, chuckling at me as I squirmed. I mustered up what energy I'd gathered earlier and with a quick burst, managed enough strength to squirm out of his arms. Chris was obviously not trying too hard to keep me still. I stood a few feet away from him, bent low in a crouch with my hands raised. Chris sat there on his blanket with a knowing smile on his face. I'd just presented him with a challenge.

Great.

With slow, deliberate movements, Chris flowed to his feet. In his pink and yellow shorts, he was all predator, prowling towards me with a glint in his eye.

From his spot by the sausages, Jeremy yelled 'For Victory!' and leapt at Chris, knocking him to the ground. They rolled around, a blur of sand, pink and yellow. Okay, I'd forgive Jeremy for his late intervention.

Laughing at them as they went, Chris managed to get loose, and it wasn't until he had Jeremy in a head lock and giving him a noogie that I heard it.

Voices.

Familiar voices.

It wasn't until I heard them that I really realised just how much I'd missed them. Six figures made their way out of the woods, with three or four Quileutes chatting with them. They were slowly ambling towards Chris and Jeremy, who had stopped wrestling and were looking at each other with big smiles.

Miriam noticed first. 'Look!'

I was kneeling on the blanket, and could make out the expressions of the pack members. Jared was smiling with relief, a weight of his shoulders. Miriam was shocked, Jack, her mate waved at me enthusiastically. Ian was at the back trying to get through, and Ryan was stood still, staring at me with no expression at all. Charlie was at the back with the Quileutes.

As if in slow motion, the pack started running towards me. Ryan was built for speed and outstripped the rest of the pack quickly. Still no expression on his face, and also no sign of slowing down, I braced myself for impact.

There was no collision that knocked me to the ground. Instead I was swept up in familiar steel arms and spun around. Ryan's head was dug into my neck as we span around. Eventually he put me down and I felt the sea lapping at our ankles.

His arms were still tight around me and his face buried in my neck. His arms tightened when I tried to move.

'Hey, you okay?' I asked him, rubbing his bare back. He snapped his head back and looked down into my eyes. His face was a mix of anger and relief.

'What were you doing?' he growled at me, moving his hands so they were holding my arms.

'Wh-' Ryan's hands tightened and he shook me a little.

'It wasn't worth it.' He said, his face was inches from mine. 'You could have died.'

'Ryan,' I tried again.

'No. Don't you ever, ever take the risk. You hear me?' He shook me a little again to get his point across.

'You were dying.' I whispered. His hands tightened painfully around my arms.

'You won't do it again.' Ryan threatened, staring me down. My eyes flashed green with what little power I had left. I smacked his hands away and with the extra strength my power lent me, I grabbed the back of his head and pulled our foreheads together.

'You're pack.' I growled out, my power gave a weird echo to my voice. 'Totally worth it.'

Ryan gave me another hug just as the rest of the pack caught up with him. Ryan stepped away and I was immediately enveloped by Miriam. Her long black hair was tied into a pony tail that whipped around in the breeze. She squealed as she hugged me and gave me another spin. Ugh, I was getting a bit nauseous, having just eaten a cow and now being spun around. Jack came to my rescue and pulled me into another hug, but without the spinning.

'You look good!' He said, slapping me on the shoulder.

'So much better.' Miriam beamed.

Charlie and his brother Ian pulled me towards them. Once again enveloped by arms and heat, it was good to be back.

'Scare the shit out of me like that again, and I'll be really pissed at you.' Charlie grumbled. Ian just smiled at me and nodded to something over my shoulder.

I turned around to see Jared, his relieved smile still on his face. He stepped towards me and pulled me to his chest. One of his massive hands held the back of my head; the other was at the bottom of my back. His slow, definite heart beat resounding through his chest. Jared was the only one who smelt of wolf in his human form.

'Hey boss.' I muttered.

'Hey you.' He said into my hair. Having just finished patrol, Jared was just wearing jogging trousers. His immense height and build should, and would, scare the crap out of anybody. But to the pack, he was our strength.

Slowly letting me go, he stepped to the side and gestured to the three Quileutes that were with them.

'These are members of our hosting pack.' Jared said.

'A pleasure,' I said with a smile, 'I'm sorry I wasn't in a better state to greet you the last time we met.'

Apart from a difference in skin colour, they were of a similar build to those in my pack. Tall, built and didn't like shirts.

One of them stepped forward.

'Not a problem,' he said, 'I take it you had it rough for a while. I'm Embry, this is Seth and Paul.'

I did a double take on Paul. This was the guy who nearly caused trouble with Ryan at the pack meeting. Seeing my double take, he at least had the decency to look embarrassed.

'It's a long story.' I said. 'But we have some burgers left and a load of sausages if you want a story?' I asked. I gave Jared a quick glance to make sure he approved, and smiled at his encouraging nod.

Seth, the youngest of the three pulled on Embry's arm.

'Sam should be here for that.' He mumbled. Embry's face fell and he looked conflicted.

'Not a problem,' I said, 'the story can wait.'

'In the mean time,' Chris said quietly, 'let's get this party started!' Miriam howled at the near twilight sun, and everybody laughed or joined in.

Within minutes, the bonfire was being rebuilt, Jack had gone to the house to get more food and Ian and Charlie had gone into town to get alcohol and more food.

Jeremy appeared with a stereo and music was soon playing. There was a Frisbee flying, a rugby ball sailed across the sky and laughter and banter created a warm glow in my chest.

I was on strict 'chill out' orders. Miriam was sat behind me next to the slowly building bonfire trying to work-out the knot I had in my neck.

'Sweet Jesus, what did you do to get this?' She reprimanded.

'Just natural talent I guess.' I winced as her fingers dug into my neck. 'Where do you think Paul went?'

Miriam flicked her head up, her brown eyes scanned the twilight beach. 'Huh, hadn't realised he was gone; probably to tell Sam that the subject of his curiosity is awake.'

'Is Sam cool?' I asked. Miriam laughed and moved her hands down my back, investigating any other problems.

'You're asking me? You are the soul-reader, diplomat person-ey thing.' Miriam was good with muscles and talking, that was her strength to the pack. My talents, besides the 'special' ones, were reading people and stopping bad things before they happened.

'I just want to know what I'm dealing with.' I said quietly, 'We've moved home for this, and Jared has negotiated a treaty and is taking his lead from someone else. I don't want to mess this up.'

Miriam put her face over my shoulder and looked me in the eye.

'If Sam has a problem with you, he can talk to me first.' She growled, I winced at the pressure she put on a new found knot in the middle of my back.

'Sorry.' She mumbled and then focused on working out the knots in my muscles.

The other two Quileutes, Seth and Embry were playing ball with Jeremy and Chris, although they seemed to be playing by the 'non-rules' I observed earlier. Jared was stood to the side, watching the scene. Nothing was happening he didn't know was going to.

I took the time Miriam was using to work on my back to build up some energy. What I'd used to get away from Chris and Ryan had drained my reserves. The ocean was so close I could feel it calling to me. The life in it was unbelievable: the algae, so many different sizes of fish, coral and the spirit of it all-

I jerked myself away from it and into the forest. The ocean was not my place. I lived for the trees and birds and insects and wolves. I had no traction in the sea, no anchor. I'd be lost in eddies and tides and it could take an eternity to find my way back again. The call of the water and its power was not worth the risk of leaving my pack again.

I felt a rustle next to me, and soon I could feel the warmth of a body sat next to mine. With my eyes still shut, I breathed in the scent of wet grass and tree sap. I reached out a hand and touched his arm.

'Hey Ryan.' I sighed, Miriam was working wonders.

Ryan didn't say anything, but I felt him rolling up the sleeve of my hoodie. I opened my eyes to look at him and saw the sorrow on his face. Looking down, I could see the hand-shaped bruise on my arm he'd caused earlier.

Sad eyes met mine. He took a deep breath, as if about to leap into an abyss of apology and guilt.

'Shut up.' I mumbled, before he had a chance. I put my arm around his neck and gave him a gentle tug towards me. Miriam huffed a laugh, but carried on with her magic hands.

'Thanks for looking after me.' I said to Ryan, his head against mine. He looked at me with shock and looked like he was about to argue.

'Nope, don't want to hear it.' I attempted to growl. 'I helped you, then you helped me. That's how it works. Yes?' I raised an eyebrow with the best teacher-stare I could manage. Ryan smirked at me and nudged my cheek with his nose.

'Got your back.' He whispered. I smiled at him, but it quickly faded when he stood up, his eyes locked on something over my shoulder.

The music was still playing, but everything had gotten so much quieter. Miriam and Ryan were stood defensively in front of me. Chris and Jeremy were no longer playing ball, but walking backwards towards the bonfire, their eyes on something in the distance.

The sun was setting in a blaze of red and orange, but the newly lit bonfire would soon be my only source of light in a few minutes time.

Through the silhouettes of my pack, I could see a group of people making their way towards the bonfire. There approach was steady, but determined. Jared slowly moved from his place at the edge of the group and made his way to intercept the incoming pack.

Sam and his pack members behind him came to a stop a few feet away from the bonfire. Jared was stood opposite him, Chris slightly behind him and Charlie and Ian either side of them.

'Sam.' Jared nodded a greeting.

'Jared.' Sam returned the gesture. Sam looked older than either Chris or Jared, but was in just as good a shape and looked good in jeans and a fitted shirt.

'We heard you were having a party,' Sam continued, 'can we join you?' As Sam asked, a couple of his pack pulled out cases of beer, food, someone had brought a music system but waved the CD's at Jeremy.

Jared smiled and stepped aside, inviting them to join us. Jeremy howled as he rugby-tackled Embry to the ground and they started a ball game. The Quileutes dispersed amongst my pack, I thought it looked a little unnatural, but they were probably under orders to make nice. That, or find out as much about us as they could.

Miriam touched my shoulder and gave me a smile as she left to join Jack. The only female member of the Quileute pack had made her way over to him, and I'm sure Miriam didn't want to be left out.

Ryan hadn't moved from my side. He was trying to watch everyone on the beach and his shoulders were tensed.

I didn't have a lot of energy left, but I didn't want an angry Ryan when there was a beach full of trouble just waiting to happen.

I put my hand on his shoulder and tried to give it a reassuring squeeze. If Miriam had done it, he would be rolling on his back and asking for a belly rub; I just got an acknowledged grunt.

I saw my eyes pulse a bright green in a pocket of sea water. I sent the energy through my hand into Ryan's tense muscles. My talents were based in nature, controlling someone else's will was an abomination. However, relaxing the muscles and calming the mind often let people take a better course of action than when they were over exerted, or in Ryan's case, plain angry.

I felt him relax against my hand. He slouched a little and looked at me with a frown.

'I keep letting you down.' He mumbled. I looked at him with a slight smile and happy eyes.

'No, you don't. We'll talk later, but for tonight, go and have fun.' I said back. Ryan's eyes flicked to Sam and the other Quileute I didn't know who was still standing by his side.

'I'm going to have to talk to him.' I said, 'And you're not going to like it.' Ryan's growl was all the response I needed.

'He's going to ask me questions, and I'm going to answer them, even the ones I don't like.' Ryan pulled me into his arms and locked me to his chest. This seemed to be happening a lot.

'No.' I felt the growl in his chest.

'Yes.' I said simply. His arms were gentle, but Ryan was putting everything into keeping me close. I didn't have enough power to break free if I needed to. His arms tensed around me ever so slightly.

'The pack has moved here because of us.' I said, 'and we have a fight to win, but it's not with our own kind.' Ryan's growl rumbled in his chest. He looked odd without the green light pulsing in his chest.

'I can set us on the right path Ryan; I can get us to work together.' His arms didn't relax, but I felt him breathe in the lavender smell from my hair.

'Let me do what I'm good at. Go and have fun.' I twisted to an uncomfortable angle so I could look him in the eye. 'And just so you know, Chris was tickling me earlier, it was like torture.'

Ryan's eyes held laughter, but it didn't touch his face.

'You saved me.' He whispered.

'You guys have saved me a hundred times over, this was pay back.' I said, 'but if you want to pay a price, go tackle Chris for me, he deserves it.'

Ryan kissed my forehead, then bounded over me, towards where Chris and Jeremy were playing ball.

It wasn't often I was absent of body heat or company, only those times I locked the door. This time there was the sea breeze cutting through my hoodie and the chilled night air, cool before the coming rain.

Jared was stood talking to Sam: a simple enough observation, but not with a wolf-politics overview. Even though we were on Quileute soil, it would have been rude for Sam to walk around Jared whilst he was blocking his path. Jared's pack was here and it would have been questioning his authority, something they had agreed in their meeting they wouldn't do.

Jared was buying me time to get there.

For the second time today I felt honoured and humbled to be in Jared's pack. Here was an Alpha worth following.

I got to my feet and slowly made my way to Jared's side. Once again, I was drained. Over-emotional werewolves took a lot of energy to deal with.

I stood on Jared's left. He was right-handed, so if any punches were thrown I wouldn't be in the way.

'Sam, I don't believe you've had the pleasure?' Jared said, gesturing to me.

'I haven't.' He said. Raising his eyes to me and holding out his hand, 'My name is Sam, welcome.'

'Thank you, Sam.' I smiled, 'everyone calls me Alex.'

'You're looking in much better health.' He said, he gestured to the person standing to his side and introduced him as Collin.

'I'm going to sit by the fire if you'd like to join me?' I asked Sam. With a knowing smile, he nodded and began to make his way to the fire. Jared caught my eye; he looked worried. I gave him a cheeky wink and jogged after Sam, leaving Collin with Jared. I saw a green disc lying on the beach next to an open ice box of beer. I grabbed the Frisbee and shouted, 'Jared! Think fast!' and threw the Frisbee at him and Collin who looked like they were just stood there in awkward silence.

Jared smiled and caught the Frisbee easily. He looked at Collin with a questioning eye-brow raised. Collin nodded and starting backing up. Frisbee between wolves wasn't an easy sport. Jared threw it hard and high, Collin was startled, but managed to run up the bark of a tree and leap out to grab it. His landing wasn't quite so impressive or graceful, but Frisbee in hand, he looked very pleased with himself.

I sat myself down on a log that had been dragged next to the fire. Sam was sitting a respectable distance from me, but close enough that the crackling fire would stop our conversation from carrying on the sea breeze.

'The land here is beautiful.' I said, gazing at the tree line.

'It really is,' Sam said. His voice was deep and steady. The tenor of his speech and slightly slouched shoulders spoke of trying times for him and his pack. 'I don't think you've seen the cliffs properly yet have you?' I shook my head.

'You can see the most of the forest from up there. When the sun rises it comes up over the trees. Beautiful.' Sam sighed, he turned his head so he could look at me from the corner of his eyes.

'I can understand why you feel so strongly about protecting it.' I said. Sam nodded slowly, now looking back to the fire.

'The vampires threaten my pack and the land.' He stated into the fire.

'We know a little about the vampires plans, we know how dangerous they are, we generally know what to expect and we know how to kill them.' I said, 'What you don't know is what the other pack has brought with them. How dangerous is it, whilst you're fighting the obvious enemy is it going to attack your homes and families.'

Sam turned to face me, a sad but determined look on his face. 'You understand I have many people to protect.'

'Of course.' I replied, and smiled a little to show there was no offence taken here. 'I am happy to cooperate any way I can.'

I heard Jack growl a warning at Jeremy, but he bounded over to where we were sitting anyway. He gave my shoulder a squeeze, nodded at Sam, dropped two cans of beer on the floor between us and then bounded off again like a puppy with no care in the world.

I shook my head and smiled at Sam, offering him one of the beers.

'Good kid.' He said, looking over to Jeremy and the group he was in. There seemed to be some form of rules developing with their ball game.

'Yeah. I can't really compare, but I've got an idea about what it's like to have people to care for.' Sam looked me over with an assessing eye as I watched Jeremy gambol around the others.

'Come on then,' I laughed, 'what have you got for me?'

Sam looked a little lost as to where to start. 'Well, what are you?'

Well, what am I? That was probably one of the hardest questions to answer; I'd been trying for years to figure it out.

'Tricky question.' I started, 'If I'm completely honest, I have no idea.' Sam's expression didn't change, but he nodded at me to continue.

'Jeremy calls my 'talents' witchcraft,' Sam's raised his shoulders, his expression becoming wary. I had expected a reaction similar to this, even these days the W word makes people careful. 'But then, I'm not sure what makes something witchcraft. You can turn into a massive wolf, but I wouldn't call it witchcraft.'

'Okay,' Sam held his hands up, 'what about these talents?'

'They're earth and nature based.' I said, hoping that this would ease him into it. 'When I have a little more energy I can use it to help me keep up with the pack: running, fighting, things like that.'

Sam nodded his understanding; this wasn't outside his frame of reference. Now came the tricky part. 'If I need to, I can try and affect the world around me.'

'How so?' I wasn't sure if there was more anxiety in his voice, or curiosity.

'Basic things like turning dry earth into thick, sticking mud. I can touch the minds of animals and see what they see. I was once told that anyone bound to the planet like we were could change the weather, but I've never come close to that.'

'You said, "we were".' Sam noticed, 'Who was this other person?'

Bollocks, hadn't meant to give that away.

'My Nan. Her and my mum taught me a lot, the rest I figured out on my own.'

'So these talents came to you through the women of your family?'

I shook my head, 'apparently, it started with my Nan's father; my great-grandfather, but we don't know a lot about him.'

Sam seemed to be relaxing a little bit, but I could still tell he had more questions.

'You and the pack?' He asked, pointing over his shoulder at the packs.

'Guess that one's kind of simple. I was in the woods near their land. We crossed paths, and after a bit of a misunderstanding with Chris we all became good friends. I fitted in with the pack easily and we have talents that complement each other.'

Sam looked me straight in the eyes. 'There's more to it than that.' He whispered.

I nodded back at him, 'we think there is too. We've wondered about a kind of 'pack imprint'. They found someone who could be part of their pack, would strengthen it, but wasn't a wolf. How to ensure such a person sticks with the pack? A kind of pack mentality to strengthen the bound between pack and person.'

Sam stared into the distance for a short while before saying, 'I've never heard of such a thing.'

'We haven't either, but to be honest, we're not questioning a good thing.' I smiled and took a swig from the beer can.

Sam sat in silence for the time being. I could nearly see the wheels in his brain working while he stared into the orange and yellow of the fire.

Finally, he took a deep breath in and relaxed his shoulders.

'Having two packs in one piece of territory is difficult. There is always the possibility for conflict.' I nodded my understanding, but didn't interrupt.

'Jared is a strong Alpha, and I am confident he can keep his pack together.' Sam took a swig from his beer. 'You were the unknown, and a single unknown could bring it all down. But I've seen how your pack protects you, and I've seen how you care for them.'

Sam stood from the log and held his hand out to me. I let out an internal sigh of relief and shook his hand.

'Welcome to La Push.' He smiled.

'Thank you for having me.' I said with a chuckle.

'Remind me to get one of my guys to show you the cliffs sometime.' Sam said, nodding to some of his pack over his shoulder.

'I'd love that.' I replied, nodding my head probably a bit to enthusiastically.

Sam smiled at me and then jogged over to a small group. Looking around, I was pleased to see that there was no 'my pack' or 'their pack' groups. Everyone was making an effort to mingle and get to know one another. I wasn't entirely convinced that the motives were just social, but for now everyone was getting along.

I sat myself back down on the log by the fire. So far the evening was turning out great, I was just shattered. After a minute or two of staring at the fire, I heard soft padding footsteps behind me. I caught the scent of fur and husk just before Jared shuffled me off the log and onto the sand between it and the fire.

Without the slightest effort, Jared pulled me onto his lap and his massive hands squeezed me to his chest. As sweet as it was that everyone felt so protective, I was going to start calling this hug-rape.

Jared let out a breath as if he was trying to calm himself down. He gave me a gentle squeeze and then moved his arms so I could move to the side. I sat on the sand next to him with my legs still on his. His shoulder was a bit too far up for me to reach, so I settled for lying against his arm.

'I'm sorry.' He whispered.

'What?' What was he apologising for?

'We're in another packs land, you're not your strongest and I just handed you to another Alpha.' He said, staring sadly into the fire.

'All necessary.' I said, 'All understandable and I wouldn't have done it any other way.' Jared gave me a sad smile and put his arm around my shoulders. I hadn't realised how cold I'd gotten until I felt his body warmth chasing away the breeze.

'I want you to do me a favour.' Jared said. Warning bells went off in my head. Jared was a good and inspiring leader, but as a wolf Alpha, he didn't ask for favours: he said, you did, that was how it worked.

He looked down at me to see if I was listening. I nodded for him to continue.

'You scared us.' He started, 'It was only a few days, but we didn't know what was going to happen. Everyone was, tense.'

Jared stopped to take a breath and look around the different groups on the beach.

'You're still not at full strength and the pack is feeling a tad protective.' I laughed at that, just a tad protective he thought?

I felt Jared laugh next to me, 'I'm being serious: Charlie and Ian want to wrap you in bubble-wrap and carry you back home.'

'No chance.' I said with a smile, catching Jared's eye. He knew what I meant; the pack's here, so I'm here.

'I know, but I'd like you to steer clear of the other pack.' He said. 'It would only take a little thing, a joke that someone took the wrong way, or a rough tackle in a game and tempers could flare.'

I nodded my understanding. An overprotective wolf pack whilst in another pack's territory could lead to serious problems.

'You got it boss.' I managed to say before I yawned into my hand.

'And on that note,' Jared shifted up a little and waved his hand at someone. Ian ran over to us with a big grin on his face.

'Jared, you should come join the game: it's awesome!' He laughed.

'Maybe later.' Jared said, getting to his feet and helping me up on the way.

'Whoa, looks like someone needs to crash.' Ian said.

'Do I look that bad?' I asked Jared, he raised his hands in defence.

'I didn't say anything.' He said innocently. Ian had turned back to the group and thrown the ball back to them.

'Come on, let's get you home.' Ian said, linking his arm with mine.

'I don't want to take you out of your gam-' was what I managed before I yawned again.

'Uh huh, let's go.' Ian used my arm to navigate me up the path. Without some energy reserves to help, I was walking in pitch black and Ian caught me a couple of times on the way home.

When we finally got back to the house, it was cold, empty and dark. I dropped onto the sofa that someone had moved next to the fire whilst Ian lit some candles around the room.

Ian had dark, jet black hair that fell with a slight wave just over his ears. Just wearing black shorts, you could see his build was that of an athlete: a swimmer or runner. Occasionally we called him Shadow: he could disappear into the forest and be almost invisible. Nobody moved so quietly or quickly as him, which was impressive for someone who was six foot three.

He grabbed a blanket off the back of a chair and sat on the sofa next to me. He sat upright in the corner, with his legs stretched out across the settee. He pulled my hand towards him and I curled up on his chest. He smelt like the forest just before dawn, when it was filled with dew and moisture in the air. Instantly I could feel the incredible body heat lulling me to sleep.

Warm, calm and comfortable. My pack was here, safe and we were all together.

Perfect.