I got out of the car and walked inside. No one was here, that was a first. Sam came in with my stuff – most of my stuff had survived the earthquake. Sam had gotten it all before he picked me up. He led me up to my room and set down my stuff before he left. I unpacked before cleaning myself up and changing into some nicer clothes – I was still in my pj’s. I sat on my bed and thought about what my mom had said. She told me to be strong and that’s exactly what I was going to do. I was never one to mourn in the past, and I wasn’t going to start now. My mom and sister – and dad – will always be in my heart.
I smiled at the thought of my mom watching me from heaven. She was in a better place now. She would want me to be happy. I smiled as I climbed into my bed and fell asleep, skipping dinner.
I woke up the next morning to a loud crash coming from the kitchen. I got out of bed and hurried down the stairs. I saw Sam standing over a pile of broken glass.
“Morning. What happened?” I asked.
Sam looked up and smiled.
“Hey. I just dropped a plate.”
“Oh.” I said, helping him clean up the mess. When we finished, he gave me a big hug.
“Thanks. Oh, and heads up, Paul and Jared should be here any minute, along with the new pack members. A lot of boys have phased since last time you were here.”
Yeah, I knew that my brother and his “pack” were werewolves. It didn’t bother me.
“Emily was out at a neighbor’s house yesterday when we got home. She came back after you had already fallen asleep.”
“Emily! I haven’t seen her in forever! Well, it’s only been a year, but still.” I was excited to see Emily, Sam’s girlfriend. She was like a sister to me.
I hurried up the stairs to get changed and make myself look a little more presentable. When I was done, I hurried down the stairs and came face-to-face with a huge boy.
“Paul!” I yelled as I jumped on him.
“Hey Sierra! How’ve ya been?” He asked, hugging me.
“Uh, fine.” I sighed.
“Heard about your mom and sister. I’m sorry.” He looked at me with sad eyes.
“Yeah, I miss them, but they’re in a better place now. I’m not gonna mourn in the past.”
“That’s good. They wouldn’t want you to be all sad and stuff.”
I nodded and then looked around. There were five more guys standing around, not including Sam. They all looked the same. Short black hair, dark eyes, russet colored skin. And they were huge! Plus, no one, besides me, was wearing a shirt! Must be the werewolf look. I spotted Jared and ran to him.
“Jared!”
“Sierra!” He gave me a giant bear hug.
“Can’t….breath!” I gasped. He laughed and put me down.
“Glad to have you back. And you’re staying for good now.” He grinned.
“Yup! Since you guys are here so much, you’ll end up getting sick of me!”
“Hah! Don’t hold your breath! No one’s gonna get sick of you.”
I laughed. “We’ll see about that!”
“Sierra!” I heard Emily’s familiar voice coming from upstairs. I watched her run down the stairs and over to me.
“Em! It’s so good to see you!”
“You too! I can’t believe you’re staying with us!” She smiled and then turned to the boys. “Breakfast!”
The group of boys stampeded to the table. Emily went to the kitchen and came out with the food. I snatched a muffin. And then I saw Emily’s hand. I grabbed it.
“Wow! What’s with the rock?” I asked, looking at her finger. I took a bite of my muffin.
“Oh, you know…” Emily blushed.
“Hey, Sam! I didn’t know you were man enough.”
“Man enough to do what?” He asked.
“Pop the question.” I said with my mouth full. I few of the guys laughed. That reminded me… “Hey, so when are ya gonna introduce me to all of them?” I asked, gesturing to the table of boys.
“Oh yeah. Sierra, these are the guys. Guys, this is Sierra.” Sam said, smiling.
I looked at the new faces. “So… Names?” I asked.
“My name is Seth Clearwater! Nice to meet you!” Seth jumped up out of his chair and hugged me. I laughed.
“Nice to meet you too, Seth.”
“Pleasure’s all mine!” He winked and went back to his seat.
“I’m Embry Call. Sam talks about you a lot.” A boy with shaggy black hair and green eyes said. He was cute. I smiled before turning to Sam.
“You told them about me?” I asked. Sam just shrugged.
“Oh yeah! He wouldn’t shut up about you! I’m Quil Ateara, by the way.” I turned to the boys and looked at Quil. He must have been the one waving. I smiled.
“Nice to meet you.”
I looked at the last boy—he looked kind of familiar. He was just staring at me. I walked up to him and waved my hand in front of his face. He blinked and the other boys laughed.
“Hello? Name please.” I said.
“Oh! I would tell you my name, but you already know it.” He smirked, got up and hugged me. I knew in an instant who it was.
“JAKE! I missed you so much! I didn’t even recognize you; you cut all your hair off!”
“I missed you too! I can’t believe your staying!”
I smiled as the front door opened.
“Be prepared. Here comes Leah.” Paul muttered under his breath. The boys groaned. I turned around and saw a beautiful girl with short black hair and copper skin come towards me.
“Hi. I’m Leah Clearwater. You must be Sierra.”
“Yup.” I said and hugged her. That caught her off guard. The look on her face made the boys crack up.
“Oh, sorry. I’m a hugger.” I smiled.
“Just like Seth.” She laughed.
We walked over to the table and sat down. I sat in-between Paul and Jared. Leah sat by Seth.
“You guys siblings?” I asked Leah, noticing that they had the same last name.
“Yup. I’m older by three years. He’s 15 and I’m 18.” She smirked at Seth who stuck his tongue out at her.
“Don’t need to rub it in.” Seth muttered. I laughed.
I grabbed a plate and started filling it with food.
I ate my food quickly, chatting with the guys. They were cool. I was looking forward to living here.
“So. Wolves, huh?” I asked. Seth, Embry, Quil, and Leah dropped their forks and looked at me, shocked. Then they all looked at Sam.
“She knows?!?” Embry asked in shock.
“Well, yeah. I’m his sister; werewolf blood is in me too. That’s not something he can hide from me.” I answered for Sam. Everyone relaxed.
“So, do you wanna be a wolf, then?” Jake asked, meeting my gaze.
“Well, I guess. It seems cool.” I explained.
“Yeah. ‘S not so bad.” Jake smiled.
“Are you kidding? It sucks!” Leah complained. I looked over at Leah.
“What?” I asked.
“Being a wolf sucks! We have this horrible telepathy thing where we can read each other’s thoughts. There’s no privacy. Plus, I hate going on patrol.”
I just looked at her, shocked.
“Dude! You’re always so paranoid! Just let it go already! All you do is complain.” Seth said to Leah.
“Shut it Seth.” Leah mumbled.
“Anyway… We were gonna go cliff diving today. Wanna come?” Embry said, breaking up the awkward moment.
“Sure, I guess.” I would most likely just watch; I had a terrible fear of heights.
“Such a guys’ girl.” Sam mumbled and then smiled.
“Oh yeah. Love hanging with the guys.” I elbowed Paul in the side, and then did the same to Jared.
“Dude, what the heck?” Paul asked. I just smiled.
After breakfast, I got my bathing suit on and went down to the beach. I loved the beach. I went by myself while everyone else finished breakfast and goofed around. I went over to the edge of the water and sat down. The water would wash up on the shore and come right up to my feet. I sat there looking at the water for a long time.
“Hey!”
I spun around, startled, and saw Jake standing there.
“Hey.” I said as Jake sat down next to me.
“I’m really sorry about your family. Sam told me.” He said.
“’S okay.” I sighed. I tried not to think about it too much, not wanting to live in the past. I smiled, thinking of my mom watching me right now.
Before either one of us could say anything else, I heard laughter. I got up and spun around. All of the guys, and Leah, came running toward us.
“Finally! It’s about time you guys showed up!” I said.
“Yeah, yeah. Now let’s go!” Paul said, running up to the cliff; everyone followed.
Once we made it to the top, I looked down at the churning water below. I started getting dizzy. I had an extreme fear of heights. I backed up far enough so that I couldn’t see the water anymore. Jake and Paul noticed.
“What’s wrong with you?” Paul asked.
“Uh, I’m scared of heights.” I eyed the cliff. Paul burst out laughing.
“You–hang–with–werewolves, but–you’re –scared of–heights!” He spit out between bursts of laughter.
“Yeah, pretty much.” I rolled my eyes at him.
“Well, you need to get over that. Conquer your fears.” Paul said and grinned evilly. He ran to me, threw me over his shoulder and ran to the edge of the cliff.
“JAKE!! HELP ME!” I screamed, but it was too late. Paul jumped. I screamed and flared my arms the whole way down. The pack watched from the cliff, cracking up. The sound of their laughter cut off when we hit the freezing cold water below. Paul let me go and I swam to the surface. Paul came up shortly after me.
“Paul!” I yelled. “I hate you!” I swam over to him and got on his back, my arms locked around his neck.
“Sierra! Let go!” Paul whined.
“No! Now swim to shore so I can beat you up!”
Paul laughed. “I’d like to see you try.” He muttered.
When we made it to shore, I got off his back and stood up. He stood up next to me, towering over me.
“You really gonna beat me up?” He asked.
I took in his massive size. “Ugh! No.” I crossed my arms. “That was so mean!” I grumbled.
Paul laughed and hugged me. “Wasn’t so bad though, was it?”
“It was terrifying! I thought I was going to die!”
“You think I would’ve let you die?” Paul asked.
“No.” I sighed in defeat.
“See, you were safe.” Paul said just as Jake and Jared came over to us.
“Jake. Jared. Beat him up.” I mumbled.
“Ha! No thanks! Have you seen the size of him?” Jared asked and laughed along with Jake.
“Anyone else, sure. But Paul, no. Sorry.” Jake said.
“Sorry.” Paul laughed and hugged me. “Forgive me?”
“Fine.” I sighed and hugged him back.
“Ha! She likes me more!” Paul smirked at Jake and Jared.
“What? No way! She likes me more!” Jared protested and took Paul’s place hugging me. “Right Sierra?”
“Well, you didn’t throw me off the cliff.” I laughed.
“I said I was sorry!” Paul whined.
“Oh, give it a break guys. I’m her favorite.” Jake smirked at Paul and Jared. I went to stand next to Jake. He put his arm around my shoulders.
“Yup.” I said. Paul and Jared’s mouths fell open in shock. “Kidding guys. I like you all the same.” Paul and Jared instantly smiled. Jake frowned. I winked at him and he grinned.
“So, who wants to keep jumping?” Jared asked.
“Me!” Jake and Paul said.
“I’ll watch.” I went to sit over on a rock.
“Suit yourself.” Paul mumbled as the three of them went to join the rest of the pack on the cliff. I sat there and watched them shove each other over the edge for hours. It was pretty entertaining.
The sun started setting and I stated to yawn. The temperature was dropping and I started to shiver when the pack finally came down to me.
“Gosh Sierra! You’re shivering like crazy!” Seth exclaimed.
“Y-Y-Yeah, I’m j-j-just c-c-cold.” I said through chattering teeth. Leah laughed.
“Guess that means it’s time to go, huh?”
We walked over to Embry’s truck. Embry and Sam sat in the cab, while the rest of us sat in the bed of the truck. I was the only one shivering. After all, I was the only one with a normal body temperature.
“Hey, Sierra. One-oh-eight degrees over here.” Jake said. I scooted over to him and he put his arm around me. I warmed up immediately.
“You guys are so lucky. It must be nice, never getting cold.” I said. Jake chuckled.
Leah, Seth, and Quil were watching me and Jake. They were mostly looking at his arm, slung around my shoulders. Paul and Jared knew that Jake and I were best friends. Just best friends.
“What? I’m cold, alright?” I said, getting annoyed by the stares. The guys both looked away, but Leah had her eyes trained on Jake’s face. I ignored her and just sat there, snuggling up into my best friend’s warm side.