𝑪𝒂𝒓𝒕𝒆𝒓

    The pack house would always be Sam and Emily's house. I don't think they minded though, Emily always loved having us around and no matter how many times Sam seemed to complain about how annoying we were he liked it too. I think we reminded him of when he, my dad and my 'uncles' were younger — when they'd spend their days around the house, eating and messing around.

They never stopped though to be honest. There had been plenty of occasions where Alex, Amelia, Brandon, Jackson and I had come in after a patrol shift and what we called the older pack members were sitting around Emily's dining table throwing bits of cookie at each other. The special part of it was that pack life truly never died, you were tied to the people in your pack for the rest of your life because of the special connection you had to them.

They hadn't given up on shifting just yet though and more often than not my uncle Quil, Embry and Jared asked me if I wanted them to help out with patrol. They explained to me that they were just trying to help us 'younger generation' out and take the strain off of us while we adjusted to pack life but I knew deep down it was because they missed it. The three of them loved going on patrol together and they roped my dad into it too. Before I knew it the entire older generation of the pack were back on patrol.

It gave Amelia, Brandon, Alex, Jackson and I a night off which was always nice and it made patrol a whole lot easier for us. I didn't realise how big our land was and with the new treaty bringing Quileute and Cullen territory together we basically had the whole of Forks and La Push to cover. It was hard but it was fun.

My favourite shift was with Jared, Brandon and my dad. We always had a good night and it was the only shift I had with my dad too although it was for it's reasons. We hardly ever covered any land because my dad and I just messed around and then we drew Jared and Brandon into it also. So while it was a good night we never really got anything done.

The weirdest part of pack life was adjusting to being the leader.

Sam had stepped down from his position as Alpha a couple of weeks before my eighteenth birthday. The position fell to me which had been a big shock for quite a few — including me. My mom didn't think the Alpha position would fall to me, she thought it would fall to Amelia given that she was the Alpha's daughter. It was weird, knowing that you'd take over as the top of the pack and have the ability to order others around. I could give my dad an order and he would have to obey it because I was his Alpha. Even now I still found it weird.

Taking over as Alpha was daunting. I didn't think I would ever be good enough to take the role of such a big responsibility but everyone was there for me every step of the way. Sam advised me on everything, he'd answer any questions I had but his words were that he couldn't teach me how to be an Alpha because everyone would lead a pack differently. I was scared but I had Amelia by my side to help me.

Amelia phased only a month after I had and it was the longest month of my life not being able to see her. Her phasing came as quite a shock. It was never written in the legends that females phased, Leah was a first and she took all the elders by surprise. They thought it would be a one off thing and so when Amelia started showing the typical symptoms of phasing she twisted the ways of the legends.

I was glad she phased though because not only did we have each other to lean on during and after the process, she helped me out as the Alpha. To be honest, she was more of the Alpha than I was — we took the position together.

She was sitting on my knee as we sat around the dining table. Sam and Emily had to buy a bigger table to fit all of us around it — even now Amelia had to sit on my knee and Quil had to stand up. Emily was making muffins in the kitchen for us all but I knew they'd be gone as soon as the plate touched the table.

The pack were talking about trivial things, having a general conversation around the topic of Seth proposing to his girlfriend and Leah teasing him about it but I was barely paying any attention. My attention was focused on the love of my life as she sat in front of me.

I often lost my focus to her because she always stole my attention. It was corny but I was so in love with Amelia. I didn't think it were possible. The way my mom and dad talked about the imprinting bond and everyone in the pack, there was a part of me that thought it wasn't true. I thought they were just in love anyways.

The truth was I'd had a crush on Amelia since I was 14 and my feelings for her had only developed. When I imprinted on her I was suffocated in an array of feelings. I didn't know what to do with them but I figured it out and I was glad that I had.

I was so in love with Amelia and I was never ashamed to admit it. I loved every little thing about her, I loved how she liked to braid her hair, the freckles that dotted her cheeks and nose, her brown coloured eyes, the prefect placing of the pack tattoo on on her shoulder blade. I loved her laugh, how her eyes crinkled when she smiled, how she could be so soft one minute but tough the next.

I was in love with her — completely and utterly.

When she met my eyes and smiled I was in a haze. I only saw her. I saw her lips moving but I couldn't hear what she was saying. She drew me in and didn't let go.

I only snapped out of my daze when she ran her fingers through my hair and cupped the back of my neck, "Didn't you hear me?" She asked me.

I shook my head, completely honest with her, "I was too lost."

She furrowed her brows as she smiled,
"Again?"

"I can't help being in love with you." I told her, "It's your fault."

"Right." She chuckled. I was glad the rest of the pack weren't listening to our conversation, rather carrying on with their own, "It's my fault I distract you."

I kissed her on the cheek and gave her a sly wink, "Hit the nail right on the head."

She shook her head, looping her arm around my shoulders and sitting sideways on my knee. She didn't reply to me, rather turn to the topic of discussion amongst the pack. I looked around and met my dads eye. He had that expression, that look, and I turned away quickly before he had the chance to tease me. His phone started to ring and he left the table to take the call.

"So how did you propose?" I caught Amelia asking and I glanced to see her looking at Jared.

We must've progressed from Seth's topic of proposal to the topic of proposals in general.

"Took Kim to a log cabin up in Canada. We were sitting in the hot tub watching the sun set and I just popped the question." Jared shrugged nonchalantly.

"Yeah like it was that simple." Quil snorted.

"What if she says no?" Embry said, looking to Jared.

I chuckled as I realised he was mocking him.

"Am I doing this right?"

Sam joined in, "Do I have to get on one knee?"

Quil chimed, "How do you get on one knee if you're in a hot tub?"

"All right, knock it off." Jared told them all, "I still did it didn't I? Before all of you so shut it."

Alex shook his head next to me, "God, dad, who knew you were such a stress-head."

"No, no ones seen a stress-head until they've seen Paul on Christmas Eve in 2008 before he proposed to Sophia." Leah chimed as she looked to Alex.

My dad brought the phone away from his ear across the other side of the room as he yelled, "Hey, I heard that!"

I sat forwards somewhat in my chair. I'd never heard a point of view that wasn't my mom and dad when it came to their engagement. I wouldn't of put it passed my dad to be the stressy type, he was so laid back.

"My dad was stressed about proposing to my mom?" I found myself asking.

Sam shook his head as he dropped it and said, "God."

"Worst person to be around, ever." Jared said to me.

"Yeah. We helped him plan it out, listened to his idea of proposing outside in the snow and all he did was second guess himself." Embry chimed.

"It was painful." Quil nodded.

Emily slapped his arm lightly, "It wasn't painful. It was sweet to see him so anxious."

"I don't know why." Sam said, "We all knew your mom was going to say yes, they couldn't stay apart— can't now. All he talked about from the day he met her was how he was going to marry her one day."

Amelia smiled, "That's so sweet."

Leah nodded before saying, "I have to give it to you guys. I was so nervous when I saw Chase get down on one knee."

Ah, Leah and Chase. That really was one none of us saw coming. Ever. You can imagine how unconventional their meeting was given Leah's blunt personality. She didn't believe what was happening at first, why she was imprinting on someone she'd bumped into in the middle of Port Angeles with Kim and my mom. I think she'd long accepted the chances of her finding someone were slim although I wasn't sure why. The whole pack was happy for her though, she deserved her shot at happiness and now she had it.

"Now that was a long time coming." Seth said.

Leah narrowed her eyes at her younger brother and she shoved him. I'd say it was a light shove but Seth stumbled so far he fell into the back of the sofa.

"Not long to go now, Leah." Amelia said with an excited grin.

Leah let out a long breath and nodded, "Yeah. I never thought I'd get engaged so I'm still processing the whole marriage thing. It's not really up my street." She said to us all.

Emily smiled at her, "I, for one, can't wait."

Leah reciprocated Emily's smile and nodded, a nice silence settling into the room. My mom had told me of what had happened between Sam, Leah and Emily — the whole love triangle and Leah spending a few years hating Sam completely for everything even when it was out of his control. She didn't understand how the imprinting bond affected you as a person but after she imprinted on Chase she knew why Sam did what he did to her. It wasn't personal anymore and she forgave him, finally allowing herself to rebuild her friendship with Emily.

My dad returned from his phone call then and before anyone could break us into a new conversation he said, "I've got to go. That was Sophia, Arelle's been sent home from school."

Emily frowned, "That's not like Arelle."

"Is she okay, dad?" I asked.

"Soph said she's running up a fever." My dad responded, looking absentmindedly down to his phone, "She was fine this morning though."

Silence seeped across the room at the mention of Arelle spiking a temperature. It was always a grey area whenever a high temperature was involved. It was surprising enough when Ameila phased, even the Elders couldn't explain it but adding Arelle into the mix as well?

"She's not even 15 yet." Sam frowned.

Seth shrugged, "I was 14."

My dad sighed before scratching his forehead, "It might just be a fever, we don't know. Soph is freaking out though so I'm going to go home."

"Do you want me to come?" I offered.

"No, you stay here." He said to me, "You can pick Kyra up from school though later please, if you don't mind."

Amelia glanced at me fleetingly before she smiled at my dad, "We'd love to."

"I'll keep you updated." He said to Amelia and I, "I just hope it's a bug."

I nodded, pressing my lips together and around the table the pack nodded in agreement too, "I'm sure she'll be all right." Sam said to my dad.

From his knee Emily smiled sympathetically up at my dad and reached out for his arm where she squeezed it gently, "Tell Sophia to call me if she needs anything." She offered.

"Thanks Emily." My dad sighed before stepping away from the table, "I'll see you guys later."

A loud chorus of 'bye' echoed across the room directed to my dad and he exited the house through the front door. An unexplainable silence followed my dads exit. It was hard because I could feel how worried he was as he ran back to our house and I knew the pack could feel it too, they sympathised with my dad.

I hadn't had to sit and watch my child phase but my mom had told me she had been worried sick during my process. I wasn't too bad, I was scared for obvious reasons. All of what my mom and dad had told me, the Elders had taught us about phasing had disappeared from my head the night I first phased but it wasn't as bad as what I was expecting it to be. It wasn't as painful as what I thought it would be.

Arelle was 14 though and I think my mom just wanted her to at least get to 16 before she phased — or if she did.

It was just a waiting game and that was probably the worst part of it all.

* * *

Amelia hadn't bonded with the Cullen family like I had. Her mom and dad didn't have much of a friendship with the family in the first place and so the only time she ever interacted with them really was when she was with me. It wasn't that she didn't like them, she was just unfamiliar with them and things like that put her on edge often. She was a confident person — meeting new people didn't phase her or anything — but she didn't like it when she couldn't understand a person. She never really had the time to get to know the family of vampires I found myself related to and because of that she didn't know them very well.

When I pulled up to the modern three story house they'd been living in since before I was born she looked out of the window before turning to me, "I say this every time we come here but I can't believe they live in a house like this."

"I know." I nodded, "It's so open."

And it was. The walls of the house were mostly made up of floor to ceiling windows, no drapes or blinds to cover them on a night but they were tinted. It was in a private space though, a well concealed area that you wouldn't really find unless you were looking for it. If this had been a house in the middle of Forks or La Push I'd of hated it because then it wasn't private.

"Yes!" Kyra cheered in excitement from the backseat and I turned to see her unbuckling her seatbelt quickly to get out. My younger sister opened her door quickly and got out, running up the pathway and the few stone steps before entering the house. She left both her car door open and the house door open in her rush to get upstairs and I shook my head in amusement as I watched her.

I took my own belt off and turned to Amelia, "Are you coming?" She glanced to me but before she could reply I added, "You don't have to. You can stay in the car if you want."

"No, I'll come." She said to me with a small smile.

My eyes immediately flickered down to the dimple on the left side of her face near her mouth. It always appeared whenever she smiled or laughed and I loved it. I nodded in response, getting out the car and closing Kyra's car door after her before taking Amelia's hand and walking up to the Cullen house. The both of us walked in and up the wooden staircase to the first floor but I could already hear my sisters excited voice as she talked quickly.

I walked into the living room, Amelia just behind me and I smiled at the family as they noticed me.

"Carter, I was wondering if you were coming up." Emmett said to me with a grin, he was stood closest to me. He extended his hand and I took it as he pulled me in for a short hug and clapped my back in greeting, "How's the Alpha?"

I shook my head bashfully in response before saying, "I'm all right."

"Good, that's good." He nodded with a smug grin. Emmett had a thing for calling me Alpha, I didn't know why he did it — sometimes it was just to wind me up but I think it was because he knew how uncomfortable I became sometimes when people called me by that.

Esme walked towards me with her arms open and I gave her a quick hug before she pressed a kiss to my cheek in greeting. When I had been growing up it was like I had three sets of grandparents — actually I had a lot of grandparents. I had my grandma Renee and grandpa Phil then grandma Sue and grandpa Charlie — my moms parents and step parents. Then I had my grandma Nelly, but I didn't see much of her, and my grandpa Terry or Terrance as his full name was — they were my dads parents. Esme and Carlisle were like another set of grandparents to my sisters and I. The rest of the Cullen family were like our aunts and uncles.

It was hard to keep on top of having a big family that was for sure.

"How've you been Carter?" Esme asked me with a smile.

"Good, good." I nodded, "You?"

Her smile broadened, "I've been great, thank you." She said to me and then she looked over to my shoulder to Amelia, "Hello Amelia."

I glanced back at her to see her stood behind me and she waved awkwardly, "Hi Mrs. Cullen."

Esme waved her hand dismissively, "Oh please, you should know by now to call me Esme."  

Amelia nodded in response as Carlisle caught my attention, "How's your sister Carter?"

"Yeah, she's all right." I told him, "Mom said she was sick twice when she brought her home so they're thinking a stomach bug."

"That's good." Carlisle nodded, "I was worried when she mentioned her shifting."

"Yeah so was she." I responded, "My dad said she was still too young."

Now that I was older I knew that Carlisle felt somewhat at blame for my shifting and Amelia, Alex, Jackson and Brandon's too. All the family did because they were still our 'natural enemies'. Our bodies were designed to change to protect our people whenever they sensed a danger nearby which was why we had phased. We as people knew the Cullens weren't a danger but our genetics didn't know that.

I saw my sister sitting on the marble island I'd eaten numerous meals off of with Rosalie, chatting away quickly to her while she told her about her day. Kyra loved Rosalie — she looked up to her and in return Rosalie adored my sister. They had quite a special bond.

My aunt Bella and uncle Edward walked in and they noticed Amelia and I standing by Emmett and Esme. Bella gave me a half smile and nodded at me before saying, "Carter."

"Aunt Bella." I greeted her.

"How's your mom holding up?" She asked me, "I tried calling her a half hour ago but she didn't answer."

"She's okay now I think." I told my aunt, "My dad said they think Arelle has a stomach bug so I think that's calmed her down a bit."

"That's good." Bella smiled as she sat down on the sofa, "Not that Arelle has a bug but that she's not phasing just yet."

"Yeah." I agreed, leaning against the kitchen counter, "Even though Seth was 14 it's still daunting to us all.. and besides, I couldn't imagine having my sister in the pack."

Emmett laughed at that, "She'll be a badass." He told me, "That girl could kick anyone's ass."

"What about me?" Kyra asked him enthusiastically with a grin, looking over from telling Rosalie about her day, "Could I kick anyone's ass?"

I pressed my lips together silently and watched as Rosalie shook her head to herself. She took a second to collect herself before saying to my sister, "Of course, you can help your mom kick Emmett's after she finds out he taught you that word."

"What, ass?" She asked, repeating it.

"No, no!" Emmett rushed quickly, "Don't repeat it."

Yeah, he knew my mom was going to kick his ass.

Kyra grinned before saying, "Ass."

"Oh god." Emmett sighed, "Look, Kyra, I'll give you $20 if you don't say that word in front of your mom."

"Come on." Edward said, "It's not like she doesn't say worse."

"Sophia doesn't swear in front of her kids." Rosalie told her adoptive brother.

"She swears in front of me." I added.

"Yeah but you're older." Emmett said quickly before he went back to bribing Kyra. He pulled a $20 bill out of his back pocket, "So what do you say Ky?"

"Okay." She nodded, taking the money from his hand, "That was the easiest $20 I ever made! Hey, maybe I should swear more often, teach me more swear words!"

Rosalie scowled at Emmett, "Now you've done it."

"Sophia is going to kill you." Bella told Emmett.

"Who is Sophia going to kill?" Jasper asked, coming into the room with an amused expression on his face. He and Alice looked over to Amelia and I and the two greeted us.

"Hey guys." I smiled, watching as Alice took Amelia by surprise as she pulled her in for a short hug.

"Aunt Alice I learnt a new word!" Kyra beamed at her, "And I got $20 for it too!"

Alice smiled at my little sister and she ruffled her hair, "That's great, Ky, what word was it?"

"No—!"

"—Ass!" She replied proudly, cutting Emmett, Rosalie and Edward off as they tried to halt Kyra.

Jasper tugged his lips down in amusement and nodded before saying, "So that's why Sophia's going to kill someone."

Alice's brows were high, "Who taught you that?"

"Emmett!"

The man in question dropped his head into his hand and shook it in despair, "Jesus."

"Why would you teach her that?!" Alice hissed at him.

"I didn't it was an accident! I even paid her the $20 to not repeat it which now technically she should give back."

"That's not how it works." I said to him.

"Who's side are you on?" Emmett asked me.

I raised my hands in surrender before looking to Carlisle and Esme, "I think my dad said something about Kyra stopping and grandpa Charlie's tonight. My mom doesn't want her to catch this bug Arelle's got."

"That's fine." Carlisle smiled warmly at me, "We could drop her off later on."

I nodded, "I think my mom is going to drop a bag round or grandpa is going to pick it up and then come for Kyra but I'm not sure."

Esme nodded, "Okay."

"I'm sure Ness will probably go round to dads later then with Kyra." Bella said.

I nodded before turning to my sister, "Give me a squish, Kyra." I said to her.

Kyra gave me a quick hug before hugging Amelia too and saying, "Bye guys!"

"See you later, Kyra." Amelia smiled at her.

"Carter are you going home?" Esme asked me.

"Oh, no, I was stopping at Amelia's tonight anyways." I responded.

She nodded, "Well, I'll see you both later." She said to me as the rest of the family said goodbye too. Amelia and I walked out of the living room.

"Bye!" I called back.

"Oh!" I heard Emmett call as I stood on the stairs, "Make sure you guys use protection!"

"Jesus Christ." I muttered in response, shaking my head in embarrassment.

• • •

A/N; so I'm going to be writing a couple of introductory chapters before I filter into plot I have planned. It's just me easing all the characters back into the story before I jump straight back into the dramatics. Also, I don't actually know if Leah ever found love again after Sam but I couldn't not give her a happy ending so she now has an imprint of her own.