"Didn't think you'd be wanting to patrol with me any time soon," Kiara huffed as she and Jacob walked side by side to the forest line, the boy having turned up at Sam's that morning instead of swapping his patrol shift like Kiara and Paul had assumed he would do.

Jacob smiled a little as he looked to where his twin sister was untying her shoe laces, the familiar converse reminding him of memories they had shared long before they knew about shifters and vampires. He was surprised the shoes had lasted so long, especially now that she was like him and had an anger that rivalled Paul's. He guessed part of it was down to the fact she had barely been shifting the past few weeks anyway.

They stripped off in silence before finding themselves on all fours, Kiara not waiting for Jacob as she slowly walked into the forest. She enjoyed patrolling - it was maybe her only favourite thing about being a wolf. Everyone had their own way of how they liked to patrol, and her and Jacob had always taken it slow and steady rather than draining themselves the way Leah and Jared liked to.

"Dad cried after you left."

Kiara faultered in her step a little, her head flickering to Jacob as he brushed along her side. She bristled a little, lifting her top gum to show a miniature snarl and telling Jacob to back off. She wasn't in the mood for him to make her out to be some villain when all she was doing was protecting herself.

"Well, I did too."

She threw the memory of Emily and Sam wrapping their arms around her as she sobbed in his direction through their mind link, noticing how the larger wolf beside her seemed to grimace and shake his head a little to cry and clear the thought from his mind. Kiara was aware that Seth and Quil were phased, hearing flickers of their thoughts across the pack link before they both disappeared quickly. It was obvious they had no intentions of listening in to a fight between the Black twins.

"I'm not trying to make you feel bad, yanno."

"Sure doesn't feel that way, Jacob."

They continued in silence, Kiara occasionally pausing to sniff the air. Jacob might have been blessed with more strength than her, but it was no secret that she was the fastest in the pack and had the best sense of smell. It helped that the scent of the red-head was permanently engraved in her mind, a personal vendetta sitting in her mind every time she thought about Victoria.

"I'm not rejecting it," Kiara informed Jacob, caving in as the silence hung awkwardly between them. She noticed it was her brothers turn to falter in his stride for a second, having already suspected that was the case after her and Billy's argument the night before.

"I know," Jacob replied, not sure what else to say. "I can't say I like it... but I'd rather have you alive."

That was reasonably good enough for Kiara. She knew that Jacob's hatred for the Cullens was less about their vampirism and more about Bella constantly choosing Edward over her brother, so hearing that he would rather have her be tied to one of the Cullens rather than dead was progress. It wasn't good - but it was better than it had been.

"I don't think anyone necessarily likes it," Kiara snorted, knowing that Sam and Paul had been pushing their personal opinions about the situation out of mind to try and make Kiara comfortable. She'd have been stupid to believe that they were both okay with the concept, but she knew that whatever thoughts they had they would keep behind closed doors to not upset her. "I just thought you'd have had my back. I always had yours - even when you keep picking Bella over me time and time again."

"I know, I've been a bad brother," Jacob replied, not letting Kiara interrupt as he continued. "But I'm here now, and I want to make things better between us. They've not been the same since..."

"Since Rachel and Rebecca left, I know," Kiara murmured, both of the twins feeling that familiar sadness as they thought about how their older sisters had basically cut them out of their lives. Rachel never phoned, and Rebecca only phoned for their birthday. They'd been a broken family longer before the pack came into it. "I just... I just don't know how we can fix this."

"Start by letting me come to your graduation," Jacob replied, his large shoulder lightly nudging the smaller wolf. "I know that doesn't come near covering the past few years... but it's a start."

"It's a start," Kiara agreed, her mind drifting to her father. She'd always pictured the man clapping for her at graduation, a huge grin on his face as he witnessed his youngest prepare to enter the great world that called to her. Instead, she'd be spending graduation in Forks, looking at a crowd of unfamiliar faces knowing that only Jacob had turned up for her. "Do you..."

"I don't know, Kie," Jacob replied, knowing what she was about to ask. "I don't know if he'll show. But I will, and he'll come around eventually. He's got to."

Kiara stayed silent.

"He's our dad, he's got to come around."

____

"Hey Black!"

Kiara turned around to see Mike bounding towards her, a grin on his face as he held out his yearbook in her direction. She smiled gently at him, knowing that despite how annoying she found him, it would be sad to say goodbye to her Forks High friends. She knew they would all move out of Forks and go onto bigger and better things, while she remained chained to La Push for what might be the rest of her life.

She scribbled her name under her photo in the yearbook, passing him her own so that he could do the same. As they both scribbled down congratulatory graduation messages, the rest of their friends wandered over and began talking about their plans for the future. Kiara wanted to listen in, but no matter how hard she tried, she was met with the reminder that her dreams of college were simply that: a dream.

"Excuse me," she muttered, knowing fine well that they are all so deep into their conversation that they wouldn't even notice she was leaving. She cast a quick glance over her shoulder as she parted the group, noticing that she was right.

Her feet made a beeline towards the familiar car that had pulled up, a gentle smile on her fact as she reached into the pocket of her gown and pulled out the car keys. The blonde man smiled at her as she reached out to him, dropping them into his outstretched palm.

"Honey, you can keep it, if you want," Esme told Kiara as she joined her husband's side, adjusting his tie for him while smiling at the younger girl. Kiara shrugged, knowing that she had too much pride to accept a car from the Cullens that was being given to her just because she was linked to Rosalie for the rest of her life now.

"I couldn't," Kiara replied, smiling at the woman. "But I appreciate it."

"She isn't going to keep it," Alice called out, skipping over and towing Jasper with her. They were both decked out in their graduation gowns too, the novelty seeming to not have worn off for Alice the way that it had for her siblings. "I see it in our future."

"Thanks, Alice," Kiara muttered, a small smile on her face as Carlisle closed his fingers around the keys that Kiara had dropped into his palm. He wasn't surprised that she wouldn't keep the car - it wasn't in Kiara's taste to accept things from the Cullen's without complaint. "I think."

Alice grinned as she turned back to look at Kiara, ignoring the presence of Carlisle and Esme. She looked her up and down for a moment, taking in her graduation outfit and musing her lips a little. It was very... Kiara. Alice just wished that the shapeshifter would have let her pick out an outfit for her. No harm intended - of course.

"You're coming straight back to ours for the party, aren't you?"

"Rosalie already said that you told her I had no choice," Kiara blabbed, knowing that Rosalie wasn't supposed to have told her that. She'd had a message from the blonde the night before to inform her that Alice was likely going to try and take her hostage as soon as graduation ended and to be prepared.

Alice stomped her foot a little as she let out a childish whine, rolling her eyes as she discovered Rosalie's betrayal. "She wasn't supposed to tell you that!"

Carlisle chuckled as Esme leaned into him, noticing that Edward and Bella were waving them over from the other side of the parking lot. He smiled, motioning for his kids and Kiara to start heading towards the auditorium as friends, family and graduates started filling up the hall.

————-

"You don't have to be sorry, for leaving and growing up," Alice said, her eyes glimmering a little as she looked into the crowd at Kiara. Sure, they had never been the closest of friends - especially as of late - but the girl felt her heart swell a little as Alice quoted what Carlisle had said to her.

Kiara smiled softly back at her, Alice reaching over Edward and giving her hand a squeeze. Since they were sitting alphabetically, and it seemed a few hadn't shown, she was lucky enough to have them both sitting beside her. Poor Jasper had been positioned somewhere in between Bella and herself in the line up, something that made them all a little uneasy should someone accidentally cut themselves.

"Jacob's here," Edward told Kiara, hearing her thoughts as she tried to crane her neck and see if her brother had turned up. Kiara smiled back at him, knowing that if there was ever one person who knew when Jacob walked into a room more than she did, it was always going to be Edward. "Fifth row, on the right."

Kiara turned, catching her brothers eye throughout the crowd. He beamed back at her, a smile that the twins hadn't exchanged in years. She grinned back, jokingly flipping him the bird before trying to see if she could see who was sitting beside him.

"They're not here," Edward told her, his voice a little strained as he didn't turn around. "Sam or Emily, that is. Sorry, you're thinking quite loud."

"You know, I've never really had anyone critique me over how loud I think until I met you," Kiara muttered, causing Alice to giggle. She faintly picked up on Jasper laughing under his breath from a few rows behind.

"I see you've made up with the dog," Alice spoke, her voice a little firmer as she rolled her eyes. Kiara scoffed a little, trying to hold back a slight laugh at the comment.

"Alice... I'm a dog, too."

"You don't smell like one," Alice replied, Kiara's brow furrowing. She hadn't really considered that before. She knew Rosalie had told her once or twice that she didn't smell like the rest of the pack but she hadn't even thought to ask the other members of the Cullen family if they thought the same. "Not like him, anyway."

"Weird," Kiara muttered before looking back to where Jessica was getting ready to begin her speech. It wasn't where she expected to be graduating from a year prior, but she was glad to finally be able to say she was a high school graduate. Especially since her college dreams had been trashed after phasing. 

A crackle from the speaker caused her and the vampires to grimace a little, before turning to the stage where Jessica was giving her speech.

"When we were five, they asked us what we wanted to be when we grew up. Our answers were thing like astronaut, president... Or in my case, princess. When we were ten, they asked again and we answered – rock star, cowboy, or in my case, gold medalist. But now that we've grown up, they want a serious answer. Well, how 'bout this: who the hell knows?!"

Kiara cheered loudly, Edward turning his head and looking at Bella. Bella smiled back at him, knowing that graduation marked a new step in her life. The shapeshifter standing with them was going to be embarking on that too - whether she knew it or not.

"This isn't the time to make hard and fast decisions, it's the time to make mistakes. Take the wrong train, and get stuck somewhere chill. Fall in love – a lot. Major in philosophy because there's no way to make a career out of that. Change your mind. Then change it again, because nothing is permanent..."

Kiara's smile slipped a little. This was permanent for her now. Accepting the imprint brought along a permanence that the other wolves would never be forced into accepting. It was the elephant in the room in La Push and in Forks.

"So make as many mistakes as you can. That way, someday, when they ask again what we want to be... we won't have to guess. We'll know."

Things moved pretty smoothly after that. She watched as Carlisle and Esme rose to their feet for Alice and remained standing for Edward, clapping as they watched their adoptive kids graduate as if it was the first time. She noticed how Alice beamed back at them, while Edward simply smirked and shook his head a little. She had no doubt he was listening to Carlisle saying something witty in his head about their graduation cap wall.

"Kiara Black!"

Kiara rubbed her palms together nervously as she stepped on the stage, beaming at the principal as she accepted her diploma from his hand. He smiled back at her, knowing that they'd had nowhere near as much trouble with her as they'd been forewarned to have when she first started. It seemed like Forks had eased Kiara Black's trouble making tendencies.

A loud cheer broke the silence of the auditorium, causing Kiara to blush a little as she looked to where Jacob had risen to his feet and whooped for his sister. She noticed others in the crowd standing too - Carlisle and Esme and Charlie.

She waved to Carlisle and Esme, the couple grinning so widely that it must have looked like she was one of their adoptive children too. They beamed before slowly sitting back down, patiently waiting for Jasper and Bella's names to be called. 

Charlie was sat beside Jacob, a grin on his face as he watched his best friends daughter graduate alongside his own. She smiled back at him, watching as his eyes drifted from hers and down towards his side. Kiara faltered as she went to step down from the stage. Her brother smiled warmly back, a proud look on his face as he noticed what she had just realised.

Clapping alongside Jacob and Charlie, with tears in his eyes and a proud smile on his face, was her father.

She smiled back, a mix of emotions rushing through her as she looked at the man who had basically disowned her in the weeks leading up to her graduation. Seeing him sitting there, cheering her on with the proudest look he'd ever given her was NOT on her list of expectations for graduation.

Before she had any time to do anymore thinking, she was ushered back into her seat beside Edward and Alice who were looking at her in concern.

"Kie, I'm so sorry, if I'd seen I'd have warned you-"

"It's okay," Kiara breathed, refusing to turn back around and try and meet her fathers eyes again. "I'm okay, I think."

Edward didn't call her out on her lie. She wasn't fine, she was holding back all of her emotions that had just been sprung on her as she tried to calm down the shaking in her body. They knew she had a lot less control of her phasing when it came to being overwhelmed, and Edward and Alice could hear the heartbeat spike in the girl.

Just as she went to admit she wasn't fine, a soothing rush overcame her body and caused her to sigh slightly. She looked to Edward for confirmation, and the bronze haired boy nodded subtly.

"Thanks Jasper," she muttered under her breath, knowing that he'd hear. A small snarl, barely audible to anyone else except from the supernaturals in the room, informed her that Jacob had just heard her thanking the vampire. It was no secret that Jacob had his least favourites of the Cullen family, and after Edward, it was Rosalie and Jasper.

Alice squeezed Kiara's hand for a second before letting go, muttering under her breath about how she didn't understand how Rosalie could touch her for so long without feeling on fire. Kiara tilted her head a little, something else she hadn't really considered. There were so many questions she just hadn't given herself the chance to ask since the imprint, and she was beginning to realise she had a lot to learn about Rosalie the vampire compared to when she just knew her as Rosalie the pretending human.

"Why is he here?"

"To apologise," Edward murmured after a moment, lowering his voice so Jacob couldn't listen in. "I think... I think your brother and Paul talked some sense into him."

"Paul?" She questioned before shrugging it off. Paul had barely ever spoke to Billy outside of pack meetings. She knew the boy was her closest packmate, but she was surprised that he was willing to risk his standing with the elders to make her father see sense.

Kiara shook off her confusion, turning her head back to face the stage as Jasper's name being called snapped her out of her moment. She stood and clapped along with his adoptive siblings, trying to keep a wide smile on her face. 

Why had her father came? Why now?

————-

"You came," Kiara said, her voice a little firm as she stood in front of her father. He was cradling flowers on his lap, and Kiara could see the tear tracks from where he had obviously been crying while watching her take to the stage.

Jacob was standing a little to the side, talking to Charlie. It was clear that Bella was avoiding her brother, and Charlie was not subtle about making Jacob know that he wasn't impressed that he had kissed his daughter without her consent. Kiara was sure her and her father looked awkward but Jacob and Charlie were coming in close second.

"I came," Billy repeated, trying to hide the guilt and shame that he felt as he watched how his own daughter shuffled her feet. She was uncomfortable around him now - and that realisation hurt more than anything else. "I had to. These are for you."

Kiara didn't know what to say. She didn't know what there was to say. 

Billy passed her the flowers, his arms remaining in the air for a second as Kiara hesitated to take them from her father. She'd almost feel phantom pain of how she had felt over the past few weeks as she looked at him, as if her wolf was reminding her that the man in front of her was the reason she had been rejecting the imprint for so long.

She had almost died for his approval, and yet he'd declared that he was disowning her without a second thought. Kiara had never been good at forgiving let alone forgetting, and it was taking everything in her power to hold her anger back as she looked at the flowers in her hands. He'd almost caused her death, and now he was showing up to her graduation with flowers?

Kiara took a breath, feeling a wave of calm washing over her. She didn't need to turn around to know that the Cullen's were watching from across the auditorium. 

"Thanks," Kiara said, giving her father a tight lipped smile in return. Billy looked like he was going to say something more, but Jacob interrupted as he felt the tension grow too large to ignore.

"I guess I'll see you at the party tonight?"

Kiara scoffed a little, Jacob's words having the desired effect as she took her attention fully away from her father. She looked at her brother in amusement and disbelief, her eyebrows raised as she cast him a look up and down in confusion.

"I hate to break it to you, but I'm like 99.9% sure that Bella uninvited you."

"Well, I'll take that 0.1% chance," Jacob said, "since it's her graduation."

There was an unspoken sentence in the air, and Kiara realised that Jacob knew something she didn't about Bella and her life after graduation. She wasn't stupid: she knew that they were likely going to have to turn Bella at some point. She just didn't realise that it was going to be so soon.

"Yeah, see you," Kiara muttered, sending her father a tight lipped smile before turning on her heel and heading in the direction that the Cullen's had left. Billy scowled as she walked away, the feeling of guilt mixing with his internal disgust at how she was now tied to the vampires that he'd spent his whole life hating.

The Black father and son could do nothing but watch as Kiara left them behind once again. This time, they couldn't blame the imprint. This time, it was their own ignorance and intolerance that was to blame.