Back at the reservation, Dean and Sam emerged from the woods to find Leah and Emily waiting on Uley's back porch.
"Did you know about this?" asked Sam heatedly.
"No," said Dean, taking the wind out of his sails.
"You think she told her?" asked Sam more respectfully.
"Possibly, shall we find out?" said Dean, walking over to a welcoming wave from Leah.
"If you really care about Emily and see a future together, you should tell her regardless. Relationships can't survive lies; there are plenty of examples proving it," said Dean.
Seeing Sam contemplate, Dean decided to help by asking him questions. "Can't decide? Why don't you tell me what you think of Emily? What does the idea of not having her in your life feel like?"
Eyebrows furrowing deeper, Sam shook his head, a prominent frown on his face. "I don't like the sound of that at all."
"Hey honey, Emily, how are things?" asked Dean.
"Emily has something she wants to say," said Leah.
Sam glared at her, then looked toward Emily with concern.
"Don't give her that look. Leah hasn't told me anything yet; she says she's giving you the chance. Well, here's your chance. Are you going to tell me what's going on or not?" asked Emily, crossing her arms.
Sam knew then that he had pushed her too far. Emily was a soft, gentle soul who wanted nothing more than to care for others. Getting the cold shoulder from her loving partner was too much for her.
Looking towards Dean, Sam sighed, "Stand back, I'll show you."
"What the heck are you doing stripping?" asked a bewildered Emily.
"Leave the briefs big guy; you can get more," said Dean, receiving a nod from Sam.
Leah snorted at her man's possessiveness and took hold of her confused cousin's arm. "This is going to be good. I haven't seen Sam shift yet. I wonder how similar or different it'll be from Dean's."
"Shift?" asked Emily, whose eyes went as wide as saucers when a giant black wolf took Sam's place.
"Black, nice. Aren't you lucky?" said Leah. "Gold's still my favorite, though," she said, sticking out her tongue at her boyfriend, who was giving her the stink eye, as she humored him.
"Damn right," Dean grinned, picturing what he'd do with that tongue later.
"You, you, you're a wolf?" stuttered Emily, pointing.
"Like our stories, the legends of our people, a protector," Dean clarified.
"Go on, give him a pet," encouraged Leah.
"I don't know," said Emily.
"It's still Sam, and he loves you. There's nothing to fear," said Leah, giving her a gentle push.
Emily cautiously approached, extending a single hand, only to stop short when Sam suddenly pushed his head into it.
"Soft," she whispered. "Sam, is that really you?" She couldn't help but ask.
The wolf nods and licks her hand, making Emily giggle. "Stop it, I don't need any of your dog drool on me."
"Wow! I can't believe the legends are real. What does this mean for us?" asked Emily.
"Leah, if you could turn around, Sam can change back," said Dean.
Rolling her eyes, she complies.
"Wow!" Emily exclaimed once more. "And you can just change from wolf to man or man to wolf whenever you want?"
"Pretty much. I'll tell you everything. Just know that I love you, and I don't want you to go anywhere," said Sam.
Emily smiled brightly, "I love you too."
They hugged and kissed and kissed some more.
Feeling awkward standing there with Sam, still naked, Dean took Leah's hand. "I think we should let them catch up, come on."
"Yeah," Leah grinned happily for her cousin.
As they left around the side of the house, they saw a car coming down the road.
"Is that Sam's mom?" Dean asked with a wide grin.
"Yes, yes it is," said Leah, turning back.
"Whoa, where are you going?" asked Dean, catching her.
"I'm going to go warn them. She wasn't supposed to be home this soon," said Leah.
"It'll be more fun if we wait here," Dean said, grinning as he waved at Sam's mom.
Leah grinned. "You're bad."
Not long after, they heard a surprise shout, and then a mortified, ruby-faced Emily ran out the front door in her underwear, half-hazardously trying to put on her shirt and shoes at the same time.
"Talk about bad timing, that was great," chuckled Dean.
"Yeah," giggled Leah, who began to walk away.
"Hey, where are you going?" asked Dean.
"I have to go help Emily. I'm not just going to leave her," said Leah.
"She'll be fine. We haven't had enough time to ourselves this weekend. I was hoping we'd do something," said Dean.
"I feel the same way, but I think my cousin needs me more. I'll see you tomorrow," she said, kissing his cheek.
"Fine," Dean groaned.
...
The next day, they laughed together when Leah explained how Sam's mom found them going at it on her kitchen table.
Promising themselves never to eat at any of their kitchen tables in the future.
...
"No longer going to school?" asked Dean.
"What's the point? My time's better served protecting the reservation now," said Sam.
Dean nodded in agreement. "Today we practice. You've seen how fast Vamps are; now we'll spar, and once you get used to my speed, you'll never get hit like that again."
...
A month later, they heard Jared was staying home with a high temperature.
"There's Jared. Are you sure you don't want me to take care of it?" asked Dean as Jared exited his front door.
"I got this," Sam said, recalling his unpleasant experience with Dean's help. Intending to take the slower, more natural route of watching and waiting with his friend.
"Hey Jared, it's been a while," said Sam.
"Uh, yeah, hey Sam. I didn't know you and Dean hung out. Haven't seen you in school," Jared said, glancing at Dean suspiciously.
"I've been busy. You're looking alright though; want to hang?" Sam asked.
"Sure, I was just headed out. Is Dean coming along?" Jared questioned.
"Nah, ignore him; let's catch up," said Sam.
...
Two weeks later, after they settled Jared, Paul was next.
"Fuck, you're telling me we'll have to deal with Paul from now on? Dudes a dick," said Jared.
"Seems that way," said Sam.
"He's about to be our dick," Dean chuckled.
...
Sam finishes explaining the situation.
"Exposure? If they fear being exposed, why don't we do that?" asked Paul.
"Probably for the same reason we do; don't be stupid," replied Jared.
"Fuck you!" Paul snapped.
"Wrong, well, about the vamps fearing the humans anyway. They don't fear being exposed the way you think. I assure you, humans are of no threat to them. The story goes back to when they walked the earth with impunity. Human numbers dwindled to near-extinction levels because overfeeding and fear made reproduction agonizingly slow, so the Volturi coven took control. Wiped out numerous vampires and turned their species into myths and legends, bringing obscurity back to their lives, thus allowing the human population to bounce back and thrive once more," said Dean.
"For now, anonymity is our greatest strength until our numbers grow and we become an unstoppable pack. Don't forget we are hopelessly outnumbered. Our best bet is to take them out slowly over a long period of time, and to try and prevent them from getting information out so they don't gather in large numbers against us before we're ready," said Dean.
"Okay, and how on earth do you know that?" asked Sam.
"Spirits," said Dean matter-of-factly.
Paul snorted, "Spirits, he says, are you fucking kidding me?"
"Is that where things become unbelievable to you?" Jared scoffed.
"You want to go? Because we can go right now," said Paul, getting in Jared's face as Sam came between them.
"Yeah, let's go," Jared said, throwing his arms out wide from behind Sam, inviting him to strike.
"Enough, Paul! Jared!" Sam yelled, pushing them apart.
Paul sneered, "We're just going to believe him then? I don't even know this dude. What makes him so special? Why is he our Alpha?" he asked, spitting on the ground.
Suddenly, the atmosphere changed as the gap between Dean and Paul disappeared in a flash.
Grabbing Paul by the throat, Dean lifted him off the ground. "The spirits made me, boy! They made me not only to end our enemies but to obliterate them from existence. I am their instrument, their weapon to end it all. You Will Show Me Respect!" he growled, dropping him in contempt, leaving Paul gasping for air, coughing up a storm.
"The spirits gave everything they had for this generation, and I'll not see us fail them. They may be out of touch now, hibernating and recovering, but when they wake, I want them to wake to a world free of vampires. The time for cowering away, hiding, and defending will soon be a thing of the past. It's time for our people to rise and take back what's theirs by right, and the first step to seeing that fulfilled is us. We must be better, stronger, sharper. We must be ready for anything, and then we must attack!"