The small black wolf snarled as it spun in a circle, snapping its jaws backwards as it tried to rip off the attacker. It had leeched on to her, and now she was in a battle to get it off before things got worse.

"You know, it would be easier if you just let Emily cut your hair, like Leah."

Kiara snorted in annoyance as she continued to twist and turn, ignoring the voice of Paul as it echoed through her head. The larger wolf let out laughs, noises that would have resembled small barks had Kiara not been able to hear Paul physically laughing through their pack link.

She sighed, knowing he was right but refusing to stoop to cutting her hair. She had spent so long trying to grow it out nicely, and she wasn't in the mood to lose that too after the chaotic few weeks she had just gone through. Sam had told her that if she kept her human hair short, her wold coat would be much more manageable. Leah had tried to convince her to cut it with her, saying that it would help her feel like she was going through more of a fresh start.

To be fully honest, Kiara didn't want to have a fresh start. She didn't want to embrace the wolf life-style, she didn't want to abandon her dreams of going to college, she didn't want to be cursed with the knowledge that her and Rosalie were literally mortal enemies. She wanted her life back - not a new one.

"I'll get it, stand still," Paul told her, nuzzling alongside her and swiping his front paw through her shaggy fur a couple of times to rid her of her attacker: another small broken tree branch that was burying itself into her fur. She thanked him, nuzzling his shoulder with her snout before they continued to walk their patrol route in a comfortable conversation.

Sam had paired her and Paul up for most of their patrols since they had returned from the Canadian border, especially since Leah and Seth had both gone back to school now. She was set to return the next day, something that the entire pack was dreading on her behalf. Since she couldn't get changed back to La Push High, Kiara was about to be the first shapeshifter to have to navigate attending school with the Cullens.

Kiara had caught glimpses of some of them - occasionally she'd smell then spot Emmet and Beverly taking a stroll on the other side of the treaty line when on patrol. Paul often paid them no notice, but Kiara would often pause for a second. If Paul noticed the short flashes of memories that Cullen sightings would give Kiara, he kept it to himself.

There was something ironic about how the one wolf who had hated the Cullens more than anyone had found himself trying to become intolerant to them rather than agitated. He supposed it was for Kiara's benefit, especially with how much time they were spending together with their minds linked.

"Look, I got the tattoo but I draw the line at cutting my hair," Kiara told Paul, the other wolf nudging her shoulder as they walked. He knew that she was stubborn so it had genuinely surprised him when she had gone ahead with getting the tribal tattoo on her shoulder. Truth being said, he was also pretty sure that Sam had instructed the elder that had done it to make it smaller than the rest as it didn't seem to be as obvious as Leah's and the rest of the boys.

Paul hated the way the pack looked at his best friend. He'd always been on the receiving ends of the look they gave her, knowing that he was a ticking time bomb with an awful temper. It turned out Kiara Black had a wolfy temper that matched his, without the years of control under belt that he had. He knew it was making her anxious, to the point that she was actively avoiding spending time with Jacob and her father because she knew there were various arguments brewing under the surface.

She'd been crashing at the Clearwater's house a lot, Paul's small hut that he shared with Jared (the boys had moved in together a year prior - although they barely spent any time there) or at Sam and Emily's. Jacob was constantly complaining about not being able to bring himself to speak to Bella, especially since Sam had used his alpha command ability to demand that Jacob didn't tell Bella - or the Cullen's, since he was often found antagonising Edward - about Kiara joining the pack. It was her choice whether or not she told them.

Kiara didn't want to remind them that they'd find out when she returned to school since they'd be able to pick up on her scent change, but she appreciated Sam's gesture and chose not to ruin the moment when he told her what he had said to Jacob.

"You're worried about seeing them, aren't you?"

She turned her head to look at Paul, faltering in her next step for a second. She didn't expect the boy to bring up the elephant in the room - or forest, she thought. She knew it had been clouding her thoughts, but she hadn't realised just how much she was projecting them to Paul during their patrol shift. It was getting darker now, and they were both almost done for the night, so he must have been listening to it for the past two hours.

"Kinda," Kiara told him, scratching the dirt beneath her paws. "I'm more worried about my control, than seeing them. She... she won't be there, so I'll be fine as long as I control it."

Paul didn't ask who she was. Rosalie Hale had been tormenting Kiara's thoughts all week as they got closer to her returning to school. She knew that the vampire would find out as soon as Edward, Alice and Jasper returned from school that day, and despite the natural disgust that filled her every time she thought about vampires and how they had lied to her, she couldn't help but just wish she had been able to break the news to Rosalie herself.

Paul wished she'd grow a pair and just tell the girl over the phone. Sure, she wasn't able to just turn up at the Cullen's house because of the treaty, but phoning her violated no tribe laws. Also, it would give him some peace from the constant guilt that wrecked Kiara's mind.

"I can hear your thoughts, Paul."

"Oh, shit, yeah... sorry."

Kiara rolled her eyes, going silent for the first time that evening. She knew he didn't mean any harm, but being reminded that she was the one stopping herself from contacting Rosalie did suck. She had so much guilt; guilt for not contacting her, guilt for WANTING to contact her after finding out what she was, guilt for not telling her dad about her past relationship, guilt for going against Sam's wishes... just so much guilt.

"Look, there's no point worrying. Our patrol is almost over and before you know it you'll be waking up to go back to school tomorrow. She'll find out then, regardless." 

The black wolf huffed, knowing that Paul was right. They ventured away from the treaty line, heading back towards Sam's as they both felt the presence of two new voices in their head who had caught the end of their conversation.

"Who'll find out about what?" Jared asked, having just phased outside Sam and Emily's. 

"Leave it," Leah warned Jared, having already figured out what they must have been talking about. She didn't tolerate Kiara's thoughts about the Cullen's the way Paul did, but she'd at least heard them enough to be able to assume what the conversation was referring to.

Paul and Kiara didn't say much more as they continued walking to meet with the other two wolves halfway. Jared knew to change the topic, so he instantly did as he thought back to the scene he had just witnessed while waiting on Leah to arrive at the pack house.

"Kiara, your brother is moping about Bella again since she's gone off to Jacksonville with Edward. Keeps telling Sam that its the perfect cover story for the bloodsucker to change her," Jared snarked, a chuckle echoing through their mind link. Kiara smirked a little, knowing that her brother was being dramatic.

She had been informed about Bella's wish to become a vampire and while she hated it, she was a lot more rationally thinking than Jacob about the timeframe that it would probably happen in. It was no secret that their graduation was coming up quickly, and Kiara knew there was no way they'd turn her before such a public event.

"Can't wait to hear all about it when I get back in," Kiara snarked back, Paul snorting beside her. He continued the conversation, making another dig at Jacob and his unrequited love for Bella Swan before he noticed that Kiara had stopped in her tracks behind him.

The black wolf was almost frozen in its spot, the only sign of life being the quickening movements of its rib cage and the hot air from its nostrils showing against the coldness of the Washington night.

"Kie? What is it?"

He went to call out her name again, paying little attention to the worried questions of Jared and Leah who had increased their pace to the location of their pack members. Paul paused, ignoring them for a second as his ears swivelled in the direction that Kiara's head was turned.

There was a pause.

"Shit," Paul yelled in his head, immediately catching on to what Kiara had caught. He tilted his head back, the ears pressed against the side of his head as he let out a large howl into the air. Jared and Leah quickened their pace, focusing on Kiara's thoughts as the black wolf sprung forward into action with Paul hot on her heels.

Kiara was seeing red.

She knew that scent. She didn't know she knew it until it hit her nose, but she knew it.

Paul and Kiara skidded as they rounded out of the edge of the trees, instantly catching sight of the red head who had just jumped over the water and into their side of the treaty land. If it had been any other vampire, Kiara might have taken a quick second to glance over at the Cullens who were running parallel to them but it wasn't any vampire.

It was that bitch that had attacked her and given her a broken arm and a lovely neck scar. It seemed Paul was also keen to return the favour as he pushed alongside Kiara, loud warning snarls leaving his mouth as he nipped at her ankles.

The vampire knew what she was doing, however, and continued to bounce across the treaty line while running. While Paul was quick, Kiara was much quicker and managed to stay on Victoria's heels more successfully than the older wolf. She lunged forward, almost catching her but missing once more as she crossed back over to the vampires side.

Kiara and Paul lost sight of her for a moment, but shouts from the Cullens alerted Kiara to the fact that the red head had obviously made the jump across once more. She lunged forward without thinking, smelling the overwhelming scent of vampire come in her direction. The black wolf slammed her body into the vampire, sending them both tumbling down the rocks and into the shallow water as they wrestled.

The vampire threw her off, a sickening crack being heard as her body - more specifically her back right leg - slammed into the rock formation. She whimpered, immediately finding Paul standing between her and the vampire as he snarled loudly. She felt her bones click back into place as the rest of the pack shouted out various comments from their mind link, having phased as soon as they heard Paul's warning howl.

Kiara realised her mistake as soon as Paul turned around to brush himself against her reassuringly.

She hadn't slammed into Victoria, but rather Emmet Cullen who was standing soaking wet in the water that marked the treaty line. The man had obviously jumped across in the heat of the moment and her inexperienced nose had got the distinct yet familiar vampires scent mixed up. Sam and the others rushed past, still hot on the heels of Victoria as Kiara finally looked up and noticed the rest of the Cullen coven standing on the other side of the rock bank.

Paul continued to nuzzle her side, making sure that his best friend was okay while turning his head and snarling at the vampires. Beverly had shouted for Emmet, snapping the man out of his defensive stance as he moved backwards through the water and away from the wolves without turning his back on them until he reached the other side of the water bank.

Carlisle stepped forward, his hands raised in the air as Paul continued to snarl his way.

"I extend my sincere apologies," Carlisle called out, trying to diffuse the situation as he eyed the smaller wolf that was clearly new to the pack since they had last encountered them. The wolf picked itself up slowly, still letting out a soft whine as the bone clicked back into place.

Kiara looked up at him, knowing that they all no realisation that the smaller wolf in front of them was herself. She eyed the line for a second despite the pleadings of Paul to just leave, her eyes trailing along them all with new eyes. She noticed things on them she'd never really seen before - things that were unnoticeable to a normal human eye. Small marks here and there on their perfect skin - especially on Jasper's arms - and the colour of the golden around their irises seemed more irregular now.

"Calm down, dog," a voice called out, and Kiara instantly found her eyes drawn to the blonde who was standing with her arms crossed next to Beverly. Her hair was flowing loosely around her shoulders, minus two individual strands that seemed to frame her face. 

It was like... like time had frozen. Kiara felt her eyes look into Rosalie's eyes, and her heart dropped. She felt her ears flatten against her head as she continued to look at the vampire that was glaring down at the two wolves, continuing to mutter insults about how they'd lost Victoria because of the smaller wolf and Emmet's joint mistakes. 

Kiara knew Rosalie was beautiful, but it was like she had been blind and was seeing for the very first time. She swore that life was rewriting itself in front of her, because suddenly it was like her entire existence was linked to the girl. The golden hue of her hair and irises were suddenly her new favourite colour, and Kiara felt that looking into her eyes would have equated to sinking in pools of molten gold.

Rosalie Hale was the most ethereal being that Kiara Black had ever seen in her life.

She took a step forward involuntarily, her eyes unable to look away from the vampire who was still looking down on her like she was dirt on the bottom of her shoe. Kiara didn't care - all she cared about was that Rosalie was looking at her.

Just before her paw came into contact with the ground, she yelped as teeth clamped around the scruff of her neck. Snarling a little, she spun around to notice the scowl etched on Paul's wolf snout. It was like the trance was broken as she tuned back into the mind link, hearing the yells and snarls of her pack mates as they continued to chase Victoria upwards towards the border.

"Kiara, we need to go, NOW."

Paul might not have been her alpha, but Kiara knew when the boy was right. She cast one last look over her should at the Cullens, noticing that even though she was scowling, Rosalie was yet to take her eyes off the wolf. Paul barked once more, causing Kiara to snap out of it and race back after him.

They weren't going to join the others, that was apparent when Paul lead them straight to the pack house where an anxious Emily had been sitting on the porch chair as she awaited news of the wolves. She stood up at the sight of the two wolves coming from the trees, sighing as she noticed it was Paul and Kiara who had been the ones to raise the warning signal that had sent all of the boys scrambling out of the house. It was no secret that after Sam, Kiara was her biggest concern in the pack.

Paul shifted back, grabbing his clothes and pulling them on before instantly beginning to pace back and forth while he waited on Kiara to finish getting changed. Emily began to move towards them, concerned again as she noticed how freaked out Paul looked.

"What's wrong? What happened?"

"Everyone's fine Em," Paul breathed, hugging the woman who had begun to panic once she saw the look of despair on Paul's face as he waited on Kiara. "It was the red-headed leech, the rest are chasing her but I don't think we'll get her this time."

Kiara turned around to face them both, her eyes wide as tears pooled in them as she realised what her and Paul had just witnessed. It was the reason he wanted her to shift back quickly, knowing that the pack would be distracted and furious if they saw what had happened through the mind link while pursuing Victoria.

"Paul," Kiara spoke, her voice wobbling. The boy held his arms out, his body quivering as he tried to keep his anger under control. He wasn't angry at Kiara - he never could be. But he was angry at how fucked up this situation was, he was angry at the pain that she was inevitably about to have to go through. "Paul, please!"

"Hey, hey," Emily breathed, moving past Paul to hold on to Kiara's shoulders as she tried to comfort the teenage girl who was trying - and failing - to keep herself together. "What's wrong with you two? What's happened?"

There was a silence as Kiara burst into sobs, burying her face into Emily's shoulder as the situation finally sunk in. Paul and Kiara knew this was about to fuck up everything. It was about to ruin the entire pack dynamic, about to ruin the reservation and the tribe and everything everyone had spent years working towards.

"Kiara imprinted," a new voice spoke, the trio turning to notice Sam appearing from the edge of the tree-line. He'd obviously felt the change on the mind link despite Paul's attempt to hide it, the two wolves having been unaware that they'd already stopped chasing Victoria and had been returning to La Push.

Emily smiled, a grin spreading across her face as she looked at Kiara delighted. She was glad something good was happening to the girl, and while she knew from her and Sam's experience that original circumstances weren't always ideal, Kiara would end up with her imprint eventually.

When Emily noticed that Sam didn't return her smile, she knew something was gravely wrong. Sam would always return her smile, even if the news wasn't the best. Paul's reaction coupled with Kiara and Sam's reactions caused alarm bells to go off in her head as she looked at Sam. She noticed the other wolves were appearing from the trees too, having all gotten changed. Jacob's face of utter despair caused her stomach to turn.

"Kiara," Emily breathed, holding the girl at arm's length as she continued to sob. "Who did you imprint on?"

"Rosalie," Kiara muttered, finally looking up at Emily with a look that the woman knew she'd never be able to erase from her mind. "Rosalie Hale."