Coywolf

"What the hell am I?"

Lupe

"Why don't you just tell us everything." suggested Paul, I looked at him.

"Everything as in what, exactly?" I asked

"Stop being such a smartass, damn it! We want to know everything! Now, cut the crap and spill!" Sam snapped, a glared at him. Offended by his tone. It seems I wasn't the only one because from beside me I could hear Paul growling and shaking violently.

I growled as this stranger angered Paul. My mate. My wolf begged to be released and put this man in his place for messing with Paul. He has no right in talking like he has attority over me. He may be an alpha, but he's not my alpha. I lead myself.

The urge to comfort Paul overtook my senses as his shaking grew more intense. I got up to face Sam, feeling my wolf take control for a second resulting in the glow of my eyes. "You upset my mate. How would you feel if I upset yours?"

"Is that a threat?" Sam asked angrily, his posture grew intimidating.

"I'll leave that up to you. I am a force to be reckoned with and pissing off my mate is an easy way to get on my bad side." I regained control, eyes shifting back to their regular color, and sat back down. This time sitting on Paul's lap. His face automatically went to my neck as he took in my scent.

"Who else was slightly aroused by that?" I heard Embry whisper. Paul looked at Embry, growling. "Mine!" the single word had me snuggling closer into Paul, him tightening his grip as well.

Jared spoke, seeing Sam too pissed to do so himself. "Lupe. We're trying to understand what exactly you are and if you are a threat to our people. We just wanna get to know you. Paul is our pack brother, you are his imprint. By our code, you have our word we will not harm you."

I nodded at his calm approach, "I am a wolf."

"See the thing with that is that, we are wolves and you don't seem to have the same abilities as we do. Some maybe but there are others that don't match up."

"Like what?"

Jared continued by telling me their tribe stories and legends. Explaining what they were and how shifters came to be. From why they phase, to imprinting, to their natural enemy. They even explained the Cullens. When they finished, it was only fair if I explained what I know. I stand up and walk to the front oft the room so I have everyone's eyes on me.

"For me, about half of what it's like for you applies to me. The other half gets complicated. Fortunatly, I remember the legends my mother would tell me when I was little. She called them guardians and warriors. Cyotes. Much like your tribe, they could shapeshift into coyotes. These people inparticular, it was only the women who would shift. Most of the tribe believed that men were easily currupted and arrogant. But this ability wasn't the result of an enemy. It was gifted to the infants that would be best suited for battle and reproduction by the goddesses. From there, it passed through bloodline, but only to the girls. Boys were left human but strong. Their purpose was to maintain balance and fight off evil. Evil that threatened to currupt the balance of the natural world. Along with making sure everything went by the natural order. Like no mix breeding of different breeds. It wasn't until one day, that boundary was tested. One of the Cyote woman fell in love with another shifter, which was accepted by the tribe. Like yours, we have a soulmate. The animal inside looks for a male that is best suited for the woman's needs and will ensure that the next generation grows stronger than the last. But this couple, they were denied the option of having children. It went aginst the law of mix breeding. It would make the line of their children...unpure. Their powers would not be from not one speices but two. Tainting the gene pool. But only 2 years later, the couple produced a child. A girl. Whose eyes showed those of the Cyotes. An electric blue hue. They kept her a secret, telling people she was the niece to a deceased sister that died in battle. But when she bagan to show signs of inheriting her father's abilities, they went into hiding. Never being heard of again." I finish the tale my mother would tell me every night before bed. It made me sad, conjuring up the memery of her tucking me in and my father kissing my forehead before we laid together as my mother told me the legends of her people.

"So what happened to the couple?" asked Embry. I sighed.

"I don't know. She never told me. Said it wasn't important." I answered shrugging.

"Explain how the whole soulmate thing works for you guys." I looked towards Paul, understanding why he wanted to know.

"We call them mates. Like the coyote, we mate for life. The female will chose a male her animal feels will best suit her and produce the stongest children. The bond between mates is something that you wouldn't be able to imagine. There's a special type of bond the female has to her mate. She feels his pain and can sense when another female touches him. Of course, all that happens after they mate and mark each other. See the male is not only seen as the mate of a Cyote, but slowly as their bond strenghtens, he too begins to feel the Cyote bond. He will feel when his mate is in pain, or if another male touches her. The severity of the pain depends on how the intruder touches one of them. If it's a simple clap, it's like a dull buzz, nothing serious. If it's romantically or subduing, it tazes the heart. Almost as if your heart is slowly being torn into. But until they claim each other, there is just this stong protective pull between the two. The female gets posessive and the male gets territorial." I finish, the whole time I was explaining Paul kept his eyes glued to mine. At the same time, recalling how the knowledge was just hammered into my stamina.

"Soooo you and Paul are basically are gonna have some serious sexual tension until you guys have sex?" Jared bluntly asks.

"Not nessisarily. Before the female meets her mate, she's infertile. But after her animal accepts the male, she becomes fertile and begins the reproductive cycle. Which is basically where every few months, she goes into heat. Her body and mind will crave the male's absolute attention. The male will also feel the heat. He'll be aroused by the slightest things that remind him of his female. Scent, voice, just the sight of her and he would claim her. It's where the female is most likely to get pregnant. It ensures that we don't die out."

"Okay. So if your mother was, most likely, a Cyote warrior, why do you resemble a wolf and not a coyote?" Sam asks.

"That's what I don't understand." I reply honestly.

"Could it be possible that your dad was from La Push?"

"Maybe. We never went to visit any relatives. I was just me and them. No siblings either." I said, shrugging.

"Well, you're not alone anymore. You got us now. You got me." Paul whispered to me, smiling kindly. I smile at his words and get up to walk over to him and pull him into a sweet kiss. He's surprised by my actions but responds immediatly by cupping my face in his hands and leaning in more to deepen the kiss.

"Before you both decide to jump each other's bones on my couch, I have a question." I pull away from the kiss and turn to face Emily. "Does that make you the secret child?" I freeze as I think it through and realization hits me. Of all my years, thinking over the possibilities, never once have I thought of myself being the secret child. It makes sense though. I obviously have the traits of a Cyote, hell, I'm even infertile. I'm 16 and don't have my period. And then I shift into a wolf.

"Holy- I'm the hybrid child." I stretch the first word as I process my words.