Her Final Days

Chapter 18

Nani Swan was concerned for her older brother.

She had been living in Yakima when she was informed by her parents that something was wrong with Nate and that she needed to come back to Forks. She hoped that it was not the fact that her brother would be phasing.

Nani wasn't too big on the Quileute legends and such, preferring to live her life as an all-American girl. She looked more like Charlie than she looked like Sue, with long brown hair and brown eyes, but her brother's skin was brown and he had dark hair and brown eyes.

When Nani pulled up at her grandparents' house, she saw a group of wolves standing about in the front yard. "Sam?" she asked. "What are you doing here?"

"Your brother is phasing," said Sam, "and as far as we can tell, you could be the next to phase."

Nani laughed. "Girls can't phase!" she cried out. "Who told you that?"

"You are Sue's granddaughter," said Jacob, "which means that you are very likely to phase."

"And end up being a bitch like Aunt Leah?" Nani scoffed. "No thank you! I'd rather live my life as a normal American citizen."

"But you are also Quileute," said Sam, "and as such, you have an obligation to your people. There are rumors about vampires showing up here, and we all must be ready to deal with them."

"Why not just stake them and be done with it?" Nani scoffed. She stormed into the house and said, "Grandma, why are they in front of our house?"

"It's true," Sue said. "I also fear for you. A hot temper is usually a first sign of a wolf."

"I can't phase!" cried Nani. "I'm a woman."

"So we all thought that when Leah began phasing," said Sue. She then frowned, remembering her late husband Harry Clearwater, who had had a fatal heart attack upon discovering that his daughter Leah was phasing. "Harry couldn't handle the fact that Leah was a Wolf," said Sue. "And also, eating all those fried fatty foods just wasn't healthy at all." She looked at Nani and said, "Harriet, you must prepare to embrace the legacy that is before you, be it wrought with pain and sorrow."

"I don't understand," Nani said.

"Neither do I," said Charlie as he shuffled into the room. "I knew that Jacob could phase, as did some of the other boys, but I refused to listen to their histories and such. Too much information, I had said. I usually stick with a need-to-know basis."

"And what about Nate?" Nani asked. "Does he have the right to know?"

"You all do," said Sam. "The Swan family is not Quileute, or at least that was true until Charlie married Sue and had Darius. The Swans were palefaces, and as such, were subjected to the world of palefaces. But Bella would have none of that; she preferred the Cullens and their world. But your grandfather had been friends with Billy Black, who was tribal chief and elder..."

"Until his death," Nani said.

"Until Jacob took over," said Sam. He looked at the young woman and said, "You will start phasing in three days. Your brother has already begun phasing. Even if your family wasn't originally Quileute, I believe that you and Nate were chosen to phase for a good reason."

Nate said to Sam, "When do we meet up with the Cullens?"

"They have their own issues right now," said Sam. He frowned while thinking of Embry. Embry, who was at the Cullen house. Embry, who was with Jacquelyn Claire.

He frowned and made his way back to the Cullen house; something just didn't add up.

*****

Rosalie said, "I knew Ephraim Black when he was once chief and Alpha Wolf."

"So it's true that those men on the reservation could...you know...turn into wolves?" Jill cried out.

"Who told you that?" asked Rosalie. "I hope it wasn't that Clarice Cotton; she's got the biggest mouth in Forks!"

Jill said, "He said he knew you from years ago."

"And he has," said Rosalie. "Tomorrow, we shall go to La Push and see him. I believe he has something important to tell us."