A/N: Any wolves you recognize from The Twilight Saga belong to Stephanie Meyer.

Basically everything else, including past and present wolf pack members, imprints, wolf families, and additional characters in this story belong to the universe created by the talented yay4shanghai!

This story concentrates on former pack members Anna and Michael's son Levi Varn.

If you haven't read any of the stories from the universe created by yay4shanghai, I recommend you to take your time and read them. They are some of the most brilliant stories I have ever had the privilege of reading and have inspired several other amazing works by liljenrocks, ari11990, and AsagariMelody. This story takes place during the story All the Things it Was Supposed to Be, But Wasn't's timeline, so all of the other stories take place before this.

Thanks to my Beta yay4shangai for giving me all the background I needed on her characters and helping me go from writing scientific papers to fiction so I could start this story :)

Prologue – How did I get here

13 December 2041

Ugh! With a great whoosh I released the breath I hadn't realized I'd been holding and let my shoulders fall forward in defeat. Defeated was my normal state of being nowadays. I pressed my forehead against the side of the house, it was cool and it felt good against my feverish skin.

I give up. Hell, I can't even really do that, considering I haven't actually managed to get started in the first place. That was the root of the problem. I had no means to communicate with her once we officially met. I could write her a letter, but then, I seemed incapable of even that. I'd started countless letters. My notebooks, laptop, and mind were filled with unfinished letters.

It wasn't just her; I didn't really know how to communicate with anyone on the outside. My world was a world of vampires and werewolves, everything outside of that didn't affect me. It'd been years since anyone new joined the pack circle; we were an enclosed community residing in La Push, open by invitation only. The last person to join was deaf, and before that was Phil's imprint Tara accompanied by her daughters. Back then I relied on Devlin to do the initial interacting, the first hellos and the explanation for my apparent rudeness.

I'm deaf, this can often be misunderstood for rudeness, I guess people think I'm ignoring them. Devlin always took the first step, but he refused to translate for people, forcing them to learn sign language if they wanted to speak to me. I loved this arrangement, because it gave me time to adjust and get comfortable with them while they were learning. I don't have that luxury anymore.

Growing up I never minded being deaf, most of the time I even considered it a blessing. Over the last six months I've had a hard time remembering why I would ever see this disability as positive. I was caged, incapable of communicating with the one person in the world I should, the one person I was supposed to. I'm certain that my frustration over the limitations it's caused has reached an all time high this evening. I can't stop pacing, my hands are stuck in constant fist, burning crescent moon shaped gashes in my hand. The funny thing is that it's not the hearing part I'm longing for, no. I don't know what it's like to truly hear and if it weren't for her I wouldn't care. It's being able to talk to her that I long for. Krista. My imprint.

Thoughts of Krista consume my every waking moment and I can't remember the last night she didn't star in my dreams as well. She's the center of my universe and I love her with my entire being. I'd been in imprinted wolves' heads, so I thought I knew what to expect. I was so wrong. That did nothing to prepare me for the actual experience.

Every imprint is different. They all have obstacles to overcome, like any relationship, though some have had it easier or experienced that final shift where the loving feelings become romantic much quicker than others. Knowing that hasn't eased the mounting aggravation I feel every time I mull over my progress, or lack thereof, to build a relationship with her. I felt like a failure.

It's been six months to the day since I imprinted. The craziest, most out of control months of my life and that includes my first months as a wolf training for war and losing a third of myself when Devlin died.

My life has changed in ways I could have never foreseen. I've taken up stalking as a past time. Apparently, it's a favorite wolf tradition, or so I'm told. I could put Ethan to shame and my dedication just might surpass Solace's. It helps that he taught me all of his tricks and I don't have to watch out for the fearsome momma-bear Claire. I'm not ashamed to admit that she intimidates the shit out of me.

My surveillance efforts do have their rewards. I've gotten suspended, ran countless miles in the black of night, and been arrested… just to name a few traits of the new Levi.

On the plus side, I get to see her everyday. I'm not sure I would survive if I didn't. I know it's been worth it, SHE is worth it. She's worth everything if it means another kiss or one more night on the beach. I can't even think about those events without becoming distracted for hours and that is something I can't afford to happen tonight.

I have to focus. I have to figure out a plan. I HAVE to act, tonight.

And that is why I'm standing outside the Uley's house, not technically stalking this time because I was invited. I couldn't go inside, that was a given. There was a party raging on inside, celebrating both Krista and Jesse's birthdays. Another endeavor by the pack to give me legitimate time with my imprint, but I couldn't bring myself to walk up the front stairs.

It hurt not to be with her, and I was willingly putting myself through hell by not just strolling inside and at least admiring her from afar. But it was all so much harder than it sounds, because I can't stop agonizing over how to actually have a conversation with her and not look like a completely idiot. I've tried, I've never wanted anything so badly in my life but part of me was sure tonight would turn out like the countless other failed attempts have.

The funniest part, and by that I mean how I know I'm truly pathetic, is that I can't even approach her. I don't want to blow it and besides, she doesn't know sign language. She must think I'm insane by now, either that or a stuck-up jackass, especially after what happened at the end of summer.

And once again I remember why it's so important that I suck it up and grow a pair. I have to get over my fears and insecurities and tell her how I feel. Before someone else realizes how amazing and perfect she is and I lose her before ever even getting my chance.

With that I pushed away from the house and turned to continue my plotting and pacing, desperately hoping for an epiphany.

I just barely managed to avoid crashing into Solace. He was close and I was so lost in my musings that I hadn't even noticed his approach. How long had he been standing there? I looked up, planning to ask when I noticed his lopsided smile. Great. That smile and I had gotten to know one another a bit too well over the last few months and its appearance could only mean one thing: he was about to give me women advice.

I sighed, waiting for the inevitable. Over the last few years I had been helping him secretly spend time with Maddox and to return the favor he had been helping arrange situations where I could be near Krista. We'd also shared some well intended, friendly suggestions that neither of us had yet to follow. At this point I was fairly certain we were both hopeless causes when it came to our imprints.

'You could start small, say hi or Happy Birthday. Instead of staring at her all the time, talk to her,' Solace signed and that right there was why I liked him. He was direct, unafraid to address the heart of an issue, and he offered sound advice.

I nodded to show I agreed with his assessment, but didn't offer up anything else. To be honest, I was worried he would be wrong. What if she didn't… feel it, that imprint thing?

'She loves you. Everyone can see it,' he continued, watching me carefully to gauge my reaction. I glared at him. Assumptions could be wrong and considering she doesn't know anything about the pack I had good reason to worry. One wrong move and I could scare her off for good.

I think he sensed that I had no intention of rehashing this debate, at least not without bringing the state of his own imprint relationship into play, so instead he smiled knowingly again and ended with a distracted, 'never mind.'

Suddenly, I caught Krista's scent stronger than before. I started to panic, pushing my back against the house so I could see her approach, but couldn't help closing my eyes for a moment and taking a deep breath. I had to fight the urge to get lost in the smell of wildflowers, mountain air, and underlying hints of coconut, I needed to be alert, ready to run.

When the wind picked up it made my stomach clench, she smelled so good, I wanted to smell that everyday for the rest of my life. I loved how the strength of her smell corresponded to her mood. It was a language of its own, one I was just starting to learn and I hated not being able to see her so I could interpret if the change was a result of being happy, sad, scared or just nervous. She was shy and it couldn't be easy for her to be surrounded with people she was just starting to get to know.

My attention was so thoroughly distracted that it caught me off guard to see Solace slowly limping back towards the front of the house when I opened my eyes. Confused, I looked towards the back of the house, where I had watched Krista and Melody escape to earlier when I arrived, anxious to check on her. Before I could berate myself for not keeping a better eye on her and taking care of her, I was shocked to find her standing right in front of me. There she was, just like I had imagined innumerable times during the last 183 days. I froze and my breath caught seeing the glow her golden skin gave off in the moonlight and the flaming blush spread across her smiling face while she nervously bit her bottom lip and flexed her fingers.

I didn't think it was possible to love her any more than I already did, but no words were necessary to make me fall even harder just by seeing her make the first move where I had been too reserved.

My last coherent thought was that this was the moment I had been waiting my whole life for, now what do I do?