Everything to me (A Paul Lahote imprint story)

Reunions

The wheels of my suitcase rattle behind me as I march out of the airport. I take a deep breath as the smell of rain envelopes me. It's an all too familiar smell, seeing as I just came here from Vancouver, BC. But it's comforting to still have that reminder of home with me. Peering around through the bustling crowds at Sea-tac, looking for my aunt Sue, I hear her before I see her.

"Ahh Lucy!!" I hear a squeal of my name and whip my head around just in time to see a sheet of brown hair flying at my face as she crushes me in a hug. "Oh honey, look at you! I missed you!" She pulls back and smiles at me.

"I missed you too Aunt Sue!" And I truly did. This woman had to be the warmest, kindest soul I'd ever known. I moved away from my family with my father when I was little, but I never lost contact with Aunt Sue. We talked on the phone all the time, and at least once every couple of months, my dad would drive me to meet her at some random small town between Vancouver and LaPush.

"Uh, you are just absolutely beautiful Luce." She beams at me. Looking down at my feet, I nudge my aunt playfully. "Come on, let's get you in the car and you can catch me up to speed on the way home."

********

Everything out my window is reduced to a blur of green as we speed down the road to the small town I'm about to call home again. I was born here, and lived with my mom and dad for the first 8 years of my life. But one day my mom just up and vanished. The police never found her body or anything, so me and my dad were forced to try and mourn without closure. It eventually became too much for my dad, so he packed us up and moved us out of the country.

Vancouver was ok, and I had good friends there, but I always missed the closeness of the people of LaPush. I missed my cousins and my old childhood friends Jake and Quil and Embry. And I missed my Aunt Sue and Uncle Harry telling me stories about our Quileute tribe around the campfire. I was certainly glad to know the tribe's legends - I guess the right word is histories - when around 15 I came down with a serious fever and an attitude problem that eventually landed me on four legs.

It was my anxiety that finally did me in. The boy I liked at school asked about mom and I tried to tell him about her, I really did. But the knot in my throat made it impossible to speak, my vision got all blurry and I could feel my heart trying to beat it's way out of my chest. That's when a flash of rage and heat swept over me, and shoving the boy into the locker behind us, I ran out of school into the woods behind it. I called my dad just as a tearing sensation ran up my spine, and white and grey feet came down in front of my eyes.

As much as my dad tried to help me, he'd stopped shifting so long ago so he could grow old with my mom. And I had so much trouble keeping my anxiety under control enough to stop shifting. Being alone in this definitely didn't help that. But when my Aunt Sue told me that some of the boys on the reservation were starting to shift too, I longed to go back home. My dad wouldn't budge on the matter though. I was already 17 by the time it was too late and... my accident gave him no choice but to let me go live with his sister in LaPush.

Steering my mind away from the accident before I spiral right in the truck, I bring my focus back to the present.

"So, you said some of the boys are starting to shift? Is there a pack?" I say turning my head to look at my aunt.

"Yeah there is. Do you remember Sam Uley?" I nod. "Well he was the first, so he's the alpha here. Then little Jared cameron from your preschool was number two. Paul Lahote from down the road - he's the same as ever, life of the party, but his temper flips like a switch-" You remember a young paul on the playground pushing a kid for making fun of your outfit and smile to yourself. "Then your old friends embry, jake and quil. That's it" She finishes. But my eyes have gone wide at the mention of my old friends.

"My boys are shifters?!" I squeal out, making your aunt wince and giggle.

"Yeah honey. Actually Sam was thinking of having a bonfire tonight to officially welcome you to the pack. We've never had someone join this way, so he wanted to make sure you got to meet everybody. Is that ok?"

My heart swells at the thought put into the gesture. The excitement of meeting my future pack tonight builds in my chest.

"Of course! That sounds perfect... Maybe I should shower first though" I say, cringing at the sight of my airplane hair in the side mirror. Aunt Sue lets out a snort beside me.

"Well yeah. Let's get you settled in first. It's at the blacks house. You've got plenty of time honey"

We finally pull into a long driveway that leads to the sweetest little blue house. It's the perfect mix of Aunt Sue and Uncle Harry and it just welcomes you in. I barely make it out of the car before Leah and Seth are on top of me making sure I know how much I was missed. My Uncle Harry greeted me with a warm hug and heated me up some leftover fish fry. After the initial excitement of my arrival wears off, Leah helps me set up my new room, and we're left laying on my new bed, filling each other in on everything.

"So he just picked her over you... our second cousin.... WHAT AN ASS!" I blurt out. "Yeah. He didn't even give me an explanation. He just loves her now I guess." Leah says with a frown on her face.

"Well I don't really know the guy, but I hate him for you. And you can bet your ass I'm going to give him hell tonight. Is that why you aren't coming?" I ask her as you run a brush through your waves.

"Mostly yeah. But I think it's just for Sam's friends... I assume they're trying to initiate you into their cult." She says with a smirk.

"Well naturally. I'm the best." I throw back at her with a dazzling smile, making us both burst into a fit of giggles.

Once we've settled down and I've tamed my dark brown waves Leah shoots me a look.

"You know Paul is going to be there hey? Didn't you used to have a huge crush on him?" she asks.

"Used to? I saw a picture of him on facebook like last year and he's still so frickin cute." She raises her eyebrows at me.

"Dude, he's not cute anymore. He graduated to hot a while ago. Actually all those boys have really filled out, I think you'll be pleasantly surprised"

"Hmm, well then Leah... lets make me look hot too so I fit in" She throws her head back with laughter and gets to work on picking out my outfit.