They moved back downstairs. Callas's question was still unanswered but Emily told her that they were done keeping secrets from her before she went off to make Callas a warm drink. She sat back down on the sofa, pulling Zeus towards her—although he didn't really mind and seemed to settle down on her lap. Sam sat back in his chair while Reed excused himself and walked out of the house, sitting down on the porch steps, Callas watched him silently, holding onto Zeus as she turned back to look at Sam. She wasn't sure how to feel about Reed in that moment, but she knew that it hurt to see him walk out of the house without even glancing at her. Jacob and Seth sat on either side of her, with some distance still between them, not knowing if she wanted to be close to any of them after seeing what Reed could do for the first time. Once again, no one spoke, all Callas could hear was the rain, Zeus panting, her own breathing, and Emily in the kitchen as she stirred something around in a cup. All Callas knew was that Will was a vampire—they were real, and they were just as terrifying as novels and movies made them out to be—and that none of the boys were human. They were something else entirely. Her eyes moved back to Sam, after they drifted to the fireplace in front of her, his jaw fluttered and he picked at the fabric of the chair. Callas moved awkwardly on the sofa as she waited for something to happen.

"It's called phasing," Sam started, cutting the silence. "That's what you saw."

All she did was a nod in response. What else could she really say? "What... What are you?" Callas asked nervously, playing with Zeus's fur.

"Shape-shifters."

"Like werewolves?"

Jacob cleared his throat. "Werewolves are actually different to shape-shifters." Callas turned her head to look at him. "But... we'll get to that later."

Callas nodded her head. "What exactly are... 'shape-shifters'?"

"Uh, okay..." Sam nodded his head, sitting up straighter. "We... are... descendants from the ancient spirit warriors of the Quileute tribe, just like Reed mentioned before..." Sam motioned his hand in a strange circular way, not entirely sure how he should phrase his sentence, but before he could continue, Callas spoke in an uncertain voice.

"So, you're... spirits?"

"In... a way. Back then, according to the legend that is, the warriors and chiefs had the ability to leave their bodies and wander as spirits." Callas was already beginning to feel overwhelmed as Sam continued, "They could communicate with animals, they could hear each other's thoughts."

Her eyebrows drew together. "Can you do that?"

"Talk to animals?" Sam tilted his head.

"Hear each other's thoughts," she corrected herself.

"Yeah." He nodded.

Callas breathed out. "So, you guys were doing that in the canteen," she stated it more as a fact than a question, but no one else said a word.

Quil hummed in response after no one else said anything. "That's why we all seemed shocked that you suggested that we could, or asked if we could, we all assumed that you knew or at least caught on," he told her. "But I guess it was just a lucky guess."

Callas nodded. "I guess so."

Sam continued to explain, "It wasn't until a change during Taha Aki's leadership of the tribe, that members were hugely impacted and permanently changed their powers to shape-shift into wolves—much like what Reed did."

"Billy spoke about him at the bonfire," Callas mumbled. "So, Reed... phased?" Sam nodded. "Why? How? I don't understand."

"You saw Will there, didn't you? That night."

"Yeah? But I didn't think he was actually real, I thought I was the only one who saw him."

He shook his head. "When a member of the current generation—like Reed—comes across the scent of vampires—or in our case, Will—their physique will build before they phase for the first time. Had Reed changed at all since you first started to notice Will?"

She was silent as she thought about it. Reed had suddenly grown taller, although he blamed it on a second puberty and that he was merely adapting to Utah—which Callas couldn't be bothered to correct. His body temperature had spiked and she assumed that he had been sick, but when it wouldn't go back to what it used to be, she had ultimately thought of the worse. That maybe he was getting sicker and he wouldn't be able to get better. He did have better eyesight than before, better hearing, better reflexes, his stamina had improved significantly and he seemed to be able to withstand things no one else could have. Callas noted that Reed hardly ever caught colds, or showed any injuries, even after coming back home from practices and away games that he had with the school team. His appetite had increased as well, he needed to have more food constantly—despite never seemingly gaining much weight, unless, of course, it was muscle. She wasn't sure why—considering she never felt the need to tally up everything that changed with Reed or link it together—but she hadn't noticed all of the significant changes until now.

"Yeah," she responded finally. "So?" Sam sat forward more.

"The instinct to phase is only triggered when a tribal member crosses the scent of vampires and senses the tribe's need of protection," he answered. "Reed caught Will's scent, and when you mix that with Reed's conscious and subconscious need to take care of you after everything you have been through... it just... happened."

"So, it's my fault?"

Sam shook his head. "No. It was bound to happen at some point. We don't... live that far from a coven of vampires."

"What?" Callas yelled loudly.

"But they aren't like Will."

"How? Vampires are all the same, aren't they?"

"The Cullens—"

"Like Carlisle Cullen? My doctor?" Her voice rose while Emily placed Callas's cup on the coffee table.

Sam sighed. "They are different. We will get to that later," he told her. "But, Reed works in Forks, right?"

"Does he? Does he still have a job there?" Callas tilted her head, glaring at Sam. "Did you bribe Chief Swan in order for Reed to keep his job?"

Jacob laughed quietly. "Charlie, uh... Charlie knows what we are."

"You've got to be kidding me." She rubbed her face. "Am I the only one who doesn't know?"

"No," Jacob replied. "We try to keep it a secret."

"Unbelievable," she muttered. "Okay, can we just continue? Please."

"Gladly," Sam mumbled. "There's no exact age to determine whether the member is old enough for the gene to activate, as Seth is one of the youngest to have phased, I can only imagine the phasing's that Will is going to force now that he's trespassed onto the Reservation following on from your brother's. Anyway, the only numbers needed are ones to counter the numbers of approaching vampires—such as the Cullens being so close to where Reed works and the fact that Reed went after Will on his own before we went to follow him. Hence, he needed to shift in order for it to be a fair fight. The transformation generally occurs roughly when a boy reaches manhood and is accompanied by a sudden growth spurt lasting for about two months. Which I'm sure you've noticed in Reed."

Callas rubbed her forehead, it was a lot to take it. "So, are you guys the only ones? I mean, Reed said there were a few more, but—"

"Seth's older sister, Leah, she's like us," Paul butted in. "It was thought that only males phased, but she is a direct descendant of the spirit Chiefs after all, so we should have seen it coming."

"So, she's the only female. When can I meet her?" Callas sat up a bit more. "You've spoken about her, but I've never met her."

"She doesn't like coming around here," Jacob muttered under his breath.

"Why?"

"Because of me," Emily spoke up.

"You?"

"That's a story for another day." Sam clenched his teeth. "That's not important right now."

"Right, sorry. Continue." Callas was barely able to make sense of anything that they were telling her, but she wanted them to tell her everything, she couldn't wait.

Sam nodded, thankful to change the topic again. "The transformation can happen at any time, and it is not dependent upon a full moon, unlike the Children of the Moon—the real werewolves. In new shape-shifters, the change is involuntary, since they have not yet learned to control it. Like Reed. Phasing often occurs due to a loss of temper." Callas glanced outside towards Reed, he was picking up small stones from the ground, throwing them as far as he could, trying to distract himself.

"Does he have control now?"

"He didn't kill you, did he?" Jared smirked.

"Jared," Sam warned with the shake of his head when he saw Callas's eyes widen. "Transformation," he started, catching her attention away from Jared, and continued, "or 'phasing' is a sudden and violent process. The initial transformation seems to be triggered by anger. Reed was angry and protective over you, so his instincts took over, which led to him phasing, and not gracefully, might I add."

"W-Was he hurt?" Her voice came out quiet.

"He healed."

"What happened to him?"

Sam swallowed hard, thinking that there was going to be no straightforward way around telling her the truth. "He almost shattered his spine after Will threw him off his body and towards a tree."

Callas's stomach churned, her heart fluttered uncomfortably in her chest as she brought a hand up to her mouth and one to her throat, almost feeling the burning acidic bile rising. "I think I'm going to be sick."

"He healed, Callas, very quickly," Sam tried to reassure her.

Callas turned her head to Embry. "Is that why would wouldn't tell me if he was hurt?"

Embry gulped. "You were already under a lot of stress, I couldn't put you through that."

"So, instead, you lied." She scoffed. "That shouldn't shock me though. I suppose I should be used to it." Callas shook her head, patting Zeus to get off her.

"Where are you going?" Embry asked with worried eyes.

"To Reed."

Callas began to walk towards the sliding doors, pulling them open, with Zeus following her outside. The anger she once held automatically fizzled away. She didn't want to be angry at any of them, they had gone through things that not even she could imagine. It wasn't fair that she reacted like that, when they did—as Emily stated before—just want to protect her and look out for her. Reed heard the door open and he glanced back, looking at Callas with a blank expression before he picked up another stone and threw it. Callas closed the sliding door. Zeus sat down next to her, leaning against her leg as she wrapped her arms around her body, squinting her eyes as the wind picked up again. Reed let out a sigh after throwing another stone. He sat back down on the porch steps, turning his head to see if she was still just standing there, which she was. After turning his head away, huffing, he patted the space next to him before looking down at his lap. She walked over and sat down beside him, not bothering to leave a space between them.

"So, are you scared of me?"

Callas shook her head. "No." Zeus moved to sit on her right. "I'm scared for you."

Reed turned to look at her again. "'For' me? Why?"

"I'm not going to act like they can't hear us, or that you couldn't hear what was going on in there." She crossed her arms over her chest.

"Okay... So?"

"But you were hurt, Reed. I know you're my older brother and you think it's your job to worry about me but it's also my job to worry about you. Will hurt you. Badly. I can't help but feel like it's my fault, and that maybe the next time he tries to hurt you he'll end up killing you—"

"Cal," he cut her off, staring at her face, wrapping his arm around her shoulders. "That won't happen." He shook his head.

"You don't know that."

"But you also don't know if it will, and until that day comes, I won't leave you again. No more secrets." He held up his pinkie finger.

She rolled her eyes, locking her pinkie finger with his. "No more secrets."