Disclaimer: Twilight belongs to Stephenie Meyer not me.
Author/Note 1: For the ones who know my previous stories, you'll understand everything quite rapidly, since Our Dawn 4 is the sequel from Our Dawn 3. For the ones who don't know anything about Our Dawn Series, you can always read Our Dawn 1, 2 and 3 but if you don't want to bother I'll resume it:
Our Dawn 1: Bella accepted to marry Edward and she believes everything is fine until she knows that Jacob's missing. She feels guilty, especially when she's told that he was really upset and thinking about committing suicide. Bella starts to feel insecure although she knows in her heart that she made the right choice. On the wedding day Alice has a vision and the Cullens realise that Irina is going to kill Jacob to revenge Laurent's death. The wedding is cancelled and Sam is forced to accept the Cullen's help to find Jacob before Irina does although they don't succeed. Irina almost kills Jake and Edward saves his life with his venom. While Jacob's recovering at the Cullens, they go to La Push to avoid a war between Sam's pack and the Denali Clan, leaving Bella with Seth alone with Jake. Irina strikes again and she tries to kill Jacob, Bella and Seth. Leah manages to help and in the end Irina flees again. The Denali Clan returns to Alaska and Carlisle saves Seth while Bella is turned into a vampire by Edward. After that Jacob recovers and Sam gives him the alpha position which Jake accepts. He keeps the treaty with the Cullens and then Bella and Edward get married and finally have their honeymoon. In the end they all remain friends and a new year begins with Leah and Jacob having to face the skeletons in the closet.
Our Dawn 2: Being the only female wolf is hard and Leah is forced to cope with a lot of obstacles. After accepting Sue's marriage with Charlie Swan and the alliance with the Cullens, Leah finally sets her mind straight and decides to forget about Sam. After his wedding, Leah starts to feel close to Jacob and she slowly lets herself fall in love with him unaware that he feels the same. In the meantime Alice has a vision and announces that the Volturi are coming to Forks with Irina to kill the pack and force the Cullens (Bella, Edward and Alice) to be a part of the Volturi Guard. The Cullens and the pack try to recruit witnesses to hep them and when the Volturi arrive, Aro decides to let the pack live in return of having Bella, Edward, Alice and Jasper's powers at his service in the future. Irina attacks the pack but she then realises she would never win and leaves. After the Volturi's departure from Forks, Jacob and Leah spend a night together but, scared that he might leave her when he imprints, Leah decides to leave La Push. They meet again for Thanksgiving, Leah ends up pregnant and she's forced to accept the Cullen's help to hide her pregnancy. When Jacob finds out the truth he manages to convince Leah that they should stay together and they go back to La Push. When she's six months pregnant, Leah is forced to phase to defend herself from Irina and she kills her. Her twins are born prematurely and Leah stays in a coma for two months, which makes Jacob leave. When they reunite, both have to decide what to do about the future and finally they accept that they love each other and need to stay together, even if that means to face Bella, Sam and the Council. Jacob asks Leah to marry him for the third time and she accepts. Then, on their wedding night, someone finally imprints.
Our Dawn 3: Jacob and Leah are now a couple. They're married for six years and go on vacations to Australia leaving their kids, Harry and William, with the Cullens. When they get back Edward and the twins are missing. Jacob and Leah find out that Edward and William were taken to Italy to the Volturi, and while Jacob, Bella, Jasper, Carlisle and Alice fly to Europe to get them back, Leah and the packs search for Harry who is found in Anchorage. Aro takes an interest in William, because he's a potential wolf and seems to have a mental power (telekinesis) so he decides to let the Cullens and William leave but he keeps Jacob as a prisoner. Jane tortures Jacob for a few days until he finally agrees on letting the Volturi take William after he turns fifteen. Back in La Push Jacob reunites with his family and learns that Leah is pregnant. After going to Canada to meet Carlisle for a medical appointment, the pack has to deal with a new enemy, Joham, who attacks Quil and manages to snatch Leah and Kim. He wants to create a hybrid to fulfil his plans of killing the Volturi and tell humans about the existence of vampires, using Leah. Leah and Kim are saved by the Cullens and the rejoined pack, under Jacob's leadership. Later Joham is captured by the Volturi. Aro goes to Forks again and tells everyone that a war between Vampires and the Children of the Moon is coming. He manages to get the pack on his side promising the Volturi will never enter the Quileute's lands without permission and will never attack a pack member or human in that territory. A few months later Leah gives birth to a baby boy, who they name Isaac and, unexpectedly, she gets pregnant again. After Sarah is born into the family, Leah and Jacob try to cope with raising four children on their own and then a stranger appears in La Push. Josh is also a wolf and he seems to have imprinted on Leah.
A/Note 2: A huge thank you for everyone who reviewed Our Dawn 3.
A/Note 3: I'm not a native English speaker so I'm sorry for my grammar and spelling. Thank you for reading.
Alert: the characters in this story curse a lot. Some chapters are rated M.
Our Dawn
Part IV
Book 1 – Dark Shadows
Jacob Black
Prologue: Unbreakable (part 2)
Sue was the last from the Council's members to arrive at Old Quil's place where we were all gathered. There wasn't enough space to all the pack members to sit down so most of us were up against the wall. Old Quil was sitting down on his regular spot with my father on his right side and Sam on his left.
All of my pack brother's were looking at the boy that was standing next to Seth. I could feel the curiosity in the room. Leah was holding my arm tightly. It was hard to believe this was happening to us after being married for so long besides from the two of us, I had always thought I'd be the one imprinting. As far as we all knew only male wolves had the ability to imprint and the imprints were always human girls.
The fact that an unknown wolf had imprinted on a female shape shifter was weird and didn't make sense to me. Unfortunately I had the feeling the Council wouldn't be able to give us any answers either. The question was would they force Leah to be with this guy or would they let her choose between me and him?
As soon as Sue took her place next to Sam, Old Quil ordered Seth to explain what was going on and why we had summoned an emergency meeting. They were afraid that we had news about vampires in the area or werewolves.
Seth told everyone about his patrol with Leah that evening and how they ended up meeting this stranger in the woods. He said that they couldn't hear his thoughts and that since he didn't seem to be hostile they had phased back to human to talk to him properly. It looked like the new wolf had never seen other wolves before.
"So we have a rogue wolf. Are there more?" My father asked, concerned.
"We only saw him." Seth answered.
"What's your name boy?" My father demanded. By his tone of voice, my father was probably trying to show the boy who was in charge.
"Josh Spears, sir." He said politely, understanding the message clearly.
"You're from the Makah Reservation, right?" Old Quil questioned and Josh nodded in agreement.
The Council members exchanged a look, possibly recalling the time when Embry phased. Embry's mother was from the Makah Reservation too but we all knew Embry's father, whoever he was, was a Quileute otherwise Embry wouldn't be one of us.
"What happened? Why did you leave the Makah Reservation?" My father asked.
"My mum died seven months ago. She was diagnosed with liver cancer. She told me that if something happened to her I should come to La Push. I never met my father but I recall her telling me he wasn't from the Makah Reservation."
"Apparently, she was right." Sue whispered.
"Do you have any idea what you are?" Old Quil asked.
Josh nodded negatively. By now we could all sense that he was confused.
"All I know is that a few months ago I had a high fever and I started throwing up. I thought I had caught a virus or something. Then on the night of my mother's funeral I woke up sweating. I went out of my house because I was too hot and when I realised what was happening I turned into a beast."
"Did you hurt anyone?" Sue asked worriedly.
I remembered when I first phase. It was the night I had met Bella at the movies in Port Angeles. I also thought I was sick but I was wrong. Fortunately for me my father knew what was happening and he called Sam and Jared before I could phase and destroy the house. It was confusing and utterly weird to see myself as a huge wolf. I felt disconnected with the reality around me and the next morning I even thought I had been dreaming. If Sam hadn't been there for me and the others, I was sure we would've given away our secret and maybe we would've hurt some people too.
"No. I spent a week in the forest trying to understand what had happened to me and then one morning I was able to turn back into my human body. Things didn't go well for me after my mother died so I thought about what she said and I decided it was time to come here. I never thought I would meet others like me." Josh confessed.
"Well there's something you have to know. We're wolves, shape shifters but the Cold Ones often call us, werewolves." Sam said.
"Sam means we change into giant wolves to protect our people against the Cold Ones. Have you ever heard the legends?" Quil asked moving to Josh's side.
"No."
"My grandfather and Billy know everything about the old legends. They'll tell you everything you need to know." Quil smiled. He liked to be the big brother for all the pups. Maybe that was the reason he had imprinted on Claire in the first place.
We all looked at Old Quil when he clapped his hands together and smiled.
"We need to make a bonfire and explain everything to the boy." The old man said. "You will stay with us for now. My grandson Quil has a free room at his place. We'll meet at the beach in a few hours."
"There's another thing you should all know." Seth said looking straight at me and Leah.
After a few moments of silence Leah and I understood that there was no point in hiding the truth from them. If Josh had imprinted on her, then the others should know.
"I think he imprinted on me." Leah's weak voice almost made my heart bleed. I felt like I was running out of air but I held on, squeezing her hand in mine for support.
A collective "what" was heard almost instantly. I could see shock and pity in everyone's eyes. Only Josh remained quiet because he had no idea what we were talking about.
"Did I do anything wrong?" He asked in a low voice to Seth. "What the hell is imprinting?"
"It's complicated." Seth replied. "We'll explain later."
"Are you sure about this?" Sam asked Leah.
"No, I'm not completely sure. I don't feel the pull but I think he does." She stated. "Do you know if there's any chance that an imprint can turn out to be one-sided?"
No one answered just like I expected. Imprinting was supposed to be rare and our ancestors didn't know how it worked either.
"What should we do?" Leah asked again facing the Council. "This wasn't supposed to happen."
"Look, right now I think you should go back home and prepare for the bonfire, okay?" Sue suggested. "We'll sort things out later."
I pulled Leah's hand with me and we left quietly. Sue had called Charlie to watch over our kids and when we arrived Charlie left to pick up his wife at Old Quil's house. I knew he had noticed something wasn't right but he didn't make questions besides Sue would tell him everything later.
We watched our kids sleeping and then we went to the bathroom to have a shower. My thoughts were running over at an outstanding speed and I couldn't even organise my ideas. All I wanted was to find a way out of this situation. I wanted to turn back time and start this day over again so I could stop Leah to go on patrol with Seth.
"We can pack our things and leave right now." I said.
"And go where? If it were just the two of us I would take up the offer Jacob, but we have children."
She was right. There was nowhere to run to. We had to think about the kids first. They had a life in La Push. We were supposed to raise them there and be together.
"As far as I know this imprint isn't like the others. I think I can beat it. Let's give it a try, okay?"
What other option did I have? I could only hope she was right because I couldn't lose her like that.
I kissed her with passion and she responded immediately. I knew we didn't have much time but I wanted to know if she was still attracted to me. I wanted to know if the imprint bond would stop us from being together.
"What do you think of him?" I asked running my hands through her body and removing her clothes.
"I don't know."
"Do you find him attractive?"
"He's cute…in a brotherly way."
"Cuter than me?"
"No. No other man is cuter than you…well except for Harrison, William and Isaac." She smiled.
"So…you don't feel attracted to him, right?" I asked with hope.
"Not particularly. He looks like a good guy and he's handsome enough but I don't feel drawn to him. I mean I'm here with you and I feel perfectly fine. I feel that I'm doing nothing wrong."
"Good…because I feel the same too and I want to…"
"I know what you want Jacob." She cut me off and stripped my cut-offs.
"You do?" I grinned.
"We need to be careful not to wake the kids up." She warned and traced small kisses up my chest.
"Sure."
We tried to prolong that moment as much as we could. I thought I was in heaven for a few minutes while the hot water was pouring on our overheated bodies. Although she had been imprinted on, we both felt this was right and Leah didn't feel any pain, physically or emotionally while he made love which made me realise that maybe we could still make this work.
After we washed ourselves in the shower, Leah called a babysitter to stay with the kids just in case they would wake up and we left to the bonfire. We were only a few minutes late but everyone was already waiting for us. All our pack brothers and the Council members had this defeated look on their faces when they saw us arriving. Even Sam. I guess they were thinking that Leah and I would have to split up and go separate ways and they were probably sad about the fate of our children but they were wrong. I wasn't giving up on her so easily.
"I think we should start by telling Josh the old legends." I suggested and Old Quil agreed. For now I wanted to avoid talking about the imprint.
My father started to speak about the Cold Ones and Taha Aki and we all paid attention. When he finally finished Josh was a bit lost but by the look on his face he had understood the message. He was looking at us with the same look Quil had when he heard the legends for the first time after phasing. Quil had always been our most enthusiastic member. To turn into a giant wolf had been the best thing that happened in his life. At least that was what he kept telling us.
I could tell that Josh didn't have an easy life and that was probably why he had the same opinion as Quil. For once he was part of something. For once he wasn't completely on his own.
"We protect people against these Cold Ones, right?" Josh asked timidly.
"Yes." Sam answered. "It's a job for life. You don't actually have a choice once you phase. Our blood reacts to our enemies' presence."
"But I have never seen one." He said. "What do they look like?"
"They're easily identified." I announced. "They're pale, cold, incredibly fast and have red eyes that turn to black when they're hungry."
"Have you ever killed one?" Josh asked curiously.
"Hell yeah." Paul declared. "It's what we were born to do."
"There's an exception though." Seth stated. "We have a treaty with a Coven…"
"A Coven as in…a family of Cold Ones?" Josh was surprised by Seth's statement. I guess it was a bit weird to have an alliance with our mortal enemies.
"Yes. The Cullens. They are…friends." Seth explained. "They used to live here for a while. Our ancestors made a treaty with them and we still respect that same treaty."
"The Cullens are vegetarians. They only drink animal's blood." Sam informed. "They're also our allies."
"Allies? What do you mean?" Josh asked.
"That's another story. We'll tell you later." Sam put a hand in his shoulder. "Now I think we should tell you how things work around here, right Billy?"
"Yes. Well the first thing you need to know is that this is meant to be a secret. Even amongst our people. We can't allow people to know the truth."
"There are, again, some exceptions. Some of us had to tell the truth to their parents or in other cases to their girlfriends." Sam explained.
"Did you tell anyone about what you are?" My father asked.
"No. I didn't have many friends and I don't have more family, at least near by. I have an uncle who lives in Texas but we're not close."
"Look, Josh…We won't lie to you…this has never happened before. You're an outsider…" Sue started.
"Sue, I was just like him." Embry piped in. "I was an outsider too."
"No, you were raised here Embry. Despite the fact that your mother had an affair with one of our men, at least she had the common sense to bring you here, so you could learn our ways."
"My mum did everything she could for me." Josh said immediately. "She was a good mother."
"I don't doubt that but you should've been raised in La Push. Your father is clearly a Quileute and unfortunately there isn't a way to discover who he is. There are too many families carrying the gene and if he's married I'm positive he won't come forward and assume his responsibilities now."
"I don't want to know who he is." Josh declared firmly. "I lived twenty two years without him I guess it's more than obvious that he doesn't care about me either."
"What's the colour of your fur when you phase?" Quil asked receiving a few glares from the Council. I guess they didn't want to keep talking about Josh's possible fathers.
"My fur? I think it's reddish."
I couldn't help looking at my father. My fur was russet, Josh's was reddish. He was twenty-two years old, I was twenty-six. Until I was seven years old, my father used to go to the Makah Reservation often. Josh could be my brother. But again, I didn't have the courage to ask him directly.
"Your fur's colour doesn't prove anything." Jared said. "Paul and Leah's fur is grey and they're not related. Besides his name is Josh…probably as in…"
"Joshua." Sam finished and we all looked at him. Again Sam's father could also be the one who had cheated on his wife. "Despite whom his father is, Josh belongs here, with us…but it's still his call to make."
"Are you inviting me to stay?" Josh asked surprised.
"Yes, but you need to learn many things before you can be one of us." Sam stated.
"Like what?"
"Like the secrecy part."
"I'm not telling anyone, you can trust me."
"And you also need to follow orders."
"From who?"
"The Council and the pack. Our pack has seventeen wolves. We're a family and we have a hierarchy. Jacob's the alpha." Sam looked at me and gave me a sign to continue.
"So I follow your rules?" Josh turned to me.
"Yes. If you want to belong to our pack, you do what I say or what Sam's say. He's the beta, meaning he's my second in command." I said.
"And what do I have to do?"
"Well…we patrol our lands in groups of three or four. We're always on alert in case a leech shows up. Only the Cullens are allowed to enter our territory but they always ask for permission first. As for your old life back at the Makah Reservation, you should forget about it…from now on you're a protector and that means you can't go back."
"So I'm moving here?"
"Yeah, I guess you are. Since we don't know what set off your transformation I'm going to send a group to go with you tomorrow to gather your things. Maybe there's a leech in the area and your gene was suddenly activated."
"I can go." Sam offered. "I can take Quil, Jared, Paul and Sullivan with me."
"Alright, fine by me." I agreed.
"But where am I going to live? And what am I supposed to do? I mean I had a job."
"You'll have to quit." I said. "We'll figure something out once you're settled in, alright?"
"But I don't have a place to stay."
"We'll find you a place to stay besides you can't stay away from Leah for too long if you imprinted on her."
"Imprint on her? What's that?" Josh asked.
"There are certain things you need to learn about becoming a wolf." I told him. "You don't age, you heal easily, you eat a lot and don't get fat, you become faster, stronger and look older than you really are."
"Cool."
"And…some of us…imprint."
"It means that you find your soul mate. The one for you." Sam explained.
"Have you…?" Josh asked him.
"Yes. There are a few of us who imprinted on local women. My wife is from the Makah Reservation like you."
"And I imprinted on Leah?"
"It looks like it." Seth said.
"What do you feel about me?" Leah asked and Josh blushed.
"I don't think I should say it out loud."
"Come on, just do it." She demanded.
"Fine. I think you're the hottest chick I met and that I could stay with you forever. You smell really good, your eyes are beautiful and your body…"
"I think we got the point." I groaned.
"She asked…I had to tell her." He apologised.
"No one knows exactly how an imprint works. The old legends aren't clear about the subject besides I wasn't supposed to exist." Leah said.
"Why not?" Josh asked.
"Until I phased, everyone thought the wolf gene was passed from father to son. I am, so far, the only female wolf in History."
"Wicked."
"What I'm saying is that usually an imprint works both ways. Except for Quil, all the other guys who have imprinted fell in love and are happily married but that doesn't necessarily means the same will happen between us." Leah said.
"I don't understand."
"All the girls who have been imprinted on also love their husbands but…I don't love you. Do you believe that what you feel for me is actually love?"
Josh shrugged.
"I have no idea. I just…I like being around you, I like how you make me feel."
I growled.
"I might be your soul mate, but I don't think you're mine." Leah stated.
"Leah…it doesn't work like that." Sam said. "He imprinted on you for a reason."
Leah shot him a glare and he shut up immediately.
"Maybe we should start by knowing each other better?" Josh suggested.
"You're not getting the picture." I announced getting up. "Come with us."
I pulled Leah with me and Josh followed us closely.
"This meeting is over." I heard Sue saying but we didn't look back. We walked to our house and when we arrived Leah paid Madeleine who was half-sleeping on the couch.
"Is everything alright?" She asked eyeing Josh who was standing behind us.
"Yes, you can go home now." Leah said.
Then I guided Josh upstairs and opened the twin's bedroom's door.
"That's William." I pointed to the bed on the left. "And his twin brother Harry. They're almost nine years old." I pointed to the right.
Josh took a few seconds looking at them. I closed the door quietly and joined Leah at Sarah and Isaac's bedroom.
"That's Sarah, she's four months old and this is Isaac, he's one year old." I said taking Isaac from Leah's arms. Unlike Sarah who was asleep, Isaac wasn't.
"You're married." Josh concluded. "And you have kids."
"Do you understand what that means?" I asked.
"I do."
"I can't let you have her." I announced placing Isaac back on his crib. "As far as we know an imprint bond can't be broken and if you two stay away from each other for too long, you'll start hurting emotionally and physically. I don't want that to happen to you or Leah."
"Then what are we going to do?" Leah asked me, holding my hand tightly.
"He's moving in." I decided. "He's moving in with us."
A/Note 4: I dedicate this first chapter to Wolfman Inc. who requested me to hurry up and post Our Dawn 4.
As you probably noticed this time I started with the prologue, picking up where I left in Our Dawn 3.
Take care, Karisan