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The wolf pack of La Push, Washington, was having a rather eventful few weeks. Due to Jacob Black's meddling, Bella Swan had learned of their Spirit Warrior secret. They were in the middle of hunting a red-haired vampire who had a knack for escaping at the last moment. Harry Clearwater had died of a heart attack, which no doubt triggered the shifter gene in both his children, Leah and Seth Clearwater. And now, according to Jacob, the clan of animal-eating bloodsuckers had returned to Forks after being away for almost a year.
With the Cullens back in town, Sam Uley, the alpha of the pack, had the wolves running double the patrols each day to make sure the borders were safe. When they weren't patrolling or training or teaching the Clearwaters to better control themselves, they were allowed a rare moment to relax. Though with the red-haired woman, Victoria, still running around, they could never truly relax.
Even as Sam, Jared, Paul, and Embry worked around Sue Clearwater's house — Jacob was out with Quil, Seth, and Leah — they couldn't take their minds off all that had happened. But helping out the newly-widowed woman around her house was a start at distracting themselves. With her husband's death and taking over his seat on the council, Sue hadn't had much time to take care of things around the house, such as the leaky kitchen sink and the loose floorboard in the living room, which the boys of the tribe happily offered to fix.
Sam and Paul were sitting at the table in the kitchen, watching as Embry and Jared argued over which pipe was the one that needed fixing. Both boys had tried to crawl under the sink, obviously not fitting with their large muscles. Sam and Paul had made quick work of their task of fixing the floorboards and had nothing better to do than to watch the other two boys argue.
Sam was tempted to kick them both to have them get along, but then Sue would likely fuss at him. He'd simply wait until she was gone to kick them.
"Thank you boys for doing all this," Sue said, leaning against her fridge.
"Not a problem, Miss C," Jared called from under the sink. "Embry! Watch your elbows."
"I wouldn't have to if you'd get out of my way and let me handle this," Embry grumbled. "You're taking up way too much room."
"Not my fault I'm buffer than you," Jared mocked.
"Stop arguing before you break Sue's sink even more," Sam ordered in a firm voice, but there was amusement in his eyes. "Jared, Embry knows more about plumbing. Let him do it. You hand him tools."
Jared sighed in defeat before worming his way out from under the sink. "Fine," he grumbled. Embry laughed at his defeat before asking for a wrench.
After a few more minutes of work, Embry had successfully fixed the leak and crawled from under the sink just as the front door opened.
"Anyone home?"
"In the kitchen, Charlie," Sue called.
A moment later, Charlie Swan stepped into the kitchen. He was dressed in his uniform, just having gotten off from work. Ever since Harry's passing, he had tried to come by the house as often as he could, wanting to be there for the family he'd known all his life.
