Just responding to the review.  For those who look through these, I've responded in private.    

I liked that Kyle had money, but didn't flaunt it  I know it's advised that when couples plan to marry, they sit down and talk about their finances, including debt and goals.  Leah and Kyle were already so much in love, there wasn't any going back if the financial outlook was grim.   She just assumed that he was like the rest of her friends and family, who struggle to make ends meet.  Since the Quileutes are a real tribe, I assume they suffer with the same kind of poverty on other reservations.  

The supernatural angle is one that just seems natural to me.  It wouldn't make sense that shape-shifters manifested in the presence of vampires alone, if they weren't somehow connected.  Then there's the link between Nessie and Jacob that's hard to deny.  

Thank you for the kind review!  I still have one more chapter to go, and I'll try to get it posted within the week.  

Thank you.  The birds were a take on how some couples release doves when they get married.  I thought shape-shifters would do it differently.  The way the Cullens pitched in to help was unusual.  But I think they recognized how much Jacob and Leah helped them against Victoria's army, as well as how they stood with them when the Volturi came.  The Denali turned their backs on them, and the wolfpack stood in the gap.  That matters.  I'm also thinking that if Charlie, Harry and Sue were friends, then Bella and Leah were once friendly as well.  Add in Rosalie's warming toward Kyle, and Emmett's friendship with him, and it gives them all reason to be there.  

Oops, I forgot to answer the reviews.  Anne Rice writes a series about witches, and in them, the lineage is traced through the women of the family.  I loved that idea, because it makes so much more sense.  A woman who gives birth to a child, is obviously its mother.  But the man who claims the child may or may not be the father.  It's easier to attach parenthood to birth, rather than conception or even commitment.  Yet all through history, it's the men who are credited with the lineage and family names.  Here, I wanted to show that they shouldn't count out the women.  The idea that a woman could be pregnant when she marries isn't so far-fetched.  

The whole manifestation of the wolves was one that interested me.  In the books it was hard to tell if it came from magic, or some physical geneology.  Was it brought on by exposure to vampires?  A mystical connection with the wolves?  Anger?  Or a difference in species?  In some ways, I think it's a little of everything, but ultimately, they're a different species, diluted with human.  

The wedding plans are woven throughout, but I didn't want them to dominate the story.  I watched an episode of Bridezilla, as well as a few romantic comedies where wedding preparations go so far over the top it's ridiculous.  I can't understand why so many women get caught up in wedding fever.  It's one day, and they put so much expectation on it, and lose the focus of what really matters.  I've heard stories from travel agents, photographers, caterers, and wedding planners, complaining about how some bride wants them to pay for the entire wedding, because something unforseen "ruined their whole special day!"  A travel agent booking them in coach instead of first class is not a traumatic event, nor is a cake with the wrong color icing.  

I saw an outdoor wedding during a sever rainstorm, where the tents collapsed and the wind blew them away.  The bride cried over the whole event and said she was traumatized.  Me, I'd have rescued as much as possible, then laughed like crazy over the wet wedding party.  The marriage is what matters, not the wedding.  My singer was eight months pregnant, my piano player played something that sounded godawful, pounding the keys discordantly, and my bouquet fell apart before I walked down the aisle.  I stepped on my dress and tore it, and my crinoline slid down and made it hard to walk.  

For the reception, one of my friends had found a bag of balloons I intended for the signs leading to the church, and she blew them up and stuck them to the wall behind the brides table, making it look like a birthday party.  Many of the guests got lost and couldn't find the church.  My maid of honor wore a dress from Goodwill, which was what I based the wedding colors on.  It was blue, and blue flowers are usually fake or dyed.  Still, we all had a good time, and nothing got me down.  The wedding is just a ceremony, and a party; the marriage is what matters.      

I kind of feel bad for Lora.  She's stuck in a dying village.  Her older children have left home, and her husband fishes all day, and spends his evenings at the bar.  Sue could be her first real friend.  

Chapter titles are so hard.  When I started writing, I only used the numbers, but I needed something to differentiate one from the next, so I started adding them.  As hard as they are, I love it, because it's given me practice at coming up with titles, either for chapters or stories, so now it's not so tough.  In this story, I'm trying to keep them all one word.  I've thought about writing a story where every title was a song, but I know I'd probably get stuck listening to music more than writing.  

It's almost as if Kyle and Leah had to have the "sex talk" with Seth.   

The potlatch is a Native American ceremony that accompanies some special events.  It would normally take great wealth to pull off something like this with as many guests as Leah has coming to her wedding.  But her mother has been planning this for years, setting aside gifts and keepsakes a few at a time.  Most are simple and hand-made, like knit scarves, handkerchiefs, woven baskets, etc.  For the needier guests, Sue is giving more expensive gifts, but they're still within reason.  

Since the community is relatively poor, weddings are done differently.  Much of the work and preparation is done as a gift to the bride and groom, like the alterations to her dress, and the food preparation.  It's not uncommon for friends and family to volunteer to serve food, tend bar, play music, print the invitations, take the pictures, and arrange the flowers.  The event will be simpler, and involve more people.  In this way, it's possible to have a big wedding, with a lot of fancy touches, that doesn't cost a lot of money.     

You know how I write.  This is one of those stories that could have used a bit more conflict.  I was so bent on writing a HEA for Leah, I almost made it too happy.  

I've written Sam a few different ways, since he's one of those minor characters that didn't get much development.  He's the one who hurt Emily, but he's also the one who found Bella in the woods.  He's the one who helped Jacob and the others deal with their change, but he's also the one who wanted to kill Nessie.  I think he sees himself as a leader, since he didn't submit to Jacob's authority.  I wanted to portray Leah as being vivacious and fun, before she met Sam.  So many make her out to be a bi...not nice person.  Take away the anger, and she's got a wicked sense of humor.    

I'm really glad to have the offer.  But I decided not to add in language I'd only have to translate in author's notes.  I'm pretty sure the few words and phrases I added will seem odd to you.  Even if I can find the right words, the sentence structure in English is subtly different in Italian.  

Wow, and thanks.  I think it's benefitting from some much needed editing.  That's what's keeping me from moving all my stories over here.  I feel like this site deserves my best.  

At least early on, I tried to stick close to canon.  Over the years, my memory has started to fade, and I haven't reread the books to refresh the details.  

This one was a hard sell for me.  I didn't buy all the crazy hallucinations in canon, and I didn't want to put such things in my story.  But... added to precedent, there's imprinting, mind reading, pack mentality, and Native American legends.  So, against my better judgment, I gave Kyle a little catatonia in his grief.  I think Leah would have done something even more radical if he hadn't snapped out of it.  

Thanks so much for the review.  I'm back from vacation, and working on the next chapter.

I almost forget to respond to the reviews on this story, since you're the only one who leaves them  I'd imagine on the reservation they have fewer resources for weather emergencies.  In a lot of rural areas, neighbors have to look out for each other.  I'm not sure if the reservation can count on county or city amenities, but I'm sure there's enough poverty there, that they'd be some of the last ones helped.  I think Leah can see Charlie likes her mom, but she doesn't want to see it.  Before, she would have been rude about it, but now she's just trying to ignore it.  The idea of a step-dad, replacing her beloved father, is going to take some getting used to.  Thanks again for your comments

I just had a response I wrote for this, then discovered I was reviewing the story.  Some day I won't be so technologically challenged ... coffins are pretty low tech.  Kyle had an issue here with being an alpha male, confronted by two other alphas with connections to Leah.  Leah had to get him away from Sam and Jacob, before he decided to tear them apart.  She intentionally gave him a distraction he couldn't ignore.  

Oops, I just discovered I've not responded to your reviews -- shame on me.  In editing this story, I'm discovering how simplistic I wrote when I first started.  Unrealistic dialogue, and not enough real problems.  I'm trying to tweak it as I post it.  Any time Kyle startes to look like he belongs in a soap opera, I know I've got to fix it.  Thanks for reading and reviewing; sometimes I wonder if you're the only one.  

I think imprinting has to be one of the worst kinds of love.  To have your whole being wrapped up in someone else, with no choice in the matter would be torture.  Whether he likes it or not, Kyle is all in, and anything that threatens that is going to be painful and scary for him.  

It's funny, magical "soul mates" is an idea I personally hate.  But I find I like to write it--go figure.  Maybe it's the nature of love, that we want the fantasy, and want to believe it's out there, attainable with the right amount of searching or patience.  The reality is, that humans come with human faults and frailties, and nobody's perfect.  Maybe the goal is to fall so much in love, that the faults don't matter?  Anyway, I had a lot of fun with these characters.  

Leah only has experience with the wolves.  Not only that, but she's not fully wolf, even after so much time has passed.  Wolves trust their noses, but humans trust their eyes.  I'm glad you like the story so far.  I had so much fun writing this one.  

Thanks so much for taking a chance and being the first to review.  I hope you like the story as it unfolds, since it was my first fan fiction ever.  It's needing a bit more editing as I post it here; I've learned so much since I wrote it.