Coming North.

Emily's. The Reservation.

Friday, 10:13 am.

Two months later.

Dema let out a shaky breath she had been holding ever since she entered the property. Her gaze traveled around the slippery porch, which now displayed a larger number of potted plants than the last time she had visited. She clenched her fists, as she tried to remember the last time she had even set foot in the reservation.

Unlike Jacob, she didn't live on the reservation. When they moved to Forks, her mother decided she couldn't raise her daughter in the reservation if she wanted to shield her from their family's secrets. Unfortunately, she didn't expect Dema's hybrid genes to suddenly make an appearance.

But Dema was actually grateful they didn't live in the reservation for a number of reasons. She could successfully avoid her past Alpha and packmates, unlike Jake who would run into them at their closest convenience store every now and then. She could also enjoy the fact that her vampire fiancé could visit her, and hang out if he wanted to. And, she also loved that if she looked outside her bedroom window, she wouldn't see a swarm of half-naked men running around in the rain.

I mean, if she happened to be happily single, she probably wouldn't mind it that much. But hey, if she can't run around topless, why can they?

Dema shook her head and tried to focus on the matter at hand. She took one more deep breath, as she looked down at a crumpled piece of paper that rested between her fingers. She straightened the paper, as she pulled off the raincoat hood of her face. Several drops of water started soaking the paper, as she read out loud.

"Ten-thirty, at Emily's, meeting with Sam and company— don't be late." She half-whispered to herself. She checked the time on her wristwatch— she still had a few minutes left.

Instead of walking to the shabby-looking cabin, she decided to plop down beneath a large pine tree and try to calm herself down as much as she could. You see, ever since the day that Sam decided to pass by Jacob's house, and work out the obvious issues between the two packs, Dema had been furious. She had felt that Sam was not acknowledging her position as an Alpha by only resolving said issues with Jacob. She felt he was only apologizing to Jacob, and as if he didn't regret how much pain he had put her through. She felt betrayed and utterly disappointed in her past pack.

She was also angry at Jacob for not demanding to wait for her, or include her in any way possible, but she couldn't stay mad at him for too long. Not when they were all worried sick with Renesmee's situation. It seemed as if Renesmee grew an inch by the hour, and a terrifying concern grew amongst them all. There was absolutely no information on her condition, and they all wondered if Renesmee's days were only limited, unlike the rest of them.

So, during the past two months, they had all decided to enjoy every waking second around the young girl. They all tried to spend as much time spoiling her, playing with her, teaching her, and just making every second count. Plus, Renesmee had now quickly grown into an eight— maybe, nine— year old. That meant Dema was in the tedious process of teaching her goddaughter the art of pranks, and to Dema's surprise, Nessie showed a great promise for it. In just a matter of a couple of days, the young girl had successfully tied Jacob's shoelaces together without him even noticing— which is quite a challenge if you plan on pranking a sense-enhanced werewolf.

Aside from those few moments of laughter with her Goddaughter, Dema had been getting horribly vivid nightmares every night. Every single night she'd roll and whimper in her sleep, wake up every few hours, and she'd even sometimes cry. But her reactions were somehow only a murmur, as not even Jasper would hear them. She'd wake up sore, and feeling as if she hadn't slept all night, but the feeling would vanish after a few minutes, and so would the nightmares from her memory.

She had been going through life with the annoying sensation and thought that she had somehow forgotten something, but she could never figure out what exactly.

It also didn't help that she'd been getting completely bombarded by Alice every time she entered the Cullen house. Whether it happened to be, as Alice said, a life or death situation, surrounding the color of the napkins, or whether the color palette was a little too vivid, Alice wanted Dema's opinion on absolutely everything. And while Dema was incredibly grateful to Alice for taking over the wedding plan, she had been starting to wonder if it was the right time to have a wedding.

One afternoon, after Alice had bombarded her with even more wedding tablecloth details, Edward approached her.

"You want your goddaughter at the wedding, right?" He asked her silently, snapping her out of her thoughts and concerns.

She frowned. "I don't know any more children, I kinda need her to be my flower girl."

Edward smiled faintly. "Well, then you better do it soon, because she won't be a girl for much longer."

After that, Dema had set her mind on getting married before Christmas. She wanted a cold, winter wedding, with snow falling on her wedding dress and a white blanket of snow decorating the path between the love of her life and herself. She had only decided this the night prior while looking through an old photo album of her mother and father kissing in a snowy forest.

And after looking through a calendar, she had even decided the exact date; Saturday, December the 15th.

She hadn't announced it yet, let alone told Jasper. She had, although, indirectly hinted that she needed Emma Lee's presence in a few weeks on an email. She replied promptly, and eagerly might I add, that she'd be there in three weeks, maybe even two. And, while she hadn't even let Alice know, she was glad she had at least, sort of told one person. Even if it just happened to be Emma Lee.

But, she was taking one step at a time. Right now, she's standing here. Staring at Emily's house for the first time in a long time, in order to face the people she once considered her closest friends. She had absolutely no idea what to expect from this encounter, and she dreaded being completely alone and surrounded by all of them. Jasper and Jacob not only offered, but insisted on accompanying her, but she refused. She had to do it alone.

And as she silently chewed on her lower lip nervously, a soft thumping started to rumble across the bordering forest. The soft thumping quickly became a rumble of several running footsteps, and Dema froze as a group of tan, topless men came into view. They didn't seem to have noticed her, as they approached the cabin.

"See? I told you, she hasn't even arrived yet," Jared started, punching Paul's shoulder playfully.

Paul shoved him slightly. "Well, she did tend to arrive late to everything..." He countered.

Dema stayed completely frozen, not even daring to blink, as she stared wide-eyed at the oblivious pack.

Aside from Sam, everyone seemed to be there, even the two youngest members Dema had only encountered during the battle, just a few months ago. She recalled one of them was Brady, whom she had severely harmed while helping the Cullens get through the forest to fetch some blood for Bella.

"What do you think she'll do?" Inquired Embry as he leaned on the porch's railings.

"She's obviously not happy. She'll probably curse us with her Voodoo crap." Jared said.

Dema's mouth fell open, and so did Paul's.

"You... you really think that?" Paul asked softly, concern obvious in his tone.

"What do you think?" Jared asked incredulously before rolling his eyes at him. "Of course not, she'll probably just make sure we're all okay, and then she's gonna move on with... him."

"The paleface," said Quil, and they all nodded silently. "The southern vampire war veteran." He added, and they all burst out laughing.

After a couple of seconds of laughter, the youngest one spoke up.

"So, she's kinda evil now?" He asked, and Paul immediately glared at him.

"Little D is not evil, Collin," He spat. "She's just... confused... right?" He looked at the oldest members for reassurance.

They all mumbled unsure responses, and Brady frowned.

"She almost killed me," He added silently, but firmly.

They all stared at him, unsure of what kind of response they could give him. Dema simply stayed wide-eyed, open-mouth, completely silent, and traumatized.

"But she didn't," A confident, much older voice rumbled through the property, as Sam approached his pack. They all widened their eyes and looked away uncomfortably, while Sam just glanced at them disapprovingly. "She's not here yet?" Sam asked, and before anyone could answer, Dema jumped to her feet and stepped away from the large pine tree she had been hiding under.

"She is here," Dema said softly, her tone lacking confidence and her voice cracking. "She arrived twenty minutes early, actually..." She added awkwardly as she witnessed the pack's expressions fall into ones of panic. "And she's definitely regretting it now." She rubbed the back of her neck, as she slowly approached them. "Hey, guys." She waved weakly at them.

Jared glanced down at the ground awkwardly, Paul clenched his jaw and started blushing, Embry bit his lip and gave her an apologetic glance while Quil immediately face-palmed himself. The two youngest just stared at her in a mixture of awe and disgust, which she knew were only a mere reflection of the pack's emotions. Sam, on the other side, smiled warmly at her.

"Long time no see, Dema," He greeted her, and Dema nodded at him awkwardly.

"Yeah, well... you guys... look... uh-great?" Dema blurted out, completely unsure of what to say.

"You do too, Dema," Paul said softly, trying to make eye contact with the she-wolf, but it seemed as if she was purposely avoiding it. It actually seemed as if she was avoiding the four culprits' gaze. She still wasn't sure whether she was just disappointed or furious at what she had just witnessed.

She stayed silent for a second, before sighing. "Yeah, well, let's just get this over with," She said as she started walking past them. "So I can go back home, to my vampire, war veteran fiancé." She added through greeted teeth. The four werewolves gasped, and cringed, as she pushed the Cabin's door open and walked into the familiar little house she once considered her second home.

She breathed in the familiar scent of Emily's house, which was a warm combination of freshly cut grass and home-cooking. She looked around, recognizing the chair from which Seth fell one day, and just behind it, she saw the dent Paul and Quil had made on the wall after a heated argument on whether hotdogs are sandwiches, and right above it, on the ceiling, a tiny but noticeable piece of spaghetti was still there, months after Embry had started to choke on a handful of spaghetti he had attempted to swallow and somehow managed to get one up there after spitting it all out.

The forgotten memories of laughter and friendship flooded her mind, as the werewolves silently filled the empty cabin. They all started sitting on the dining chairs, and couch, while Dema refused to seat, still looking around with a faint smile playing on her lips. There were a few minutes of awkward silence, as Dema finally snapped back from her thoughts and dragged a dining chair to the middle of the living room. She awkwardly sat down, and scratched her throat, unsure of what to say.

"Where's Emily?" She inquired.

"She's out shopping. They eat a lot." Sam said simply.

Dema nodded knowingly. "Right. So, what have you guys been up to?" She added awkwardly.

"You mean, since the battle where you and Jake imprinted on vampires?" Jared said, with a slightly bitter tone.

"Jared-" Sam snapped at his second in command, but Dema chuckled sarcastically.

"Well, at least you don't call them demons anymore. That's a win on my book."

They all froze, their gazes traveling around the room. They seemed to be having an intense telepathic conversation.

"Can we just cut the crap?" Quil blurted out.

Dema stared at him silently as she raised one eyebrow, and Sam sighed in frustration.

"Fine," She pursed her lips in thought. "I asked you to meet me because I personally wanted to make sure everything was okay, and you were all aware of the situation-"

"You mean, your imprint?" Paul asked.

"No," She said firmly. "I mean, the fact that I am as much of an Alpha as Jacob is. And as weird as it may seem, we both are Alphas to one —tiny but mighty, pack. And that's mainly why I'm here. There's no reason for you to disprove or ignore the fact that I'm a leader, and you must address me with as much respect and-"

"Dema-" Sam started.

"... admiration you seem to have for Jacob. Because, let me remind you, my grandfather-"

"Dema, I know."

"You know?" Dema glanced at him in confusion.

"And I do." Sam nodded.

"You do?" Dema blurted out, completely shocked. "But then, why didn't you approach me... you just patched things up with Jake, and I thought-"

Sam sighed, suddenly glancing back at Paul.

Paul rubbed the bridge of his nose before jumping to his feet.

"He didn't approach you because I asked him not to." He confessed, and Dema frowned, looking up at him in utter puzzlement.

A faint chuckle of disbelief even left her lips. "Why would you ask that?"

"Because I wanted to apologize first, okay?" He looked down at her with a look of deep regret. "Because the last interaction we had, face to face, I called you a monster and other things you definitely didn't deserve, and my actions were uncalled for, and-"

"Wait, you're telling me, Sam didn't make you do all that?" Dema's heart started to shiver in pain, as the realization hit her.

Paul looked down at the floor, clenching his fists. "I'm so sorry." He whispered.

Everyone, except for Dema, looked away in pain. She, on the other side, just scoffed.

"I will not stand here and pity you, Paul. So, you can at least stand straight and look me in the eye while apologizing."

Paul's head snapped at her, and he stared at her with widened eyes. "I'm sorry, I was afraid I'd have to hurt you and-"

"It was easier to antagonize me, right?" Dema said understandably.

Paul nodded. "It was just... very confusing."

"I get it," Dema started, and Paul's face lit up. "Don't get the wrong idea, Lahote, you were still a coward, and even though you were supposed to be my best friend, you really hurt me."

"If it helps, he beats himself up about it every day," Embry added quietly, and Paul shot him a death glare.

"It does a little, actually," Dema shrugged, and Paul just sat down limply. "But I guess that's why I came here. For the first time, I want to be completely honest with everyone. That includes all of you."

They all turned to look at her, as she breathed in shakily, getting ready to tell the truth.

___________________

Emily's. The Reservation.

Friday, 11:41 am.

After an hour of complete honesty, a long Q&A, and several apologies to an indignant Brady Fuller, Dema sat there, waiting for the werewolves to express their final thoughts.

"I just thought you at least deserved to know the whole truth, in order to judge me," She said after a few minutes of thoughtful silence. Still, no one dared to utter a sound. "And I'm not even remotely sorry I imprinted on a vampire. Not even a little bit. I'm just sorry you're never going to be able to forgive me for it."

After a few seconds of silence, Paul spoke up.

"Rachel and I would go to the wedding if you were to invite us." He whispered, gaining a shove from Jared.

"Rachel is actually invited... And, you— I'm still not sure." Dema replied honestly, and Paul nodded sadly, but understanding.

"You don't need our approval, Dema," Sam started with a firm gaze. "While we do realize our reactions might've hurt you, we now understand you were protecting your family, and most importantly, your imprint. And, if you ask me, that's exactly what you were meant to do. But you must also understand, we were doing what we thought was the best way to protect our loved ones."

A small smile started spreading across Dema's face.

"I'm now aware, that we share the same objective. That we must unite to protect life, love, and death because there are greater, stronger forces out there... And while we're deeply sorry we were blinded with fear of the unknown, you should know that you'll always have our utmost respect, admiration, and friendship, if you still want it." Sam said, before quickly adding. "I'm also very proud of the strong leader you've turned into."

Dema grinned, as the rest of the pack nodded and smiled in agreement.

"And, while I can't talk for everyone here, Jasper, even if he happens to be a paleface, by werewolf law he'll be an imprint first and treated like so. I will respect him, and allow him and Jacob's imprint to come into werewolf territory."

Dema's jaw dropped, her mind going a million miles per hour, as she had not expected this reaction from Sam.

"I don't know what to say. I definitely didn't expect this."

"Just to make things clear, though," Jared started. "We're not apologizing for the battle, we were doing what we thought was best... And to be fair, we were not provided with all the information."

Dema glanced at him. "That would've saved us a lot of time, huh?"

Everyone nodded frantically, while Brady just crossed his arms.

"And pain!" He glared at the young female, while she just stared back at him coldly.

"You're a spicy little runt," She said matter of factly, before turning to Sam. "Good luck with that one."

They all laughed for a few seconds, even Brady joined in after a while.

"What we will apologize for is hurting you, though." Added Quil once they had fallen silent, and they all muttered in agreement.

"I'm sorry for hurting you, too." Dema shot them a sad smile. "And don't take personally the fact that I wasn't honest with you guys from the beginning. I wasn't even being honest with myself, let alone anyone else."

"Well, everything turned out alright in the end, right?" Embry asked softly.

"I guess so," Dema smiled as she slowly stood up. "And I just want you all to know, and I understand if you don't want to, but you'll all receive invitations for my wedding. It will be on neutral ground, but his family will be there."

They shared concerned looks, and Dema sighed.

"I'd really love it if you went, though. Because when I got here, I was scared out of my mind... I was a complete mess— a dangerous mess, actually. And you still took me in. You blindly supported me and protected me, and I'll be eternally grateful for that. I had no one, and I was scared to death, and you helped me through it. You were— you are my family. Because you brought me into a fantasy universe I never thought I'd be part of, and you taught me to be brave... and to be me. You didn't care if I was a werewolf or a witch and you stood by my side." Dema whispered the last sentence, blinking away a few tears that threatened to fall. "And families fight. But we get through it. And Jake and I,