"That's great news, thank you, Doctor Richards," Carlisle hummed down the phone, his eyes glancing over to where Rosalie was standing with her back to the rest of the family. Her hand was raised to her mouth and he didn't need super-senses to know that she was biting her nails -  a completely human habit that she had picked up in the past few years whenever she was nervous. "Send my love to your husband and the kids."

There was a sombre silence as the phone call ended, everyone already having heard the entire conversation from across the room. There was one advantage to living in a house of vampires and that was that there was no need to repeat or summarise a phone call conversation. 

Emmett looked conflicted on whether he should go and try to comfort Rosalie, but he knew that Beverly knew her biological sister better than anyone else and if his mate thought keeping a wide berth from Rose was a good idea, that was exactly what he would do. Edward barely reacted to the phone call, his eyes casting a glance to Jasper as the man stiffed a little with the amount of emotions he had been receiving from his family in the past twenty minutes.

"An animal attack," Esme murmured, breaking the silence as she spoke out the words they had became all too familiar with over the course of their coven's history. "You don't think..."

"No," Alice interrupted immediately, her voice a little tight and defensive as she thought about what Esme was implying. "I'd have seen it, if it was her... I saw it for Laurent with Bella, I'd have seen it for Kiara..."

"Well you didn't see it though, did you Alice?" Rosalie suddenly spat, spinning around and shooting a look so fierce and cold that Beverly rose to her feet slightly incase she needed to step in between her sisters and stop whatever potential fight was about to ensue. "If you had maybe just tried a little harder, Kiara wouldn't be laying in a hospital bed back in Forks! She wouldn't have almost DIED!"

Emmett rose to his feet too, moving towards Rosalie with his hands up to try and calm the blonde down. He noticed Jasper focus on the blonde for a moment before Carlisle also stepped forward and shot his adopted daughter a warning look. They all knew that Rosalie had always been rather argumentative before she met Kiara, but ever since leaving her she had become like a ticking time bomb. Edward moping around certainly didn't help things.

"You know I've tried," Alice spat, her voice trembling slightly as she felt a pang of hurt go through her body. "I loved Kiara too, you know that Rose."

"Stop that," Rosalie spoke softly, tears pooling slightly in her eyes as she looked across at the rest of her family with a sort of distain in her mouth. She hated that she would never get to life a normal life, hated the fact that she had to constantly move around and never stay in one place for too long all because of the monster she had been made into. "Stop talking about her as if she's in the past!"

"Rose-"

"No Esme," Rosalie interrupted, taking a step backwards to avoid Esme's motherly gesture of placing a delicate hand onto the blonde's shoulder. "I'm tired of having to hear you all talk about her as if she's just a past memory when I can't stop thinking about her - every single minute of every hour I think about her! This is exactly why I KNEW Edward getting involved with Bella was a stupid idea!"

"Oh come on," Edward suddenly spoke up, having not taken much interest in the conversation until his Bella was brought into it. He liked Kiara, he did, but Bella was a touchy subject for him and while he knew it was partially his fault that Rosalie and Kiara weren't able to still be together, he didn't think it was fair to use his hurting to her advantage. "You and Kiara were doomed from the start."

"EDWARD!" Carlisle wanted loudly, reprimanding his eldest as he looked over at him with a shocked look on his face. The rest of the coven mirrored his expression as they looked at Edward who was staring at Rosalie with no hint of remorse on his face. He didn't regret what he said, knowing that his relationship with Rosalie was probably his weakest out of all the siblings anyway.

"What? It's true, you all knew it," Edward snapped, rising to his feet and slowly moving towards Rosalie whose fits were now clenched at her sides. "You never planned on telling Kiara what we are, what YOU are. Do you really think her family would have ever let your little fantasy even play out? I don't even think you loved her, I just think you liked the idea of someone being so infatuated with you that they'd willingly look past all of your red flags-"

Edward was cut off as Rosalie slammed into him, the rest of the Cullens all yelling out as they went flying through the brick wall behind Edward and into the cold snow that had rested outside their current residence. They continued to struggle against each other before Emmett and Jasper had them both restrained, Jasper using his powers to try and calm both of the grieving vampires down.

Rosalie knew that Edward had lied, and so did he. She had always known that Edward lashed out when he was hurting but she had never expected him to just be so casually cruel to strike a blow at Rosalie. So she composed herself, giving him one last look before turning on her heel and stalking into the forest. She didn't care about when she would come back, she just cared about going hunting to clear her mind of everything he had said.

Because Rosalie didn't want to admit that Edward might have been right about her and Kiara. If he was right, it meant that the universe was against them. If he was right, she'd never get to hold Kiara again.

______

"So you're sure it was an animal that attacked you?"

Kiara looked over at Bella with confusion on her face as they headed out of the school as the final bell rang. She knew it wasn't just some animal that attacked her: Sam and the boys had confirmed that when they had confessed to her that they weren't just...park rangers after all. Some supernatural woman had tried to kill her - and would have easily succeeded had Kiara not phoned Sam when she did.

"Yeah, like a cougar or something," Kiara shrugged, not knowing why Bella was questioning the story that she had fed everyone. She knew saying that it was a wolf was much more believable since everyone was aware of recent wolf sightings, but now that she knew the truth she didn't want to make life harder for her boys, if she still could call them that.

Kiara hadn't given them much time to explain themselves after Sam had informed her of the truth. She had gone through a lot of emotions in less than 3 minutes, before eventually asking the boys - the pack - to leave her alone. She could see that Paul was desperate to beg to stay but one look from Sam had him turning and leaving the room, the others trailing behind with exasperated looks on their faces.

That had been almost two weeks ago, and Kiara was still yet to talk to the boys. She knew that they were looking out for her. Almost as if she was now fully aware of everything, Kiara occasionally would notice a shift in the bushes at the edge of the forest outside the Black residence and when accompanied by the right lighting from the moon, she could sometimes make out a pelt of fur sinking into the darkness of the woods. She wanted to say it unnerved her, but it was a welcome comfort. She might not have known what the woman who attacked her was (since she hadn't given the boys enough time to get into the folklore surrounding vampires before asking them to give her time alone) but she felt more at ease knowing that the boys were there to watch over her.

She wished Bella a hasty goodbye, checking her phone to see if Jacob was on his way to pick her up yet. The February air nipped at her skin, and she felt herself grow a little agitated as a simple 'detention again' text came through from her brother. She turned around to ask Bella for a lift but noticed that the beat up, orange eyesore that she called a truck had already pulled out of the parking lot. It wasn't like she could have cycled home either, for her arm was still wrapped in the sage green cast that it had been snugly tucked in for weeks now after her 'animal' attack. The only difference, was the scrawls of names of her friends across the cast.

Kiara hummed to herself for a moment, her mind drifting to how easy this would have been only a few months ago. She'd just have turned to Rosalie and headed out with the girl to pass the time while Jacob was serving his detention time but now that wasn't an option. Kiara wasn't sure how she had managed to grow so fond of the blonde so quickly, but she knew that she'd never felt anything like it in her life.

She didn't believe in love at first sight, she didn't. But this was... something. It had been something, anyway. Her heart almost clenched for a second as she came to the idea that her summer fling had been just that: a fling. Rosalie was long gone and by the sounds of it, so were the rest of the Cullens. 

"Hey," Kiara murmured as she pressed the phone to her ear, hearing the surprised intake of breath on the other end at her voice. "Can I see you?"

_______

"You know," Emily told Kiara as she shut the driver door behind her. "You seem to be taking this all really well."

Kiara sniggerd under her breath a little as she followed the woman inside, throwing her school rucksack to the side as she perched herself at the breakfast bar. Emily had already informed her that she had been brewing a pot of hot chocolate for the boys, so Kiara gracefully accepted the mug as the woman passed it to her minutes later.

Emiy sat down across from her, the three scars on her face almost reminding Kiara of the danger of the situation she had found herself in. She had figured out by now that Emily's scar didn't come from some animal attack, but she wasn't sure if she was ready to have the answers to which one of the boys had caused it. It served as a reminder to her how volatie they could be, but yet Kiara found herself more connected to the boys than ever.

"I think I knew the whole 'park ranger' thing was a lie, and while I didn't expect this, it does make a lot more sense than you'd exepct," Kiara admitted, sipping on her hot chocolate as she looked up at the clock to see the time. She wasn't sure when the boys would be back from what Emily had called 'patrol' earlier, but she knew it was time for her to but her weeks long cold shoulder to rest. 

"I freaked out," Emily admitted, laughing as she put down her cup. "I mean, one minute Sam was breaking up with my cousin and confessing his love for me and then the next week he was turning into a horse sized wolf. That's not something you just move past quickly."

"That must have been hard for you, you know... with Leah and all..." Kiara murmured before she had even thought about what she was saying. She saw Emily swallow a guilty smile for a moment before nodding solemly. 

"What Sam did to Leah... there's no coming back from that," Emily explained, fiddling with the engagement ring on her finger for a second before looking back up at Kiara with a look in her eyes that the teenage girl couldn't quite place. "Unfortunatley, fate had other ideas."

Just before Kiara could muster up the courage to ask if Sam had accidentally given Emily those scars (although looking back she realised how inappropriate that would have been), whoops and hollers were heard from outside as the three boys rushed back towards the cabin. Kiara felt her chest tighten a little at the way Emily's eyes returned back to the sparkle they always seemed to have when Sam was around, her eyes instantly shooting to the front door as she waited for the love of her life to come home to her.

Paul slammed into Jared's back as the boy skidded to a halt outside, groaning and muttering as he pushed his friend slightly in annoyance. He went to ask why Jared had stopped as if he had been frozen, but the sound of the screen door opening caused him to freeze in surprise too.

Emily had already had her arms wrapped around Sam's shoulders, having trotted happily down the front porch steps and into her fiance's arms. Standing just behind the embracing couple, with an anxious smile on her face was their friend who they hadn't expected to see so soon. The last time they had seen her, the green cast on her arm was wrapped in a sling around her neck and the cuts on her face and neck were much more obvious. Now, however, the cuts seemed to mostly have healed and her cast arm hung at her side, free from the old sling it had once rested in.

"Hey," Kiara breathed out, noticing how Sam sent her an understanding smile and nod of encouragement. He didn't mind if Kiara wanted nothing to do with him, and while he had somewhat grown to almost feel like a big brother to the girl, he knew that the bond between Jared and Paul and her was more important to the teenager. Which is why Kiara's smile back almost surprised him. They'd came a long way from him getting her expelled from La Push High.

"Take a walk with me?"

______

"So... Jake too?"

Sam shrugged as he watched Paul and Jared wrestle each other in their wolf form, Kiara and him sitting side by side on a fallen tree log as she smiled at their antics. It had taken a moment or two for her to wrap her head around the boys turning into wolves, but once she had seen them up close, she knew they were harmless to her.

"Potentially," Sam admitted, not needing any supernatural abilites to feel the unasked question in Kiara's thoughts. "Not you though. The elders told us the genetic trait to shift is only passed onto males."

Kiara scoffed a little, nudging his shoulder with her own as she teased him for a second. "Like you could handle me in the pack anyway," she joked, the alpha chuckling back. He almost agreed with the statement, knowing that her anger was worse than Paul's and that was without the short fuse of being a wolf - he'd have hated to see how bad it would have been had she been able to phase.

"If... other supernaturals... were to come to Forks or La Push, he might phase," Sam explained, purposefully leaving out the word vampire. They'd discussed it with Billy and it had been decided that since the Cullen's were seemingly history, it was maybe best for Kiara's mental health to not actually inform her of what her school friends had been. Paul didn't agree, but he had to follow his alpha's orders. "But we'll see."

"Wait, so Embry? That's why he was at the hospital when I woke?" Kiara asked, her mind flickering back to the boy she hadn't seen since. Sam nodded, having been wondering when the question of the other boy would come up.

"He only shifted for the first time the day before you were attacked," Sam explained, thinking about how uncomfortable the experience had been for him. "He's sleeping at the moment, he was on patrol last night and it takes some getting used to."

"Did it for you?"

"Yeah," Sam admitted. "I couldn't figure out how to turn back for a week. There wasn't anyone to guide me through it the way I have for the others, just the elders who found me once I finally figured it out and told me all those legends and myths I thought were just that, were actually real. Takes a lot to get used to. But thankfully, I had Emily and the elders to help me adjust, but even then, mistakes were made."

There was a heavy pause for a moment as Jared and Paul disappeared into the trees, still playfully sparring with each other. Kiara looked over and saw the pain on Sam's face and knew instantly what he was talking about. The dots had been connceted for her, and she suddenly felt like she was finally seeing Sam as more than just the leader of the pack of boys.

"Emily's face," Kiara murmured, and Sam nodded in confirmation. "You did that?"

"I won't go into it too much as I'm sure the boys will fill you in, but sometimes us wolves connect with others in a way that you'd maybe think is like a soulmate. It's a bit like love at first sight, but as soon as it happens you know there's no-one else you'd ever put above them. As soon as I saw Emily after I had first shifted, it was like she was all there was that was keeping me here. Hurting her? That almost killed me," Sam admitted, surprising both himself and Kiara at how much he was opening up to her. "I begged for her to tell me to kill myself, because I couldn't live with what I had done to her."

"Sam..." Kiara trailed off, not sure what to say. 

"Anyway," Sam said, clearly deciding they'd had enough of that topic. "That's why I was so cautious about you being around Paul when he first shifted, your temper combined with his was set to have catastrophic results. So I figured getting you sent to Forks High was the only way to prevent you from being harmed."

Kiara almost laughed at the irony. Sure, she was maybe free from physical harm at Forks High but Sam's decision had left her mentally missing a piece of herself, a piece that Rosalie Hale had taken with her when she left Kiara behind without so much as a goodbye.

_____

"Hey, Kie..., it's Rose. Rosalie... Hale. I know it's late at night so you won't see this until the morning but I just wanted to check in on you. Carlisle heard through the grapevine about your attack and I was just calling because I needed to hear your voice but you must be sleeping, but even when you wake if  you just send me a message to let me know you're alright. I miss you. I'm sorry."