"I don't want you to do this," Sam finally declared, causing Emily and Paul to look at him in surprise. Kiara had been snuggled into the couch with Emily ever since they had gotten back, having filled her in on her meeting with Rosalie in the woods outside Forks High hours before. Sam and Paul hadn't listened in, knowing that they'd no doubt catch glimpses of the conversation later when it was their turn to patrol together.

Kiara looked up, wiping her eyes with her sleeve. She was also surprised by the man's announcement. She thought that he would be the first person calling for her to try and reject the imprint - especially since he had spent so long arguing with the elders over what her imprint meant for the future of the pack. She knew if she didn't reject it, then it was going to make things awful for the rest of the pack. She didn't even think to consider how painful it was going to be for them to see their pack mate go through the rejection process.

"It might kill you, Kie," Sam told her, speaking the words that everyone else had been saying. They didn't know it for sure since it had never been done before, but the elders had warned Sam of the unbearable pain that Kiara was going to go through. It might literally break her heart to a point where she wouldn't be able to survive. "And I don't think any of us want to be at your funeral."

"I don't care," Kiara replied, the throb in her chest that she had been feeling since the night before back as her wolf called out for her imprint. "I don't want this."

They all knew that was a lie - one that Kiara was telling everyone including herself. Sam rubbed his face, trying to get through to the stubborn girl. He knew that she was hurting - especially since her own father wasn't speaking to her and had left on a fishing trip with some of the others that morning instead of having to face his own daughter. Even if that had ended up being wise since who knows what the vampire that had entered the Black residence would do, it still stung Kiara deeply.

They were all also aware that Jacob's internalised hatred towards Edward Cullen and his constant, somewhat one sided love triangle with Bella Swan was causing her to also want to reject the imprint bond. It was no secret that Jacob hadn't taken a minute to even ask Kiara if she was okay and it seemed that the imprint had only made him more agitated when it came to the Cullens. She'd already lost her mother, and now it felt like she was losing her brother and father too. Sure, Rachel and Rebecca were still there but they weren't really there for her - not since their mother had died.

Now, the idea that Kiara might lose the pack and their friendship because of this imprint? It was too much for her. She wanted Rosalie before, and she guessed that she still did now, but she couldn't have her. Kiara Black was willing to die before causing pain to everyone else around her.

"Kiara, stop it," Paul replied, his voice no longer soft. He'd given her time to come to her senses but it seemed that she wasn't going to. Even Leah had asked Sam to tell Kiara to cut it out - she hated the Cullens and she hated the idea of this imprint, but she refused to lose another family member because of a vampire. Kiara was the sister she never had. "That's enough."

"You don't understand," Kiara replied, her voice strained as she stood up and began to pace. Emily cast Sam a worried look but he shook his head, knowing that she wasn't going to phase. Kiara had only been a wolf for three weeks, but she had her tell-tale signs of when she was going to phase uncontrollably - the main one being her violent shake. He'd only ever seen Paul shake as violently as Kiara did when they got angry, and while their short tempers were a nightmare to control, he was always relieved that there was a sign when they were going to lose it. "You haven't imprinted, you don't know what I'm feeling."

"Well I have," Sam told Kiara, his voice firmer too. "You know I tried to break it and the pain was like nothing else. I asked Em to tell me to die, Kie. You don't need to do this."

Kiara had heard about the Sam, Leah and Emily love triangle. She knew all about how Sam had turned up to Emily's in the pouring rain and accidentally scarred her for life. That wasn't the same as this - his was guilt, hers was disgust. She was disgusted at herself for imprinting on their natural enemy, for betraying years of pack traditions and secrecy. 

"I'm doing this," Kiara spoke, her voice cold as if she had suddenly turned off all her emotions. Emily felt her stomach drop at the tone, having never heard the girl sound so detached. "Whether you like it or not."

____

"A passer-by wouldn't have left Bella's father alive," Rosalie told them all, trying to hide her concern about the sudden scent that they had located in Bella's house that evening. She had returned just as Edward and Bella had, the worry obvious on both of their features.

Despite the fact her stomach turned as she looked at the pairing which should have been impossible, she knew that she had a duty to her family to help. Even if the look on Kiara's face when she told her that she didn't want to be near her was permanently flashing through her mind. She noticed Edward look at her with pity - just a little - and instantly she closed herself off once more. She didn't need to be pitied. 

Rosalie had been through hell and back - and she knew she had to get over this.

"The scent disappeared about five miles south of Bella's house," Jasper told them all as he and Emmett entered the house, sharing a look with each other. "It seems they might have came from the west but the scent was too faded to tell."

Everyone knew what Jasper was implying - the intruder might have crossed through the reservation on their journey to Bella's house. The thought itself worried them all as it had been only hours prior that the girl had been on the reservation - making the concern of someone tracking and following Bella more prominent in their minds.

Edward shook his head, subtle enough that Bella missed it but the others didn't. He kept things from Bella for her protection and this was just another thing he didn't want her to worry about. One thing was for sure: he wasn't letting her out of his sight until they found whoever it was.

"Someone's orchestrating this," Carlisle replied, the sigh that left his mouth reminding them that even their patriarch worried about their safety.

"Victoria?"

"I would have seen her decide," Alice replied, shaking her head. She'd been watching Victoria since she had made her reappearance, and even with the wolves she would still catch glimpses of the woman - none of which pointed to this. "I don't think its the Volturi, either. I've been watching Aro's decisions, too."

"So we keep looking," Emmett said, his arm wrapped around Beverly who was yet to take her eyes off her sister. She could see the pain that Rosalie was in and she just wished that she could make things better for her. Jasper cast the blonde a look too, trying to soften the heartbreak that Rosalie was feeling. He'd never felt feelings like it from the girl - even when they'd left Kiara and Forks behind the previous year.

"We'll also take shifts guarding Bella's house."

"Another protection detail?" Rosalie quipped, the coldness in her tone seeping through.

"She's right," Bella admitted, causing Rosalie to raise an eyebrow in surprise. "You can't protect me, watch my dad and search for the intruder."

"And for Victoria," Rosalie added, everyone knowing that it wasn't Bella that Rosalie was concerned about when it came to the red-headed vampire. She'd tasted Kiara's blood before and there was nothing to say that the red-head wouldn't return to finish off what she had failed to do before. Kiara might not want anything to do with Rosalie, but the blonde wasn't that quick to say goodbye to her.

"And keep yourselves fed."

"I'm not leaving you here defenceless."

"Well, I'm not going to let you starve," Bella replied, noticing how most of the Cullens had black irises already. They needed to feed - and soon. "I wouldn't be unprotected, I have..."

____

The girl turned her nose up as she opened the front door, relaxing a little as the cold Forks air hit her nose. She hadn't been back to the house in a while but she easily had managed to notice what Edward had the night before.

"It's 100% the same scent," Kiara spoke as she exited the Swan household, having chosen to ignore the boys fighting over Bella outside while she did her sweep of the house. She wasn't entirely pleased when Sam had told her to spend time with Jacob, and she was even less pleased when Jacob announced less than an hour into their 'bonding time' that they had to go to Bella's house.

Edward turned to look at her, accidentally catching a glimpse of the incident yesterday after he had left the clearing in the forest. He stared at her for a moment longer as she finally made eye contact with him, her thoughts so loud that he had to look away. Kiara had always had 1000 thoughts at once, and it had only confirmed to him what he had suspected the day before - Kiara Black was willing to die to reject the imprint that had been forced upon her.

He didn't really understand it. She had been head over heels about Rosalie and from the looks of it, her pack didn't want her to go through with what she was trying to do. He knew that Jacob hated them, but he knew that couldn't be the reason. He didn't get a chance to pry further as Bella and Jacob turned to look at the younger girl.

Bella felt herself a little taken aback as she got a good look at Kiara. It hadn't even been 24 hours since she had last seen the girl but it was clear something was wrong. Her eyes looked less bright than normal, her skin a little paler and her features seemed more... clenched. She looked to Jacob for a moment and saw as he gritted his teeth at how tired she seemed.

"We're going," Jacob replied, still riled up from his argument with Edward. They knew what was happening now - the wolves were going to join forces with the Cullens to take shifts watching over the girl. Kiara wasn't annoyed - she liked Charlie and was glad that they were keeping the man safe - but she was concerned about the likelihood of running into Rosalie when swapping over shifts. That was the last thing she needed. She needed a clean break although she doubted that it was going to happen.

"Kie..." Bella said, her words trailing off as she didn't know what to say.

"I'm fine," the girl replied, her voice back to being cold and closed off as she walked towards Jacob's truck. Even Edward felt an ounce of sympathy for Jacob for the first time as the boy walked back to the car, noticing how his mind was spinning with concern for Bella, concern for Charlie, concern for his dad and concern for Kiara.

It was seeming that things were bound to get worse before they got better.

____

Edward hated the idea, but it wasn't about rivalry anymore. It was about my safety, and Charlie's. In the days that followed, I got them to at least try to work together. The wolves took over so the Cullens could hunt. It wasn't exactly an easy alliance, especially as it seemed Kiara's state was just getting worse - Bella's Monologue.

___

"Kie," Emily breathed as the younger girl entered the room, a hand covering her mouth as she noticed the state the girl was in. Her cheeks almost seemed a little sunk in, her skin looking sickly pale compared to her usual glowing tan. The thick bags under her eyes showed Emily that she hadn't been sleeping in the days since they had agreed to watch over Bella and since Sam had banned Kiara from joining the overwatch efforts, she knew that it wasn't from that. "You look..."

"Like shit? Yeah, I've heard," Kiara muttered as she sat down at the table, grabbing one of the muffins that Emily had just baked for the pack. She knew that if she didn't grab it now, it wouldn't last very long when the boys returned. They were about to all come in and grab their hoodies and sweaters for the bonfire that was about to happen outside.

It would be the first time Leah, Seth and Quit would hear the stories of the tribe - yet Kiara had been unofficially uninvited by the elders. She didn't care much for it anyway as she had already heard them after being taken by the boys when they had revealed their secret about the pack, but she would be lying if she said that the idea that she was no longer welcome at her own pack's rituals didn't hurt.

Her plan was to stay at Sam and Emily's, binge watch Christmas films despite Christmas having been and gone almost sixth months prior. It wasn't like she could go on patrol either since she'd been avoiding shifting in the hopes that it would make the imprint pain go away - and also she didn't really want to go and patrol herself as she knew she'd be left to confront her thoughts when it was just her and the silence of the woods.

She hated to say it, but she did miss the feeling of wind blowing through her fur and the dirt flying under her paws. It was the one part she actually liked about being a wolf. There was a freedom like nothing else she had ever imagined when she was running through the trees - which she considered ironic of sorts since becoming a shifter was keeping her trapped in La Push.

Emily sighed before lighting kissing Kiara's head as the girl pulled a blanket over herself on the couch, ignoring the looks of her pack mates as they all quickly ran into the house to grab sweaters. Sam motioned for them to leave Kiara alone, knowing that the girl was easily agitated because of the pain coursing through her.

He had shifted with her once since her meeting with Rosalie, and it had been painful for him. They all felt the pain of a pack member but he couldn't even put into words the feeling that he piggybacked from Kiara in those brief minutes.

He shot the girl one final look before turning around and ushering the rest of the pack towards the bonfire. Kiara paid them no attention as they left, although she did hug the blanket a little tighter into her as she realised that she was all alone while her pack were getting to celebrate their tribal history together.

"Are you sure this is okay? I really hate being a party crasher."

Kiara felt her stomach drop as she heard the voice outside. She didn't need to look out of Sam's kitchen window to see who was walking with her brother towards the campfire that the rest of the pack were sitting at with the elders and her father. She knew from that voice.

If she thought trying to break the imprint bond was painful enough already then this was like someone was twisting the knife. Her father, her elders - they'd made it very clear that she was no longer welcome at their bonfires due to her imprint with Rosalie, yet here they were inviting Bella along to listen to their closest kept secrets. 

She wasn't in the right headspace to even begin to think rationally - all she knew was that she was in pain and she was hot. Hot, and shaking, and feeling nothing but complete rejection from her own family. Combining the pain she had been feeling for days now with the feeling of rejection and betrayal was causing her stomach to turn and her bones to shake. 

She threw the blanket off of her, kicking at her ankles as she shrugged her shoes off of her feet and left them abandoned on Sam and Emily's living room floor. Throwing Paul's sweater on the ground, Kiara stormed out of the front door of Sam's house. 

All of the boys and Leah turned their heads to look towards the house as their wolf hearing picked up on the front door being slammed shut, everyone tensing a little as they expected to see Kiara come towards where they were sitting on the sand. Leah noticed how most of the pack relaxed as they heard the thuds of paws going into the forest instead, relieved that Kiara wasn't about to come and cause a scene at the gathering that she had been unofficially uninvited too.

Four bodies stayed tensed - four people feeling uneasy at the movement of Kiara Black. Emily rubbed Sam's back, unsure as to what had made her husband suddenly withdraw his attention from the elders as Bella and Jacob sat down at the bonfire. Paul, Leah and Sam all looked at each other for a moment before Jacob commanded the attention of everyone as he introduced Bella to those that hadn't met her yet.

"Where's Kiara?" Bella asked as she leaned into Jacob's side, waiting for the elders to begin telling the pack's stories. She noticed how Leah huffed at the question, rolling her eyes a little without even so much as looking over at the human girl. Jacob shot her a glare before looking down at Bella, not sure how to tell her the truth without upsetting the girl.

"She wasn't feeling well," he lied. 

Paul clenched his fists at his side, biting his tongue to stop him from leaning across the circle and punching Jacob in the jaw for choosing Bella's feelings over standing up for Kiara once again. It truly angered him how the boy had constantly picked Bella Swan over his own twin sister, who was literally killing herself just in the hopes that her family would show that they loved her.

"Let's begin," Billy Black said, trying to hide the clench in his heart as he realised that he was excluding his own daughter from spending time with the pack because of the imprint. He just hoped that she would be strong enough to reject it so they could go back to being the family they once had been.