BOREALIS ☽ Leah Clearwater ✔

Chapter 12... Past

Joshua Sr. refilled my coffee for the third time. In the ten short minutes since I had been sitting at the table in his cozy little kitchen, I had already choked down two cups, plus three pastries. "Fanks," I mumbled through my fourth.

He chuckled. "You're welcome. I see your appetite is no different than the boys..." He glanced at Jacob, who was working on two doughnuts at the same time.

I swallowed. "Sorry, we haven't had breakfast yet."

"Don't worry about it," he said, putting the coffee pot on the table between us before returning to his chair. He had changed into a t-shirt and sweats. He had offered Jacob and me clothes to borrow, but we had both turned it down; we had to run back soon, anyway. "I know how it is. That's why I always keep plenty of food on hand." He nodded at his oldest, JJ—my imprint.

JJ was in the chair next to mine, sitting silently, also still in his blanket. Unlike us, he was nursing his first cup. He hadn't been drinking it, just staring into it.

Joel returned, freshly washed and clothed, his long hair pulled back into a ponytail. His nervous gaze darted over all of us before he sank into a seat next to his father.

His father clapped his hand to his shoulder and leaned back in his chair. "Alright then, where should I begin?"

Joel crossed his arms. "How about telling me why the hell I turned into a giant wolf?"

"Remember when I told you about the legends of my—our—people?" Joshua asked.

"Those fairytales about them turning into wolves?" Joel gasped. "They're real? Y-You're joking..."

"You must realize I'm not," his father replied, smiling. "We are descended from a long line of, well, werewolves."

"Shape shifters," Jacob interjected.

Joshua turned to him. "I beg your pardon?"

"We're not technically werewolves," Jacob explained. "We're shape shifters that just take the form of the wolf. True werewolves are, uh, different."

"And how do you know that?"

"A..." Jacob shot me a wary glance. "A friend told us."

I stared back. I knew exactly what he was thinking. How are we gonna tell them the La Push packs were friendly with a bunch of vampires?

Joshua narrowed his eyes. "What kind of friend was this?"

"That's a long story," Jacob said trying to seem casual, but I could see the stiffness in his shoulders. "But I'd like to hear your story first, if you don't mind."

Joshua carefully inspected Jacob's face. "You're lucky you look so much like your Dad, otherwise I'm not sure I'd trust you."

Jacob just smiled back, as if he was just being nice, but I knew he was doing it because his smile was just like Billy's. We were betting on it to assure him.

It worked. Joshua sighed. "Well, alright, but get comfortable, because it's also a long story. The stories you've heard about me in La Push are true... A long time ago, I was a real asshole." He laughed, but humor was absent from his eyes.

JJ stood up suddenly. His chair jumped back, slamming hard into the wall behind him. "If it's all the same," his said in his deep, smooth voice, "I'm going to excuse myself. I've heard all these stories before."

Joshua looked at his son for a moment before simply nodding his head. JJ turned and strode out of the cabin, the door slamming behind him.

I watched him go, torn between my desire to follow him and my curiosity about Joshua's story.