Summer passed with little change.
Leah and her mom kept the engagement under wraps as long as they could until Seth noticed the ring and spilled the secret.
Her father wasn't pleased, to say the least, blowing his top at them. Clutching his chest at one point, frightening Sue, though he was fine, and nothing came of it.
Seth, on the other hand, was thrilled that Dean was going to officially be his brother in the future, much to the annoyance of his sister, who tried to explain that Dean was still going to be spending most of his time with her, his wife, not her little dweeb brother.
Meanwhile, the girls told Dean to lie low and let Harry cool down, which irritated him to no end. It was the first time he thought of confronting Harry and putting him in his place, if only it wouldn't sadden Sue and Leah.
Sam and Jared eventually heard, congratulating him on the engagement, which spurred Sam to give his own shortly after, helping take some of the heat off him and Leah for a bit.
The pack grew closer in the summer, maintaining the borders and training, but underlying friction remained as they all slowly worked through the massive changes in their lives. Paul was the worst, having the hardest time adjusting after leaving his old friends behind.
It also didn't help that summer brought with it a great lull in vamp movement due to the increased sun's presence, and with the added Cullen's presence, vampire activity was at an all-time low in the surrounding area.
This made Paul grow increasingly anxious for action, and a pain to be around. It was like he was always amped with way too much juice that had to be let out through fighting or fucking, and rarely got either nowadays, thanks to his change becoming a hindrance.
He was reprimanded rather harshly by the council, considering he was still underage, when a lady was found talking to the doctors about sleeping with a cute young fellow who was running a super high fever and wondering if she may have caught something.
The council tried to impress on Dean how much responsibility he now had and to take control of the pack—telling him, another young man, not much older himself, that Paul just needed a stronger father figure than the one he had. Completely ignoring the critical absence of a mother figure in his life, which is crucial for a well-balanced upbringing.
Possibly lashing out because his father gives him too many boundaries at home, though Dean wouldn't know, having never had any deep conversations with the dude. Something he would need to change in the future, for this was his pack, and he ought to know them beyond the superficial.
In doing so, he found he wasn't all that off about Paul and realized another obvious problem: everyone except Paul had partners who were in the know. To combat this, Dean made sure that during pack time, they talked only about the pack, not their partners, so as not to alienate him further.
During all this time, no one else had joined them.
The strangest thing that happened came at the start of the school year. When they found out the Cullens were going to school for some odd reason no one understood. This put the entire tribe in the know on edge, fearing a possible bloodbath in the future.
Halfway through the school year, things started to change. The day Bella came to Forks, the atmosphere changed in a way Dean couldn't quite place, though if he had to guess, it was how excited Jake was to see her again.
A girl who would be going to school with the Cullens.
They would need to keep an eye on him.
Surprisingly, despite hanging around Bella, Jake never did change.
Bella, who unfortunately started hanging out with the Cullens, even dating one of them, much to Billy's horror for the safety of his friend's daughter, unsure what to do about it.
There were visiting nomads once, but much to Paul's bitter disappointment, they were on the other side of the border in Cullen's territory, so we could only let them handle it.
The Cullens then left out of the blue, and Sam rescues a nearly comatose Bella from the woods.
In an unexpected turn, the pack had the displeasure of dealing with human drug dealers rather than vamps. There was arguing about whether it was morally right to kill them, Dean and Paul being all for it, while Sam and Jared believed we weren't allowed to harm humans over some misconceived notion that we were their guardians and not just the tribes.
Needless to say, Dean folded, much to Paul's dismay, knowing it'll take more than drug dealers to flip Sam and Jared to their way of thinking.
Calling in Charlie to arrest them.
Months later, Bella shows up at the start of the new year, suddenly visiting Jake more often, building bikes, and whatnot.
...
Smelling blood, Dean took Leah to investigate and found Jacob and Bella pushing their motorbikes back to the garage.
"Dean, Leah," Jacob greeted, acknowledging them despite his misgivings and the rumors surrounding them.
"Hi," Bella said nervously, looking at another couple of top-tier specimens. Wondering why everyone else was so perfect, and in Forks no less. Leah looked like she could be an exotic model for some magazine; hell, they both could.
Or was she always the ugliest, and everyone else was always hotter than her, and she just never noticed?
"And this is?" Dean inquired politely, already knowing the answer.
"This is Bella Swan. You know, Charlie's kid," Leah answered for them. "Don't tell me you're in love with her too?" she asked, noticing his stare.
"Please," he said, pulling her towards him, "As if anyone could compete with you, the best lips and tits around."
Bella blushed, feeling extremely awkward and ugly.
"So if someone else came, with better tits and lips, you'd leave me?" she asked playfully.
"Nope, too late for that. You're stuck with me now," he smiled.
"Is that right?" she asked seductively, getting closer.
"Definitely," Dean said in a husky voice, leaning in for a kiss.
"Would you two get a room?"Jacob said, feeling embarrassed.
"Tch, virgins. I can understand you being envious, but isn't Bella dating one of those Cullens, Gayward, I believe, or is it Edtard?" Leah asked snidely.
This got to Bella, whose face scrunched in displeasure. "His name's Edward."
"The one who always looks constipated?" asked Dean.
Jake snorted, holding his laugh as Bella shot him a glare before turning it on Leah, who had no such qualms.
"No, that's Jasper," Bella said, feeling slightly guilty throwing him under the bus to defend her man, though thinking about how he almost ate her made it go away.
"No, Jasper is the one who looks like he's always in pain," Dean corrected.
Bella scowled, "How do you know so much about them anyway?"
"Who doesn't? The richest people in town who stick out like a sore thumb in a crowd," Dean said harshly.
"Whatever. Let's go, Jake," Bella said, tired of them harping on her friends, though for the life of her, she couldn't figure out why, since those bastards left her high and dry.
"See you around, little rabbit," Dean said, and Bella paused at the nickname, glowering at him before storming off.
"She has some bite, after all; I thought for sure she was going to be some meek thing," said Leah.
"Even a bunny will fight back when cornered, and we were basically attacking her," said Dean.
"Maybe. Come on, don't want to miss Emily's dinner party. She might have that rabbit stew we love," Leah joked.