Grief is a very strange thing. It's not something that will just disappear, it sticks with you. It sticks with you even when you believe it doesn't. Even if you prepared for it, even if you expected it to happen, it's still going to be there. Anguish clouded the blonde girl's normally happy personality, as she struggled to make any sense of the sudden loss she had experienced. Yet, she still only thought of Marie. No matter what she was feeling, she knew none of it would ever compare to the mother who had just lost the best thing that would ever happen to her.

Life was cruel, unkind, and always suprising you. When this year started, she thought it was going to be great. Starting her Junior year, having some amazing friends she thought she would never lose yet ultimatly did (The Cullens, of course.) Though they are vampires and her 'natural born enemy', she still couldn't shake the pain of their abrupt moving away. Dallas lost her friendship in the Cullens, found out who her father was in a very humiliating manner, stopped talking to her greatest friend in the world for a while, Bella went off the grid and suffered her own loss, Mason died, she turned into a shape-shifter and she also found out she had a brother.

Dallas couldn't get out of her house fast enough, the following morning after her sudden transition from human to shapeshifter. The sixteen year old heard her mother on the phone a with Sue as soon as she entered the kitchen, the two friends discussing ways to help the grieving mother that was Marie Foster.

The blonde gave a half-hearted wave to her mother, before opting to drive to Sams. She still wasn't used to the whole wolf thing, and she knew it might take her a while to get used to being able to just turn into an animal whenever she wanted. Ideally, she should've stayed at Sam's last night to talk about all of this. But she didn't want too, or she couldn't. Sometimes, you just want your own bed.

She hadn't been able to stop thinking about Paul, or Mason. That didn't seem to change, in fact her thoughts of Paul got more frequent as she pulled into the Uley/Young driveway. She was praying that Paul wouldn't be inside, though her chest constricted being away from him, she needed a little space to come to terms with everything she had recently found out.

Once she entered the small home, she let out a small exhale of relief. Her prayers had been answered, as it seemed only Sam was home. The alpha was sitting at the table, a bunch of papers in front of him as he scribbled things down haphazardly. Once he saw his sister enter, he glanced up as he pushed the papers aside.

"Hey, I was wondering when you would stop by." Sam said, giving the blonde a small smile when she sat down in front of him.

Dallas rolled her eyes. "Please, don't pretend you haven't been texting my mom nonstop to make sure I don't wolf out on her." Sam chuckled, shrugging his broad shoulders.

"Well I wouldn't have too if you didn't run away." Sam joked, chuckling again when Dallas shot him a playful glare.

"Well how did you react?" She asked, referring to his own transition.

Sam laughed, his cheeks turning a little bit red in shame as he thought back on the worst day of his life. "Oh god, I had no idea what happened! I literally didn't phase back for days, then when I finally was back on two feet I ran straight to Harry's place and cried." Dallas couldn't stop the snort of amusement at his explanation.

Sam glared at her, but continued anyway. "Then after everyone explained everything, I pretty much fainted. It was alright though, because Jared phased not long after and I didn't feel so alone." Dallas nodded, feeling a little bit grateful she had people around her to help.

"Can't say I blame you for fainting, I cried all night." The blonde said with a sad laugh, her eyes drawn to the fruit bowl in the middle of the table.

Sam leaned forward and took her hand in his. "I know this is scary, but we're all here to help. You really aren't alone, you can take as long as you need until you're ready to patrol. Just let me know what you want to do, alright?" Dallas squeezed his hand before she unclasped their hands to wring her fingers together nervously.

"Thing is, I don't want to just sit around and be sad. I wanna help out, get my mind of things. There's a reason we all phased in the first place, to protect the tribe." Sam smiled sympathetically at the young girl, she was too kind for this world.

"Well, you are right. The reason you, Jake and Embry phased is because there is a vampire hanging around. We don't know what she's after, she just keeps playing games with us. The other day we chased her to the Canada border." Sam explained, his face pinching in frustration.

Dallas tilted her head. "What does she look like?"

Sam swallowed nervously, remembering the weird dreams Dallas had that her mother was concerned about. "She's got wild red curly hair, red eyes, pale skin. Otherworldly beauty, that kind of thing." Dallas felt her blood run cold, which was weird because not even twenty-four hours ago her body temperature increased significantly.

"I had dreams about a redhead, could it have been real?" She wondered aloud, her heart racing quicker with anxiety.

Sam nodded. "We think so, though we haven't seen her hang around your place for a while. We don't exactly know why she's after you, if its because of us, or something else." A tense silence filled the air when he finished speaking.

Dallas decided to change the subject, slightly. "Well we have to train, right? I can't be a wolf and not know how to defend the tribe." Sam smiled lightly, as he grabbed a sheet of paper from in front of him.

"Well I was working that out, I was thinking we could start patrolling today seeing as you said you wanted too, Jared or Embry could teach you the basics and anything else you need to know you can let me know and we will organise something." Dallas nodded, feeling relieved at the idea of getting her mind off Mason or Paul for a while.

"Good, that sounds good."

:::

"I cannot believe Sam let us patrol together, today is the best day ever." Embry thought as the two best friends walked around the patrol areas together. Currently, they were in the woods right behind first beach.

Dallas snorted through her wolf nose. "Right? Like as if he would trust us together."

Embry laughed in his mind, causing Dallas's heart to warm up. She had missed her best friend more than anyone could ever know. "I still can't believe it, maybe you're now his favourite because you guys are siblings."

Dallas rolled her eyes as the two continued walking. "How crazy is that though, Sam being my brother. I still can't even believe it." Embry nodded in agreement, as the duo neared Emily and Sam's.

"I'm honestly so surprised that Joshua is your dad, like I don't even blame your mom for keeping you away from him."

Dallas nodded in agreement, she had since forgiven her mother for keeping her father's identity a secret. After witnessing his behaviour on Christmas, it was honestly a no brainer why her mother refused to let him around her. "Me either, Em. You know I was mad, like super disappointed, but now I get it," Dallas glanced back at her leg to ensure her clothes were still tied around it before continuing. "I can't hold it against her, the only problem I have is that I never got to have a big brother growing up."

Embry huffed in annoyance. "Uh excuse me, what were we? Chopped liver?" Dallas nudged his head with her nose, before responding.

"You know what I mean, idiot. Sam's older than us, it would've been cool to have an older brother bailing me out of crap." Embry nodded in agreement, the closest people he had to siblings were Dallas, Jacob and Quil.

A whine left his mouth at the thought of Quil. Dallas glanced at her friend briefly, before walking behind the tree to phase back. Phasing had come surprisingly easy to her, Sam had said she was a very quick learner. The blonde wasn't surprised when she returned to the spot her and Embry were previously, to see that Embry's wolf was no longer there and instead he was sitting in his human form.

Wordlessly, she sat down beside him and wrapped an arm around his shoulder. Embry rested his head on her shoulder and sighed. "I miss him too Embry, so much. I don't want this life for him either, but it would be better to have him around. Does that make me selfish?"

Embry shook his head against her shoulder. "Nah, cause I feel the same. I mean I have you and Jake back, but it doesn't feel right without Quil."

"Have you spoken to Audrey much?" Embry winced at the question, his eyes darting to the ground.

"My wolf chose her, before I imprinted. But I didn't understand it, I still pushed her away. Then I imprinted, and now she wants next to nothing to do with me. She's so angry, and I don't blame her. I miss her so much Dallas, I'm struggling to act like I'm okay."

Dallas felt her own pang in her chest at the mention of her best friend. "Fuck she's gonna feel so betrayed when she finds out I'm part of this, god damn it. Why don't you just tell her so we can all hang out again?"

Embry scoffed. "Yeah okay if she'd let me within five feet of her, I've been trying to talk to her since Christmas and she's adamant on slamming doors in my face."

"I just hope when she knows the truth she'll come back to us."

Embry nodded in agreement, as he glanced down at his friend. A few seconds of silence filled the air, before Jacob suddenly sat beside the duo.

"Hey guys." He greeted as he joined in the embrace. Dallas smiled, as she thought about how she was going to tell them about the imprint.

"I have something to tell you both," She began, leaning her body against Jacob to relieve her anxiety. Embry hummed in response, and Jacob waited patiently.

"I uh, I imprinted on Paul." Both their heads shot up immediately, Dallas winced when they both started talking at once.

"Jared owes me twenty bucks! Hell yes!" Embry exclaimed, fist bumping the air.

"What the fuck?!" Jacob also exclaimed, eyes wide with disbelief.

"Bro I don't owe you shit, it was a lucky guess." Jared interjected, seemingly appearing out of nowhere and thankfully, alone. Dallas wasn't sure she would be able to handle the embarrassment of Paul overhearing.

Embry stood up to punch Jared in the shoulder, while Dallas buried her face in Jacob's shoulder. "Yes, I know. I didn't even know what imprinting was, until I imprinted!" Jacob inhaled sharply, before rubbing his friends back soothingly.

Jared, just burst out laughing. Along with Embry. "Dude that's messed up, I can't believe he didn't tell you!"

Someone cleared their throat, before speaking. "And exactly how long did it take for you to tell Kim?" Paul suddenly asked, his eyes never leaving Dallas's small frame. Jealousy filled his body when he saw her curled up against Jacob, but it soon vanished when her eyes met his and she offered him a small smile.

Jared coughed awkwardly. "Uh hey brother, didn't uh, see ya there." Paul scoffed, punching Jared's other shoulder.

Jared hissed in pain. "Can't a guy go one day without being abused?" A chorus of disagreements went around.

"Maybe if you weren't so annoying, you wouldn't have this problem." Embry sassed, ducking at the last minute to avoid Jared's fist.

Dallas laughed, causing Paul's body to warm up. The boys noticed the awkwardness between the two imprints, and started making excuses to leave. Dallas watched her friends go, and cursed them off in her mind.

"Dals- Dallas," Paul corrected himself, causing the blonde to frown. "did you want to talk?" Dallas sighed, before nodding her head reluctantly.

"Where did you wanna go?"

"I was thinking, we just walk around the woods? I don't know, I'm pretty shit at this." Dallas chuckled, walking over to stand beside the taller boy.

"Yeah, sounds good to me." The imprint duo began walking, a silence filling the air.

Paul sighed, before lightly grabbing her wrist to turn her towards him. "Look I understand why you're mad, I honestly do. I just got you back in my life," He paused, taking a sharp breath in to shrink any emotions he was feeling. "I didn't want to scare you away. I wanted us to become friends again, and then see where you were at. We don't have to like, be together. I just wanted to be your friend." Dallas's heart constricted at his crestfallen expression, so she decided to squeeze his hand gently.

"Paul, I missed you so much when we weren't talking. Like a lot. I overreacted a bit I think," Paul opened his mouth to object, but the smaller girl held her free hand up to stop him. "I always knew somehow, someday, you would be apart of my life again. Look what I'm saying is, I want you in my life. Nothing needs to be rushed, we don't need to label anything. But I do want you around." Dallas finished with a smile, that damn near took all the breath out of the older boy's lungs.

"Oh thank god, I am so glad you said that. Are you doing okay? I know how much he meant to you and I-" Dallas cut him off by wrapping her arms around his torso. Paul immediately wrapped his arms around her body, pulling her closer. She sniffled against his chest, and Paul's heart cracked at the sound.

"Dallas, I'm so sorry." He pressed his lips to her head, before running his hand through her messy hair lightly. Dallas winced lightly at her unkept hair, pulling away from the embrace to run her own hands through it.

Paul tilted his head adorably at her, causing her to smile. "I'm okay, Paul. Well I will be, when I sort out this absolute mess of hair." Paul laughed, grabbing a strand of her tangled, curly locks.

"Yeah, we all cut ours when we phased. Got too messy, too quick," He paused, when Dallas reached up on the tips of her toes to gently touch his chopped hair. Paul swallowed, the close proximity of the two was enough to send his heart racing. Dallas paid no mind, focusing on running his black hair through her fingers. "But you do know that if you ever struggle, you aren't alone. I'm here for you, always. Day, night, afternoon. You can't get rid of me." He finally finished, returning the smile his imprint offered him.

Dallas nodded, before leaning forwards and pressing her lips to Paul's cheek in a quick, but adoring kiss. "You're the best, really." Once she was back on two feet and at her original height, she snorted lightly at the pink cheeks that Paul was currently sporting.

"Don't laugh at me, you took me by surprise!"

Dallas laughed, poking his arm playfully. "Oooh is someone embarrassed." She teased, not realising that Paul was smirking down at her. Wordlessly, he shrugged and bent down to her level to return the kiss on the cheek.

Her own cheeks tinged red, causing the older boy to crack up laughing. "Sucker!" He exclaimed, poking her own shoulder back. Dallas shook her head, but couldn't stop the smile that was forming on her face.

"Dick."

Paul wrapped an arm around his imprint and sighed. "Oh, you're gonna get so sick of me!" Dallas groaned, but nodded in agreement.

"Oh trust me, I know."

{A little Dallas x Paul fluff, at this point I'm just teasing y'all honestly. I can't wait to continue writing this sloooowwww burn, it's already so fun.

Remember to vote and comment, your feedback means so much to me.}