Chapter One: Time Flies – Part One

- MARCH 25th -

The loud roar of the truck's engine mixed with the sound of the heavy rain hitting my windows. It was a comforting sound, slowly easing the stress that tightened my body as well as calming my mind. Which was weird because I normally hate driving in this sort of weather. It's probably because this past week has already been pretty crappy and then this morning seemed to be the icing on the crap cake.

It was Saturday, I had just woken up and gone downstairs to get some breakfast when Charlie thought it would be a good time to spring the news on me. Leslie's dad had reported both her and her mother as missing yesterday. He said he would have told me sooner, but I had gone over to Jacob's' after school and hadn't gotten back until late. He then started telling me how they were going to find her and her mom, but by that point, I was no longer listening; I had gone numb. My best friend was missing. Sure it had been a while since I had last talked to her, but that was because she had been visiting her brother and I was dealing with stupid vampire shit.

It felt like a rock had dropped to the bottom of my stomach as my mind tried to process this new bit of information. I was going through some major crap at the moment what with having to pick sides between monster movies that came to life and ending up on opposite sides as my sister. Sure I couldn't exactly tell her everything that was going on, but I could have made something up. I needed someone on my side! Jacob was the one I had chosen so he wasn't a good one to confide in, the pack was out for similar reasons, I was on opposite sides with my sister who had chosen the vampires which meant the Cullen's were out as well, and dad didn't count because he shouldn't have to choose between his two daughters. A girl's best friend is the only one that she can really count on in a situation like this (or the made-up situation I would have told her).

A stab of guilt ran through me. My best friend was missing, possibly hurt, and I here I was worried about myself. I was a terrible person! I sat stiffly at the table and listened to the sound of my father's voice until he finished talking. He sat there for a moment, looking at me before sighing and rising from the table. Coming close, he rested a hand on my shoulder for a moment, giving it a quick squeeze, before leaving the kitchen to give me some space.

And that's why I was driving to Emily's in this shitty weather. After sitting at the table for a few long minutes, I decided that I couldn't be still any longer. I didn't want to be in the house either, so without even thinking about it, or changing out of my pajamas, I grabbed the keys to the truck, shoved my feet into some boots and walked out the door. I drove the now-familiar route to Emily's, parking across from her front door.

I hadn't even turned the engine off when Jacob came running outside to meet me. Even through the heavy rain, I could see the large grin on his face.

"Lexi!" he called, pulling open the driver's side door and carefully lifting me out before spinning me around. It's only been two days and he was still over the moon since I had chosen him.

I held on tight to him, burying my head in his neck. "Oh, Jacob."

Jacob stopped spinning me, picking up easily on my stumbling voice. Setting me on my feet, he bent down and placed both hands on the side of my face, meeting my eyes.

"What's wrong?"

I blinked hard, partially to keep the tears from falling, but mainly because of the rain running into my eyes. "It's…it's Leslie. She's missing."

"Wait, what? Leslie? Are you sure?"

I nodded my head. "Charlie just told me an hour ago."

Jacob's hands left my face and soon I was in his arms once again. "Oh Lexi, I am so sorry."

"I just can't believe this is happening. Why her!" I wanted to scream. Leslie had been my first friend it Forks, she was my best friend, and she didn't deserve to be taken by someone for god knows what reason.

"Hey now, this is Leslie we're talking about. She can annoy her way out of anything. The person who took her might be realizing that right now and be giving her back as we speak," Jacob teased, trying to lighten the mood.

But I wasn't having it.

"This is really not the time for you to make jokes about my best friend," I warned, pulling my head from his shoulder and glaring.

Jacob was quiet for a moment before shaking his head. "Let's talk about this more inside. You're shivering."

Even being held in his heat radiating arms, the cold rain was getting to me. My hair was plastered to my face and my sweats and shirt were soaked. I just nodded my head as Jacob sat me back on my feet before leading me into Emily's house where all the wolves were sitting around the table. They must have been having a late breakfast because a mountain of both pancakes and what looked like French Toast, as well as bowls of fruit, were covering the table.

"Hi, guys," I muttered weakly, giving a small wave as they all turned to look at Jacob and me.

"You stay here and I'll go get you some clothes to change into," Jacob promised before disappearing around a corner.

"So, little sister, why were you and lover boy outside so long. You do know it's raining, right?" Paul asked a smirk on his face. Ever since I picked side werewolf over side vampire, he's been calling me 'little sister' and teasing Jake and me big time.

"Man, don't you get it, they were having a moment," Jared goaded as well, throwing a grape at Paul's head. "I bet it was some cheesy teen romance stuff too. Damn, I knew I should have gotten my camera."

Not in the mood, I just shot them both a glare. Emily, the amazing woman that she was, seemed to pick up on my not-so-usual behavior. Acting like the mom that she more or less was of the pack, she gave the two boys a quick scolding before making her way over to me.

"Is everything alright, Alex?"

"Yeah," I said, starting to nod my head before realizing that I could open up to these guys. "No, actually, it's not."

I was just about to tell her what happened when Jacob came back.

"So, these are going to be big, but they were all I could find. Our stockpile hasn't really been built up yet." He handed me a pair of black sweatpants, gray boxers, and a dark blue t-shirt. "Don't worry, they're all clean."

I looked down at the three articles of clothing for a moment before looking up and giving Jacob a small smile. Getting up on my tiptoes, I kissed his cheek before carefully, so as not to get too much water all over Emily's floor, making my way into the nearest bathroom. Once inside, I stood there for a moment just looking at my reflection in the mirror. My clothes and hair were still wet and my eyes and nose were almost a bright red.

I looked like a mess.

Looking down at the sink, I turned on the warm water and let it run for a moment before sticking my hands under the warm stream. Making a cup with my hands, I captured some of the water before lowering my head and transferring the water from my hands to my face. I repeated this action a couple of times before looking at my face once more in the mirror. Now my whole face was red but I think I looked (and felt) a bit better. Turning the water off, I grabbed a towel from a nearby hook and used it to dry my face.

When finished, I sat the towel on the back of the toilet before tackling the soon to be joy that would be taking off my wet clothes. I was not looking forward to the feeling of pulling the wet fabric from my skin. But I did it, balling up the wet PJ's I had been wearing once I had changed into the boy's borrowed clothes. As to be expected, everything was large and baggy on me, but I made it work. With wet clothes in hand, I opened the bathroom door where Emily was waiting close by.

"Let me take those wet clothes for you. I'll throw them in the dryer while you join the boys at the table," she said softly. Slowly, I stretched out my arms and gave her my clothes. "I made some fresh French Toast for you. When I get back you can tell me what happened."

"Thanks, Emily." I gave her a small smile before heading back into the kitchen/ eating area.

The boys had started eating again but stopped abruptly when I came around the corner. I stood there awkwardly for a moment before walking towards the table and taking a seat in what was quickly becoming my spot between Jacob and Paul.

"Feeling better, little sister?" Paul asked, slinging his arm around my shoulders and pulling me close.

"A little." I rested my head against his shoulder for a moment before pulling away and looking at the food in front of me. Like all of Emily's food, the French Toast in front of me smelled amazing.

I don't know about you, but food always makes me feel better. So I drizzled some syrup over the top before picking up my fork and slowly starting to cut off a small chunk of bread and placing it in my mouth. I was just swallowing when Emily returned.

There was a short silence before I told them all that had happened. Jacob, already knowing what was going on, reached out and grabbed my hand under the table, giving it a reassuring squeeze every once in a while. When I was finished speaking, there was a small pause before everyone started comforting me. It wasn't long before I started to feel as though I had made the right choice, that this was where I belonged. And of course, with those feelings, I couldn't help but start crying again.

"Don't cry, little sister, everything will be alright!" Paul assured me, having misinterpreted my tears.

"Yeah, I'm sure your friend will be fine," Jared added.

I shook my head.

"I'm not crying about that, I'm crying because of you guys." I managed to get out. "All this crap going on and you all are treating me so nice. You guys are the best friends a girl could ask for."

There was a silence before Embry gave a scoff. "What were you expecting, Alex? You're family now."

"Yeah, little sister. We'll always be here for you."

- APRIL 8TH -

"Hey, Emily, would you like some help at all?"

Emily stopped mid-chop, looking up at me. I had just gotten out of school a half hour ago and drove right over, as usual. Normally, when I got there, she was either in the middle of cooking something or already finished with all the prep work and was just waiting. Today seemed to be the first time I walked in as she was just starting and I wanted to help.

"Of course you can," she replied with a smile. "You'll have to cook for these bottomless pits sooner or later."

I returned the smile as I sat down my bag by the island before moving around it to stand next to the older woman. "That's what I figured, so I thought, 'might as well learn now.'" As I spoke, I rolled up the sleeves of my black shirt and then pulled my hair up into a ponytail. "So what are we making today?"

"Enough spaghetti and chicken alfredo to feed a small army," Emily said, pushing a pair of green bell peppers towards me as well as a clean knife. "You can start by seeding these and then dicing them."

I nodded my head, picking up the knife. "I'm guessing we're making the sauces from scratch," I asked rhetorically, already knowing the answer from the mass of ingredients that covered the countertop. "Did you steal the Black's secret recipe? Shame on you."

Emily chuckled, shaking her head. "Billy's a good guy, but if his spaghetti sauce is homemade than I'm a werewolf."

For the next half hour or so, we worked on the spaghetti sauce in peace. Because it took the longest, that's what our focus was on at the moment. In between our conversations, Emily would instruct me on what to do while telling me what she was doing. Now, although I'm not as bad of a cook as my mom, I'm still not the best. I wasn't Bella.

When four o'clock rolled around, the boys were finished with their midday patrol and came charging through the front door.

"Dang, Emily, whatever you're making smells great," Jared complimented as he walked through the kitchen. He ignored both of us as he beelined it for the fridge, throwing open the door to grab a Mt. Dew.

"Ah, man. Check it out," Paul said as he followed behind his friend. Unlike Jared, though, he was actually paying attention to what was going on around him. Spotting me standing next to Emily with a spoon in my hand, he stopped dead in his tracks. "Are you trying to poison us, little sister?"

"Ha. Ha. Ha. You're so funny, big brother. Please say something else funny." I teased, ending my statement by sticking out my tongue.

"Hey, man. Lay off," Jacob said as he followed Sam over to where Emily and I stood by the stove. It was a little cramped with us all there. "You're just jealous that you don't have a girl cooking for you."

"Awww, thanks, babe." Getting on my tiptoes, I placed a quick kiss on his lips before giving his arm a push. "Now all of you out. Out. We're busy making food and I'm busy learning from Chief Emily."

I allowed Sam to remain next to Emily, because, you know, he was the leader and still scared me slightly. But I got the rest of them to go out. Jacob laughed and made some sort of comment about liking when I took charge while Paul refused to leave until he got his pop. Jared and Embry went easy enough so that was nice.

Emily and I added the last couple of ingredients in the spaghetti sauce before starting on the alfredo sauce. I once again helped get all the ingredients together before she had me start on the pasta. And a lot of pasta it was. Filling two very large pots with water I had Sam, who was still in the kitchen just standing off to the side watching Emily, lift them on the back two burners of the stove. Throwing in some salt, I left them to boil, stirring the nearly ready sauce while I waited.

Sam told Emily about how the patrol had gone and I listened while I stirred. They hadn't seen Victoria in a while but knew she was still out there so they had to remain ready. When the water was ready, Emily and I both dumped in I don't even know how many boxes of pasta into each one. We then took a side and switched between stirring the sauce or noodles. Sam exited the kitchen for a few minutes before returning with what looked like a map and a notebook. He took his papers to the table where he sat down and probably started figuring out a new plan.

Just as Emily and I were draining the noodles, each of us holding a side of the pot, the phone started to ring.

"Sam, could you get that please."

"Yes, dear."

It was still so weird to hear someone so physically frightening sound so sweet and loving. Getting up from the table, he walked over to the phone and placed it to his ear. It was old and looked just like the one that we had in our kitchen only Emily's was a light tan color.

"Sue, calm down. What happened?" Sam asked moments after answering the phone. Emily and I both stopped what we were doing, turning to look at the wolf leader. "Wait, Leah? Sue, are you sure?"

There was a pause as Sam listened to what was said on the other end of the phone, Emily and I standing silently, waiting to know why he looked so stressed all of a sudden. All we knew that it was Sue Clearwater on the other end of the line. We watched as he suddenly started nodding his head.

"We'll get them. Don't worry." Hanging up the phone, he was quick to turn around and fill us in on what had happened. "That was Sue. She said that she just got into a fight with Leah, which resulted in her phasing. Seth was in the room and phased as well. They both ran off into the woods."

Emily placed a hand over her mouth, stunned. Those were her cousins. Seth was so young and Leah… well, Leah was a girl. I didn't mean to be sexist, but I didn't think that there were any female wolves.

"Don't worry, Emily. I'm going to go find them. Help them," Sam assured his imprint, crossing the kitchen to stand in front of her. "I promise."

Emily looked up at him, worry in her eyes. "I know you will."

Sam placed a kiss on the top of her head before moving down to her lips. They lingered there for no more than a second before he straightened up, a hard expression on his face. The expression of an Alpha.

"Paul, Jared," he called, turning away from us. It took only a few seconds before his pack was standing in front of him. "Jacob, Embry. We're splitting into teams. Paul, you're with me, we're going to the Clearwater house. Jared, you're taking the coastline. Jacob and Embry, you two are running the treaty line. Make sure they don't cross it."

The boys just nodded their heads, not even wasting time to ask who they were looking for. Either they already heard Sam explain it to us or they knew they would get the details when they wolfed out. Sam nodded his head and the pack of them headed out the front door to find the newest members of their pack.

"Well, it looks like dinners going to be late…" I commented as the door swung shut.

Authors Note:: Guys! I finally finished the first chapter! It only took, what, five months. I just want to say that I am so so sooo sorry that it took me so long to get this out for you all. I hope you accept this hella long Alex/Jacob and Alex/Wolf Pack chapter as my apology. I honestly think I wrote and rewrote it, like, a million times because I had no idea how I wanted to start it. Seemed like it would be more interesting and appealing to you all if I had little snippets of the following month then just having a small section of where we left off before skipping ahead a month and a half. Anyway, thanks for being so supportive and patient. Love you all! :)