"Do you think she'll be okay?" Bella asked Alice, her voice quiet even though she knew everyone else could hear her asking the question. Alice shrugged, a small smile on her face as she exchanged looks with Beverly who was trying to hide her grin behind her palm.

Edward's head drifted in the direction of the deck, a small smile ghosting on his lips for a second as he too had been listening in to the conversation that was happening outside. He knew that the rest of his family except Alice and Beverly had chosen to ignore the conversation to give them privacy, but he'd always found it hard to tune out the sound of Kiara's thoughts since they usually shouted at him with no break.

"I think things are going to be just fine," Edward mused as he pulled Bella to his side, pressing a soft kiss to the crown of her head. Bella looked at him in confusion since they'd just watched Kiara puke up black blood outside, and it was clear that everyone around the girl believed that she was killing herself in an attempt to reject the imprint.

Outside, Kiara and Rosalie pulled apart as a loud howl broke through the forest air. They rested their heads against each others, Kiara breathing heavily while Rosalie rolled her eyes at the interruption. 

"Great timing," Rosalie muttered, causing Kiara to giggle a little as she finally moved backwards from Rosalie. It was as if all of the strength was returning to her body, and she no longer felt a stabbing pain in her chest as she looked at the blonde holding her.

"I should probably go," Kiara breathed, not taking her eyes off Rosalie's golden ones. "I didn't exactly bring a phone, and I'm sure Jacob will have told the pack that he left me alone with Edward... they've been pretty protective of me since..."

Kiara trailed off, not wanting to finish that thought. Rosalie felt a pang of guilt in her chest as she knew exactly why the pack had been concerned about Kiara and it was down to the connection they formed. Rosalie knew it wasn't her fault - but a piece of her would always feel guilty for ever bringing Kiara into this life in the first place.

"You should say goodbye to the others first," Rosalie told her, squeezing her hand. She wanted to keep Kiara in her sights and never let her go (especially since the threat of newborns in Seattle was only growing larger - not that they were planning on telling the pack). "I think Beverly and Alice would kill you if you left without saying goodbye."

Kiara smiled, a slight blush coming across her cheeks as she remembered that they were in an entire house of vampires who most likely could have listened into their entire conversation and kiss if they wanted to. She hoped they hadn't, but the way Rosalie mentioned her sisters made Kiara aware that they most likely had been listening in.

As they re-entered the house, Kiara noticed the wall of graduation caps and snorted to herself. Rosalie chuckled a little as she looked behind her and noticed how Kiara was finding the wall humorous, now understanding the joke behind it. She studied them for a moment before looking at Rosalie and softly smiling at her. Everything seemed blissful now. All her worries about Jacob, about the elders and about her father were gone from her mind.

Rosalie led Kiara downstairs to where the rest of the family had gathered to discuss the Seattle situation. If Kiara noticed that the conversation switched as soon as they caught on to their incoming footsteps, she didn't say anything when entering the room. Bella looked over, instantly noticing how Kiara didn't seem to be shying away from Rosalie the same way she had been an hour before.

Bella hadn't seen Kiara act this shy in years. She was bouncing on her feet, almost as if she was trying to avoid looking any of them in the eyes. Rosalie almost looked a little smug, walking past Bella and Edward to greet her sister. They exchanged a knowing look and Bella didn't need to be a vampire to tell that Kiara and Rosalie's talk had gone much better than any of them expected.

Carlisle smiled warmly at Kiara, noticing that she didn't seem to be looking as pale as she originally had when the three of them had came back from the Swan residence. She still looked ridiculous in Emmett's oversized hoodie that swamped her, but she certainly didn't look like she was about to vomit black blood on the wooden floor anytime soon. His eyes trailed down to her wrist and knuckles, his smile slipping a little. Despite her looking a bit better, her healing obviously hadn't kicked in yet since the bruises around her knuckles looked a little nastier than they had previously.

"Alice, do you want these back? I can leave them at the tree line," Kiara asked the girl, motioning to Esme's cargo pants and Emmett's hoodie that she was wearing. "Or I can take them back and wash them, but they might stink of Jacob if I take them back..."

"You can keep them on," Carlisle answered for Alice, his tone fatherly. Kiara felt her heart tug a little as it reminded her of how her father had once been with her, before it instantly felt like a calming wave rushed over her. She looked to her left to see Jasper nodding at her a little, before her eyes flickered to Edward. The mind-reader nodded, telling her that Jasper had been responsible for the shift in her emotions. Kiara wasn't sure how she felt about that.

"They'll rip when I phase," Kiara replied, confused as to why Carlisle would rather her shred the clothing than return or wash it.

"Kiara, I think it's best for you to hold off from shifting until you've healed those knuckles," Carlisle replied, his voice a little sterner now but still having that gentle softness that he always had when addressing any of his adopted children. Rosalie's eyes trailed down to Kiara's hand, assessing the fact that her bones didn't seem to quite be in place either.

Kiara shuffled a little uncomfortably as everyone's eyes fell on her. She noticed that they were all looking at her with kindness in their eyes but she still hated to be the centre of attention when the problem had been self-inflicted. If she hadn't tried so hard to reject the imprint, none of this might have happened.

"Yeah, I get where you're coming from but I kinda gave Jacob his bike back and you guys can't cross the treaty line..."

"Stay here," Emmett replied, almost getting excited at the thought of the wolf sleeping under their roof. "I'm sure you can use the spare bedroom, there's a bed in there now too."

Kiara ignored the part where she realised that none of their own rooms would have beds in them except from Edwards. It wasn't something she'd ever really thought about but again, it was something that she knew she was going to have to get used to.

"Pack loyalty," Kiara joked, her tone a little more serious as she continued her thoughts. "In all seriousness, the boys will likely start a war if I don't come home tonight. They're very..."

She trailed off, but everyone understood what she meant. It was a bond that none of them would be able to understand but that they all accepted. The pack were linked, and the feeling of missing a pack member was something they'd never quite experience. If the pack were up all night worrying about Kiara, it would only do more damage to their treaty than anything else had.

"You can take my car," Rosalie replied, no hesitation in her voice. Everyone shared surprised looks except from Edward, Beverly and Alice who had been listening into their conversation before. It was now obvious that the dynamic had shifted between the vampire and the wolf, since they had been so hostile to each other only moments ago in the same room.

"She'd rather take mine," Edward butted in, causing Kiara to turn to look at him with a glare. Everyone chuckled a little, Bella smacking his arm lightly for rudely dropping Kiara's thoughts into the conversation. Kiara held her hands up in defence as she looked at Rosalie who looked almost a little hurt at Edward's announcement.

"With context," she said, shooting a side glare to Edward, "Your car would get so dusty and I wouldn't want it to be ruined since I know how much work you've put into it over the past few years. No offence Edward, but I think I'd take joy in scratching yours."

"You can take the spare car," Carlisle replied, a chuckle on his lips as he watched the way Edward's eyes narrowed a little at her admission. Rosalie had puffed up a little with pride at the way Kiara had knocked Edward back down a peg, and the man knew that the dynamic in the coven was about to get a lot more interesting with Kiara's appearances set to become more regular.

Kiara didn't feel entirely comfortable just taking one of their cars - but it seemed like an argument that she wasn't going to win. Alice even chimed in saying that she couldn't see the car in her future, which Kiara originally took as her saying she was going to crash it until Rosalie had to explain that Alice couldn't see around Kiara or the rest of the pack in her visions, and therefore was just meaning that Kiara was going to end up taking the car away with her anyway. Kiara made it very clear that this was just a loan, and that the car would be returned then next day after she had given herself time to rest and heal.

She wished them farewell as Carlisle lead her down to the garage, leaving Rosalie with the rest of her family. They all turned to her with expectant looks, Bella trying to hide the fact that she was ridiculously curious as to what had happened on the deck moments prior.

"Bro, you are so whipped," Emmett hollered at Rosalie, receiving a smack on the arm from his wife in response. Rosalie rolled her eyes, back to her usual cold persona and left the room without looking back at Bella or Edward. Bella had hoped that Rosalie and Kiara coming back together would have the blonde vampire being a little nicer to her, but it didn't seem to be the case. Excusing herself, Bella stepped outside to speak to Rosalie to try and figure out why the girl hated her so much.

____

While Bella learned about the story of how Rosalie became what she was today, Kiara had been driving back towards La Push. It was like the further away she got from the Cullens (or more so, Rosalie), the more anxious she was getting. She wasn't sure if Jacob was home and if he had told her dad the events of that evening, but she was pretty sure that she was going to have to confront her dad one way or another that night.

She was right.

Kiara pulled up in Carlisle's spare car at the exact same time her dad came rolling out on to their porch. His face was stern, and she was sure now that Jacob had told him about the events of that evening. The way his eyes trailed down to her hand as she got out of the car informed her that he didn't leave out the fact that she had punched him in the face during his retelling.

"What the hell is that?" Billy asked, already knowing exactly where the car had came from.

"Carlisle is letting me borrow it," she replied, going to move past him without saying anything else. Billy wrapped his arm around her forearm as she tried to move past him, halting her in her steps. They both knew that Kiara had the strength and willpower to push him off her, but she still respected her father enough to not disrespect him. "Since Jake took the bike back and I had no other way of coming back."

"You could have shifted," Billy replied.

"With what energy?" She snapped back, tugging her arm from his grasp and walking into their kitchen. Billy followed behind her, getting angrier as his daughter refused to look at him. Jacob was sound asleep upstairs, having been worn out from the consequences of his own actions. "You know that I've barely been able to shift since I started fucking rejecting this imprint!"

"I don't want you near the Cullens," Billy replied, his voice raising a little. Kiara spun around, a humourless laugh leaving her body as she stared at her father, the granola bar in her hand getting crushed.

She glowered at him from across the room, and Billy was suddenly glad that he knew she had enough restraint not to just phase in their kitchen. In reality, Kiara knew that had she been at her full strength and health, that there was a high chance she would have been shaking already.

"I refuse to stay away from them, from her, any longer," Kiara announced to her father, watching the fury and despair spread across his face once he realised that she was no longer attempting to reject the imprint. He furrowed his eyebrows, almost feeling a sense of betrayal sweep his body as he looked at his youngest.

"Then you can stay away from here," Billy replied, instantly regretting the words as soon as he said them. Kiara seemed to nod, almost as if she had been expecting that to come from his mouth. 

"My mom would be so disappointed in you." She slammed the granola bar down on the counter, shoving past him without uttering another word.

Billy shouted after her as he rushed back outside, trying to take back his words as Kiara headed straight back towards Carlisle's car. Her words stung him to the core and deep down he knew that she was right. She ignored his shouts, and she ignored it when Jacob suddenly appeared beside her dad too. It was an ultimatum that Billy hadn't realised he was fated to lose from the start.

He and Jacob came to one startling realisation as they watched the car leave the residence, Kiara not even glancing back at them once.

Rosalie was Kiara's imprint, and she wasn't going to break that bond anymore. Not any time soon.

____

"What the hell is that?"

Kiara snorted a little as she got out of the car, chucking the keys to Paul who grinned back at her and instantly went to explore the car. Sam crossed his arms as he leaned against the porch pillars, Emily pressed against his side as she scanned Kiara for any sign of injuries.

"Better question - what the hell are you wearing?" Sam asked, eying up the ridiculously oversized hoodie. The cargos were even a strange choice, since it was rare to see any of the pack cutting around the house in anything but a t-shirt and shorts. As she stepped closer, he knew instantly what family the clothes belonged to by the lingering smell on the fabric.

"Alice Cullen told me I had to borrow them after I threw up on myself in Edward's car."

There was a stunned silence as Paul, Sam and Emily all looked at her. They had no idea where that sentence was going to go, and that certainly wasn't it. They'd last seen her getting on Jacob's bike and heading over to Bella Swan's house.

The four all headed back into Sam and Emily's cabin, Sam and Paul having just gotten off patrol for the night. It seemed like Leah and Seth had taken over, something that Kiara knew that Leah actually appreciated Sam doing even though she pretended like she hated having to spend time with her kid brother.

"So... you ended up at the Cullen's?" Emily asked, breaking the ice a little as they all sat around the table. Sam and Emily were nestled into each other while Paul sat next to Kiara, his arm swung around the back of her chair.

Sam and Paul hated to admit it, but the scent of the Cullens on Kiara's clothes almost seemed to be cancelled out by Kiara's own scent. It was like they still knew it was the Cullens, but it was different when it was being masked by her. Sam knew that the imprint worked in ways that none of them understood, and he theorised that it went a lot deeper than just one wolf connecting with someone - but rather the foundations of the pack being rewritten around each imprint that occurred.

"Jacob almost started a fight with Edward on Bella's lawn in front of Charlie," Kiara told them all, biting into the muffin that Emily slid across the table towards her. They all shared subtle looks as she picked it up without hesitation, knowing that she had been barely eating previously. "So I stepped in and sent Jacob home, but Charlie wanted me to go with Bella to the Cullen's house to give him peace of mind. Well, Edward suggested it and Charlie loved the idea."

Paul rolled his eyes, muttering under his breath about Edward being a prick and Kiara snorted a little before continuing on with her story.

"Closer we got to the Cullens... to her, I felt more ill. Threw up as soon as we arrived so Alice had to go get me fresh clothes," Kiara explained, looking at the hoodie she was wearing. "She was pissed, so I think she took great joy in finding me the largest hoodie she could instead of finding something that fit me."

"I can see that," Sam replied, humour clear in his voice as he studied her.

"Carlisle took a look at Bella's hand, and mine too," Kiara told them, pulling the sleeve down so that they could see where the bruises were still siting on her skin. Sam furrowed his eyebrows as he leaned forward, lightly running his thumb across her knuckles as he examined the bruises. "It's started to heal now, but it hadn't at all before..."

She trailed off, not sure if she was ready for that part of the story yet.

"Anyway, he think he might need to reset the bones in my wrist," Kiara informed them all, shrugging a little as if the thought of a vampire breaking her bones to reset it didn't scare her. "Turns out when I shifted, it hadn't fully healed so when the wolf healing kicked in, it's healed wrong."

"That's rough, dude," Paul said, grimacing at the thought.

"What caused it to start healing again?" Emily asked, even though she was sure she had known the answer the second Kiara stepped out of the car. Kiara had always carried herself a certain way before she started trying to reject the imprint, and Emily wasn't stupid. She saw the look in Kiara's eyes and she knew when she had seen the girl have that same look before.

The silence that fell over them unnerved Paul a little. He knew the answer too, he could smell Rosalie on Kiara. His nose had always been better than the others, but he knew that Sam wasn't stupid too. The three of them knew exactly what had went down when she visited the Cullens, but they just needed the confirmation to come from her mouth.

"You were right, and I realised that," Kiara said, looking at Paul then Emily. "I was killing myself. Rejecting the imprint... I'm not sure it is something that can be done by anyone. God knows, I tried, I really did. But I saw her there, and I couldn't help but think about you guys and what you said to me yesterday..."

"You stopped fighting it," Sam said, watching Paul out of the corner of his eye. He was worried the hothead would flip at the news even though he had been the one telling her she needed to stop trying to reject the imprint.

"Yeah, and my dad just kicked me out, so there's that too," Kiara added, trying to make it sound like she was fine but they knew that it had hurt her more than she expected it to. Emily instantly moved to her feet, moving around the table and tugging the younger girl into a tight hug. Sam was quick to join, pulling her in for a hug as soon as Emily released her.

Paul stayed where he was for a moment, not uttering a word as Kiara turned to see his reaction. She was worried that he would take back what he had said earlier on - take back his promise that he would never leave her. He stood up for a moment, his face still emotionless as he took a slight step towards her.

He smiled gently at her, tugging her towards him. Kiara had held it together until she hit his chest, the tears falling out of her eyes like a waterfall as the days events finally caught up to her. He hushed her as he rubbed her back reassuringly, perfectly filling the brotherly role that Jacob had been failing to live up to in recent months.

"I'll go set up the guest room," Emily told Sam, leaving the boys to have their moment with their packmate. Kiara looked to Sam, tears still falling on to her cheeks as she heard what Emily had said to the man.

"I can stay?"

"Regardless of what the rest of the pack has to say - or your family, or the elders - you'll always have a place at my table and in my house, Kiara Black. I might not like that you've imprinted on a vampire - but at least her eyes aren't red. Yeah, it might be a headache trying to figure out where we go from here, but this is my pack and for as long as I say so, you'll come to no grief at my expense."

"Yeah, same," Paul echoed, causing Sam to roll his eyes and Kiara to chuckle at him ruining the vibe of Sam's pep talk.

"We can lay out some ground rules in the morning, and we'll have to speak to the elders - I can do that without you, if that would make it easier for you. But for now, you can stay here for as long as you need."

Kiara smiled at them, before Paul announced the one thought on his mind.

"Hey, do you think Sue Clearwater will fight your dad once she hears about this?"