A/N: Hot diggity. I'm back y'all. Morning softies and a sprinkle of conflict in this one. (Old people are frequently the worst.) Thank you all for sticking with me! The response to my last update was genuinely heartwarming, and I appreciate you so much. What even the heck.

We did not go back downstairs for the rest of the night. Eventually I did have to sleep, but if I had been able to remain awake, entwined with Alice for the rest of eternity I would have taken that option instead. As it was, sleep wasn't even really a choice. It just sort of happened a few rounds in. One earth-shattering orgasm and then suddenly it was morning.

And what a morning it was.

I woke up to one very naked vampire sprawled across my chest, face pillowed on top of my boobs, grinning like a cat in the cream. I grinned back.

"Good morning, Sunshine," I rasped, voice still gravelly from sleep and... other exertions. I reached up to run my fingers through her rather impressive bed head. Emmett would call it sex hair, but in his defense, he would be right.

"Are you recharged now?" Alice asked with a knowing smile.

I raised one eyebrow. "Is that an invitation?"

She leaned in and planted a soft, sweet kiss on my lips. "Hmm. I wish. But I think I need to feed you some real food first."

Somewhere in the house I heard laughter. I flopped my head back down onto the pillows, groaning through a smile. "That's going to take some getting used to."

"Don't worry, I have some serious blackmail material on Em if he gets out of hand, but your boys are up to you."

The laughter cut off suddenly and I grinned. My stomach growled, sealing my fate. Alice rolled off of me and over the edge of the bed. She stretched her arms out above her head, basking in the weak sunlight streaming through her window.

Nude and glittering, like a statue carved of snow and diamonds, any thought of leaving the bed or eating or anything was wiped from my mind in a moment. I stared at her, slackjawed. I watched a pleased smile curl onto her lips and she minced her way back to the edge of the bed.

A light laugh bubbled up from within her and she held her hands out for me. "Come on, you've got the rest of forever to enjoy the view. For now you need breakfast." Blindly, I reached for them.

Forever. Forever with Alice Cullen. For all that my life seemed to be an amalgam of luck and happenstance, stumbling into Alice was blessing enough to make up for all the misery of this summer and the past week specifically, a thousand times over. I slid my legs over the edge of the bed and dipped my head to close the inches that separated us. With two hands cradling either side of her jaw, I kissed her long and deep.

Breathless afterwards, I said, "I'll hold you to that."

She smiled and buried her head in the crook of my neck, hands roaming over the smooth plane of my back.

"Stop that before I toss you back into bed," I growled playfully. Alice's tinkering laugh was my reward. "Also, I might need you to steal me some of Rose's clothes."

"Can do. But first I think we both need a shower."

Isabella harrumphed her disapproval. Alice smelled like sex and me, and in the wolf's mind that was the natural order of things. But Bella the human knew that it was in my best interest to not give the others any extra material for the teasing that was bound to come.

"You have a point, I guess," I grumbled. Alice smiled and led me to her attached bathroom.

The prospect of showering together improved my mood drastically.

I won't lie and say there weren't some shower shenanigans, but we did eventually make our way downstairs. The cat calls, or wolf whistles rather, were instantaneous. Rehearsed, one might venture to guess. My pack was still sprawled out over the Cullen's living room, their many TVs and game consoles forgotten in favor of craning their necks to stare at us with wolfish grins.

Through the pack bond I could tell that they were genuinely happy for me, but that was drastically overshadowed by their need to be assholes about it. I preemptively flipped them the bird and made a b-line for the long dining room table where I could smell food waiting. Leah, Angela, and Jake sat there finishing their own breakfast. Alice kissed my temple as I sat down, then drifted towards Esme's workshop to check in on what progress her mother had made through the night.

I'd never seen someone wiggle their eyebrows so pointedly, but Jake and Leah must have been practicing with one another in their down time. Angela just rolled her eyes and smiled into her plate of food, but I couldn't ignore that her cheeks were dusted with rosy color. I began digging into a heaping stack of pancakes and a pile of scrambled eggs.

"Sooo-" Jake began.

"Too tired. Need calories. Just get it all out now," I mumbled around a full mouth. There was no point delaying the inevitable. Voices rang out from the living room.

"Is there any room in the construction budget for industrial ear plugs?"

"Like damn Bells, we didn't know you had it in you."

"We figured the bed would be gone halfway through, but we never even heard the frame crack. I, for one, am disappointed."

"Honestly, Emmett got the best one already, I can't top that."

"Three guesses who could top his sister, though."

My head slumped into my hands, but I couldn't be mad when Isabella was still so proud. "Alright, alright," I laughed. I looked up to see the three wolves across from me fighting back laughter. "Where are the rest of the Cullens, anyways?"

Leah gave me a 'look.' "Well let's see. Edward reads minds and Jasper is an empath. They ducked out five minutes in to round one. Pretty sure Em and Rose left to work out their secondhand frustration from your performance," a dry look, "and Carlisle and Esme followed pretty close after. Who knew vampires were such horndogs, honestly."

"Speaking of..." It was my turn to wiggle my own eyebrows.

To her credit, Leah had the decency to flush. "They went hunting with Edward and Jasper," she mumbled.

I leaned my elbows on the table and propped my head up on my hands, waiting.

Leah resumed eating her breakfast with gusto.

"That's what I thought." I turned to Angela. "I'm surprised you didn't have to go back home last night. Your parents aren't worried?"

She smiled. "Well, they were, but I told them I was hanging out at my doctor's house, with you and his kids, and they loosened up after that."

"Hmm," I frowned. Angela's parents were too smart to believe she was up and out of bed so soon. "I'm guessing Carlisle has talked to them too?"

She smiled, sheepish. "Yeah, he's seriously covering for me."

I smiled back. Figures that the Cullen patriarch would have plenty of practice explaining his way out of things, with five supernatural 'children' who frequently needed to hide from the sun. "He's a good guy."

Alice pranced back into the room, scooted my chair out, and plopped down into my lap. I wrapped my arms around her waist instinctively. "So what are we doing today?"

A voice was cleared from the archway that separated the dining room from the living room. I looked over to see Sam leaning there, pensive.

To be truthful, I still wasn't sure where he and I stood. He had given himself over to the pack, of course. I could feel his dedication through the pack bond, and knew I had no reason to question his loyalty, but we had traded a lot of hard words and I knew it would take time for us to become close. "What's up, Sam?"

He rubbed the back of his neck. "Well. Jake and I were talking last night, and we wondered if..." His eyes flitted to Alice and then back to me. "Well, we figured maybe the Cullens would want to come hang out on the Rez for a while?"

It was a statement, but framed as a question. I felt Alice stiffen in my arms, just as surprised as I was. "Wow. Uhm. How does the council feel about that?"

Sam shrugged. He looked down at his feet, and I could tell he was nervous. "We actually haven't told them anything yet."

My eyebrows shot skyward. I turned to Jake and found him fidgeting in his seat. "Not even Billy?"

Jake shook his head, grimacing.

I sat back in my chair, and let out a long breath. I mean it made sense, all things considered, but I hadn't really had time to process that very necessary step that needed to be taken. I absently ran a hand up and down Alice's side and she leaned back into me, sighing. Jake's eyes twinkled while he tried to come up with something witty to say, but switched to grinning into his lap when he caught me looking.

I pursed my lips, thinking. My mind ran through a few scenarios but none seemed particularly favorable. I let my held breath out slowly. "Alright. Yeah, let's head over. Probably best that most of the Cullens are out right now. Can you call ahead and let them know there have been some developments in the pack? Keep it vague, I'll spring it in person."

Sam fidgeted. "Sure. Can do. Uh, what about Alice?"

My gaze hardened. "She goes where I go, of course. If those geezers have something to say about it, they'll have their chance."

I felt irritation flare within Sam and several other wolves in the outer room. Even in my human skin I could feel my hackles rise. I sighed and stood, gently sliding Alice to the floor.

"Right," I started. "Quick pack meeting, then. Might as well have a game plan."

I felt the command ripple through the boys in the living room, and by the time I was there standing in front of them the games were paused, and their inquisitive eyes were boring into mine. I knew that on a certain level, it was not my place to tell these boys that their respected elders were now an enemy. Family members in some case, and prominent members of their tribe in others. The creation of our pack had happened by happenstance, and the human in me knew that the legacy of their tribe was something unique to them. I understood that their was honor and ancestry in their lineage. I truly didn't want to take that away from them.

But it still didn't change the rules of the game we were being forced to play.

I sat down on the coffee table, elbows resting on my knees and hands clasped between them. I didn't really know where to begin. I ran a hand through my hair and sighed. I locked eyes with Alice for a long moment, finding solace in the reassuring smile she shot me from where she had propped up against the living room wall. Scanning the room, my pack stared back at me, waiting.

"Look. I have every intention of telling your elders the full truth. I'm not going to lie to anyone who doesn't need to be mislead. But I'm not pretending this isn't going to be difficult, seeing as they have been lied to in the past."

I watched several eyes narrow in confusion, and I huffed.

"Now that you know the Cullens, and now that you know them through my eyes, are they really the danger your elders believe them to be? They danger they led you to believe they were?"

The boys squirmed. Only Leah spoke up. "No, they're not."

"They could be," I argued, causing several heads to pop up in surprise. I forged on, "But no more than we are. We're not humans, so yes, we are dangerous. Everyone slips up sometimes," I added on, eyeing Paul. Eyeing Sam.

They both looked away, a gesture of submission.

"The bottom line is, we are one family. We have one mission. We will protect these lands and their people. We will forgive each other's mistakes and we will push each other to be better." I stood, forcing each of them to look up at me from where they were seated. The youngest boys, Brady and Collin, looked at me with something too close to hero worship for my comfort. In the oldest I saw determination and steel.

I continued. "In the end, the Cullens are an inextricable part of our pack, whether the Elder's like it or not. Our territory belongs to our pack, not them, and that is not up for debate. I know how sacred your lands are to you, and I will never have that connection with them that you do. I'm not here to try and override that. When it comes to activities on the Rez, your opinions will always come before my own. I hope you can believe that, but it doesn't change the fact that the treaty between the Quileutes and Cullens no longer serves a purpose. Are we in agreement?"

Around me heads bobbed, but my eyes were on Sam's. He stared at me long and hard. Isabella rumbled, disliking the forward nature of it all, but I pushed her down. "I'm... really glad to hear that from you Bella. All of it. And..." His face screwed up in pain, or perhaps regret. He came to stand before me, and then knelt with his head bowed. The rest of the Quileutes looked on in surprise, but I doubt any were as shocked as myself.

He went on, "I know a lot has been happening, and really quickly too." A wry chuckle bubbled up from me, but I did not interrupt. "I really haven't had a chance to properly apologize for my actions, and for the way I was leading this pack before everything went down. If..." His eyes squeezed shut. "I keep thinking back to that first night, at the border. If we had just a few more wolves, if you had been anything less than what you are, if we had really hurt you..."

He looked up, and I saw unshed tears threatening to spill over. I could sense what he truly meant. The pain that would have caused his pack mates who had been my closest friends. The hell Charlie would have gone through. His cousin's rescue, suddenly uncertain.

"I never would have forgiven myself. I was blinded by the hatred of a generation who was never even a part of this war. I don't know how I'll be able to atone for my actions, but I swear to try."

I stuck out my hand, and he grabbed it hesitantly. I heaved him to his feet. My voice was soft as I replied, "Ancient history, Sam."

I looked back at my pack. Paul seemed unusually mellow, staring down at his clasped hands. The youngest boys seemed shocked to seem Sam in such a state, and I didn't blame them. Leah looked at her ex with a mixture of pity and confusion.

"Well, are we ready to do this?" My pack stood, and I could feel the determination in them through our bond. They seemed to build off of one another, growing stronger and more confident. I smiled. Alice flitted back to my side, taking a fistful of my shirt gently into her hand and pulling herself into my side. I held her tightly.

"Can you text Carlisle and give him a run down of our game plan? Depending on how it goes, maybe they could prepare themselves to treat with the council officially sometime later today?"

"And then beach party!" Embry boomed out, clearly trying to lighten the somber mood.

Thing was, it absolutely worked. The boys hooted, revitalized by a new light at the end of the tunnel that was confronting the leaders of their tribe. While my wolf understood the necessity of treating with the old windbags, she certainly didn't like the idea of anyone thinking they had the power to sway our decisions. Especially a bunch of cranky old men who had never even shifted, for godsakes. One way or another, they would have to come around to the idea of vampires protecting their lands, and being involved with their children. Leah had imprinted on one, after all. How could they deny that?

I reminded myself that things were rarely that easy. Especially when old, set-in-their-ways men were concerned.

Sam phoned Billy and told him to gather the others, as the rest of us phased out on the lawn. We took a moment to stretch and Jake, Quil, and Embry began to roughhouse while we waited. I was delighted to find that Angela seemed to have a much easier time of things than she had before. I wondered if perhaps the influence of being a part of a pack mind was helping her, but I set that aside as something for us to discuss later. At any rate, the shifter mind link seemed to still be in place for the Quileutes, and surprisingly for her as well. Sam joined us and I looked at the many-colored wolves that ringed around me.

Are we ready? I asked.

I both felt and heard their agreement. Alice hoisted herself up and onto my shoulders, and we were off. We ran at a leisurely pace, weaving between the ferns and mossy trunks. Watching their coats flashing through the forest and feeling them around me filled me with a sense of pride and accomplishment.

Aw, shucks Bells, I heard Leah's voice through the pack link.

I rolled my eyes. Don't let it go to your head.

All too soon we came to the old border, and I charged across it without hesitation. We had spent a good bit of time here yesterday, but it was the first time Alice herself had been on Quileute lands. I felt her grip on my scruff tighten and her body tense reflexively, and while I knew that the older boys of the shifter pack were still somewhat unsettled by what would probably come to pass, no one made any comment.

Where are they meeting us? I asked, slowing in the trees before we drew too close to where the majority of the Quileute houses were.

Behind the town hall, so Alice can keep out of sight. Same replied. We should still probably shift back soon.

It seemed a bit silly at first, but I could sense through the pack link that while very few people living on the Reservation knew the true nature of the Cullens, the prejudices here ran even deeper than they did in town. I couldn't help but grind my teeth in frustration.

As Sam had said, the elders of their tribe were gathered and waiting for us. A short paved trail leading away from the town hall building became hard packed dirt before expanding to ring around a fire pit. Several seats were set up around the ring and beyond them stood rows of low benches, which I presumed were for spectators for ceremonies or meetings. The seven members for the elder's council had taken their seats nearest to the fire pit, save for Billy, who had stationed his wheelchair on the far end.

Several shot to their feet when they noticed myself and Alice among them. All paled, copper complexions turning a sickly pallid color instead. My pack parted for me, moving to either side to take seats among the benches. Alice stuck close to my side, hand held firmly in my grasp.

"Sam," one man rasped out. "What is the meaning of this? You have brought that... that thing onto our lands?" Myself and many of my pack growled a warning. "This is trickery! Betrayal!" As his words continued, their volume grew. Sam did not reply, but instead looked to me. Many of the old men gasped.

"You will not call her a thing in my presence," I intoned with the voice and inflection of a true Alpha. Though these men had never had the fortune of becoming shifters in their own lives, I could sense that the gene was present and mentally rejoiced to see them squirm in their seats.

"You have no authority here!" The same man raged.

I fought to keep my voice level. "That's where you're wrong. We're here to inform you of several recent developments in the relationship between the pack and the Cullen Coven." The council glared but I pressed on, seeing no need to draw things out. I could feel Isabella pacing within me, eager to be let free.

"I'm sure you are aware of Sam's conflict with me over the past weeks. Within the last few days, we have come together as one pack under my authority. It was not a choice, so much as an unavoidable consequence of bending the knee to the wolf most fit for the role. Alice is my mate, and Leah has imprinted on one of the Cullen's extended relatives as well. Pack law states that to harm another's imprint is forbidden. Moreso, your treaty with the Cullen's was idiotic in the first place. You'd think after over a century in contact with your tribe they would be able to prove that they're not a danger to humans, but I guess some people just never learn."

I grinned, pleased to see the clenching of fists and hear the grinding of their teeth.. Or dentures, in one case.

"We will continue to hunt and destroy any red-eye vampire who trespasses onto my territory and anyone who attempts to harm the humans who live here. With the pack's strength combined with the Cullen's, any vampire who gets within a hundred miles will be thinking twice about even sniffing in the direction of the Olympic Peninsula."

"This is unacceptable!" The same outspoken man roared, still upright and trembling. If his body wasn't so far flung into decay I'd think he might be on the verge of transforming. In fact, Billy alone seemed contemplative. He was holding eye contact with his son, unblinking.

"Bella wasn't giving you a choice," Leah hissed. I turned to her in surprise, only then getting a real sense of her anger. I knew that she had her own host of issues with the tribe's council, and had been treated abominably by them following Sam's betrayal and her first shift. Still, her speaking out was surprising, and not just for me.

"Quiet, girl," another man snarled.

"That's enough!" I raged, and felt my body expand as Isabella overcame me.

I towered over the men before us in my largest form, my favorite, the black beast, but now with glowing golden eyes the same shade as Alice's. Although my hackles were raised and lips pulled back, I did not pursue the men now scrambling to get away.

I will not hurt them but neither are they allowed to leave until they have seen sense, I pressed through the link. In a heartbeat my pack had ringed the benches, cutting off their escape.

"My pack will not be disrespected and you would do well to remember that."

Having never heard speech from a wolf before, that alone seemed to startle the men out of their flight. Most turned back to see exactly what new voice had entered their gathering, because for all that I sounded like myself in this body, there remained a distinct 'otherness' that set it apart from my human self.

"What are you?" Billy asked, speaking for the first time. He had not moved. Perhaps it was the limitations of his wheelchair, but I didn't think so. His disability had never hindered him in the past when it came to getting around, or even whooping the boys into shape whenever they'd gotten out of hand.

I scoffed, not at his question but the fact that this was the first bit of logical thought posed in our meeting so far. Leave it to Billy. I knew there was a reason Jake's dad and I had always gotten along, and I couldn't fault my own father's good taste in friends either.

In a calmer tone I replied, "Nothing you've ever seen before, and since joining with me the old pack has changed as well. They've been called to an even greater purpose now. I'm sorry Billy, but this is a courtesy call, not a negotiation. We're not here to meddle in tribe affairs, apart from informing you that the treaty with the Cullens will no longer be upheld by the pack."

Before they could interrupt, which several attempted, I pressed on. I just wanted to get this over and done with.

"We're all bonded together now, some way or another, whether you like it or not. They're as dedicated to protecting the lives here as anyone else. Feel free to pursue legal action, but good luck convincing the courts that a philanthropic family headed by a well-respected doctor doesn't deserve to be on your lands."

With that I turned. I couldn't stand being there for one more moment. The same enraged man, who's name I still did not know, bellowed to our retreating backs, "We will not allow this! If I see any of those things on our land, there will be consequences."

I felt the shift come over Leah before I saw the grey form of her wolf fly back over the benches. I acted instinctively, leaping towards her and careening into her flank, moments before she would have landed on, and most likely crushed, the bitchy old geezer. I growled, lips pulled back in a snarl, and pressed one large paw down on her shoulder. She submitted at once, but I still felt her boiling anger.

Commiserating, I said, "I know, Leah. I know." Whipping my head back around to the most problematic of the council, I released Leah. He had fallen backwards, and was sprawled in the dirt. The smell of fresh urine filled the air. I stalked towards him with a predatory gait, and took a sick pleasure in him and those closest to him scrambling backwards in a vain effort to get away.

"For being the people previously in charge of a pack of supernatural wolves, in charge of their history and lore, you really are one dumb motherfucker," I hissed, voice boiling over with poorly contained rage. It was not lost on me the grave insult he had paid my own mate, and I would not let such a thing slide.

I continued. "Your boys can verify, I have no interest in being given orders by those in no position to dole them out. Let me make something unquestionably clear. As of this moment, you have no enemies here. Not me, not my pack, not the Cullens. But, for some reason, you seemed to be trying very hard to change that. You might oversee your tribe, but you do not oversee my pack. The supernatural presence in the Olympic Peninsula is no longer any of your business. So here are my orders for you."

By now I was looming over the old man, golden eyes blazing with ire. "You have three choices. One, peace. End the senseless hostility between yourselves and the Cullens. Everyone here has lost the will to fight against them anyways. Two, vulnerability. You want us all to stay off your lands? You want to forbid the rest of these boys from seeing their families, like you did to Leah and Seth? Tear them apart out of spite? Good luck fighting the red-eyes by yourselves. You would be the only weak point for a hundred miles. I don't think that qualifies as protecting your tribe. And the final choice?"

I leaned in, my snarling maw mere inches from the man's face. "Insult my mate or her family one more time. See what happens."

I lunged to the side and snapped my jaws just beside his ear. My pack had shifted, heeding the call for battle despite the fact that there would be no satisfaction in this kill. Isabella hungered for it all the same, to make this pathetic man pay for the insult he had paid us. I pushed that urge down.

We turned, and a heartbeat later the men were left alone with nothing but their thoughts and the rustling of wind in the trees.

A/N: Oh snap, Bellzebub bout to stick her foot where the sun don't shine. You go gurl. Let me know what you think! Each review adds .027 days onto my life. Enough reviews and I'll be here forever to plague you with even more updates, you've been warned!