After changing back and putting her clothes back on, Nina and Charlie headed back to the bonfire hand in hand. Everyone who knew what was going on was smirking happily at them. They ignored them however and Nina walked Charlie to his car. They had agreed that it was late and that Charlie would come over and they would finish the conversation tomorrow.
Once they reached his car Nina broke the silence, "I'm really glad you're handling this so well, I've been so nervous for day."
Charlie grinned slightly at her, "I'll admit, it will take me a while to get used to, but I'm willing to try because you were right, I do feel the connection between us. I also can tell that if I were to give up on us I would regret it for the rest of my life."
Nina beamed up at Charlie before throwing her arms around him and pressing her lips to his. Charlie was shocked at first but bounced back quickly and began kissing her back just as fervently. They wound their arms around each other and when Nina felt his tongue trace her bottom lip she opened and allowed him entrance.
They could have stayed like that forever, but when they began to hear catcalls they pulled away from each other and realized they had attracted an audience. Nina was blushing hard, but smiling up at Charlie like an idiot. And Charlie was grinned down at her just as stupidly.
When they finally unwound their arms from around each other, Charlie finally got in his car and left, and Nina walked back to the fire in a bit of a daze. The bon fire was over now, and everyone was packing the food and furniture up and getting ready to go home.
The council and Sam crowded around her and began asking a million questions at once, Jared and Paul had left once the legends were over for patrol. But Nina silenced them, "I told him, he didn't believe me at first so I phased in front of him, I tried to explain everything to him and we agreed to discuss it more tomorrow."
Everyone grinned and congratulated her before dispersing.
Sam stayed behind and once everyone was out of earshot turned and asked her, "Do you really think it went well?"
Nina opened her mouth to answer him but before she could get a word out Jared came running up, "Guys we got a problem, Embry Call just phased. Paul stayed with him to try and calm him down, but it doesn't seem to be working."
Nina and Sam were up immediately and following Jared into the forest, stripping and phasing as they went.
Once they reached the clearing that Embry and Paul were in, all they saw was Paul laying in the grass in and Embry pacing back and forth in wolf form, they started slowing their pace and walking towards him with caution. Embry looked terrified and began snarling at them with his hackles raised.
Nina slowing walked closer to him and began talking to him in his mind, "Hi Embry, its Nina Jacob's big sister. You don't have to be afraid."
Embry jumped in fright, "What the hell is going on? What's happened to me?"
Nina tried to sooth him, "Calm down Embry, you'll never be able to shift back if you get yourself all worked up. Now if you think really hard, you'll know exactly what has happened to you."
Her words didn't seem to help him at all, in fact it seemed to make in more agitated, "What are you even talking about? I'm a giant wolf! How can I calm down?"
Nina rolled her eyes and sighed, "God, you're an idiot. Didn't you ever hear the tribe legends? You're a spirit warrior now, a protector of the tribe."
Embry stared at her in shock, and they could all see his memories of the tribe stories being told to him, "So you're saying, werewolves, vampires; it's all real? And now I'm one too? What the actual fuck?!"
His exclamation had everyone laughing, "Okay," Nina laughed, "I think you're calm enough to phase back now. Just think of yourself morphing into a man."
It took him a few minutes, but soon enough Embry was standing before them on two feet, completely naked. One by one they all phased as well, getting redressed and walking home; all the while discussing the new responsibilities that he now had. An even when they got him, they were up almost all night still discussing everything Embry would need to know.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~C.S&N.B~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The next morning Nina woke up a bit later than she wanted, due to being up late the night before with Embry. She was a completely nervous wreck. Charlie was supposed to be coming by today to discuss everything that he now needed to know.
She immediately began cooking a big breakfast for everyone, knowing that the boys would be by as well soon, then she went to get herself ready, she had to make sure she looked pretty for Charlie.
Jake and Billy woke up right after she started getting ready and Sam, Jared, Paul and Embry arrived not too long after that, though they wouldn't be staying too long, they were going cliff diving, and Jacob was taking Bella for a drive after he dropped their dad off at Harry and Sue's. They should all be out of the house for most of the day.
Billy let the boys in the house and everybody fixed their own plate since Nina was still preoccupied. She could hear raised voices and laughter coming from the kitchen. A few times it even sounded like her brother joined in, though he wasn't too fond of any of the boys, except Embry.
When Nina came out of her bedroom everyone had already moved into the living room and they were watching the game on TV. She looked at her watch and seeing that it was a little past 9:30 she decided that it was time for everyone to leave, since Charlie was supposed to be there at 10:00.
"Guy," Nina called out getting everyone's attention, "Charlie is going to be here in a little while, don't you all have someplace to be?" she asked expectantly.
Her pack jumped up immediately and left, giving her a kiss on the cheek on the way out. Not only was she their alpha, it also felt like she was their pack mother. Jacob and her father both decided it was time for them to leave as well; Leaving Nina with the house completely to herself until Charlie got there.
Nina just couldn't sit still, she was too anxious, so she started cleaning the already clean house, waiting for Charlie to get there. And when he finally did arrive she was even more nervous.
Nina ran to the front door and opened it, "Hi Charlie, come on in. Do you want something to drink or eat?" she asked as they walked further into the kitchen.
Charlie shook his head as they sat down at the table, "No I'm fine, thank you."
"Alright," she replied as she sat down across from him, "So...what would you like to know?"
"Everything, let's start from the beginning, and tell me how this happened to you?" Charlie sat forward eagerly, as though he was excited to learn about all of this.
Nina nodded her head, "Okay, well I guess I should start from the beginning. I've always known our tribes legends, they have been told to me since I was a little girl, but it wasn't until I was living in New York that I knew they weren't just stories..."
Nina proceeded to tell him about the vampire that had come to work at her job and how that had led to her phasing, then she told him about coming home to her father and that he explained everything to her. Finally she got to the part about her imprinting on him, "It was instantaneous, even the sound of your voice attracted me to you, before I knew that it was you in my father's living room. As soon as I saw your eyes it happened."
"The imprinting?" Charlie clarified, "What does it feel like?"
Nina sighed happily, "It's like love at first sight, really. Like...gravity moves...suddenly. It's not the earth holding you here anymore, they do... You become whatever they need you to be, whether that's a protector, or a lover, or a friend. In the simplest of terms, it's like finding your soul mate without going through all the pointless dating."
Charlie grinned, "It sounds beautiful." He spoke softly as he gazed at her lovingly.
She nodded, smiling back "I think so."
"And you did this, with me?" He questioned almost in amazement
"Yes, I did. Is it so hard to believe that you have a soul mate?"
Charlie shook his head, "Yes, I though after Renee left that I would spend the rest of my life alone. This thing... imprinting, it is one of the most amazing things that has ever happened to me." He stood to his feet with Nina following him up.
She grinned as she stared up at him, "I'm so happy you're taking this so well. I was worried you would freak out and run away from me."
Charlie raised his hand up to touch her cheek, "Guess I'm just good with weird," he said before leaning down and planting a searing kiss on her lips. Nina wrapped her arms around him, pulling him even closer.
They broke apart for a moment, "You know," she told him breathlessly, "No one's home. We have the whole house to ourselves."
They grinned at each other, before Nina grabbed Charlie by the hand and guided him down the hall and into her bedroom, making sure to shut and lock the door behind them. Everyone was supposed to be gone all day, but she wasn't taking any chances.