A/N Hey everybody! Well here it is – finally. A new fanfic. It's going to be a bit different. But just embrace that part.

I wanted to thank my good friend Kerri for beta'ing for me and my friend Emmi for helping me when I got stuck. My sis Kinky, I want to thank you for pushing me to upload this. And Felicia, thank you for your everlasting support.

Disclaimer: I don't own Twilight. It belongs to Stephenie Meyer.

So let's get to it shall we. Thank you for reading!

Chapter 1. – The Truth.

"Brother,"Leah's smile was wide but Seth still thought she looked tired, her colour drained and her eyes hooded. She held out her hand and he took it as he carefully sat down on the edge of her bed.

"Sis," he kissed her hand, "how are you?"

She nodded slowly and smiled, "very good, little brother. Although I'm very glad you came to see me. How are Barbara and the kids?"

He nodded, "They're all good." God, she looked old. Not the years she had lived showing on her face but how hard the years had been on her. He stroked some of her hair out of her face, she was still beautiful. She had aged so well, and he was so grateful for that. He was grateful that she had been able to leave her bitterness and loneliness behind and had found a true mate in Jake. The two were so good together.

"My sweet baby brother," they both laughed softly at the old term of endearment. "Seth, it is true, I know that I don't have much time left. I can feel it in my bones the way a wolf would lay down and wait for it."

Seth nodded and had to swallow hard, his throat closing up suddenly, he didn't know what he would do or who he would turn to if his sister wouldn't be here anymore. They had always been together. First after the death of their father and then their mother had joined him not a year later.

"You'll be fine, brother. You have your Barbara and your lovely kids. They are all so wonderful." She only whispered the words to him and yet he heard them as if she's branded them into his skin. He needed to be okay for the both of them, he wouldn't disappoint his sister. So he smiled at her and kissed her hand again.

"Seth, can you do me a favor, send Ryder upstairs, I need to talk to him alone. And I know Riley and Lilly have missed you."

"Of course Lee, anything."He got up slowly and smiled again at his sister, the years hadn't been kind to her, yet she never gave up and she didn't plan on it now. He could see resolve in her eyes, although he didn't know what that could be about.

He slowly walked downstairs and was greeted by cheerful laughter in the living room, Riley and Lilly were playing a racing game on the computer and called out to him, to join them.

He walked over to Ryder and leaned to the young man, speaking softly; "Ryder, go upstairs, your mom wants you for a minute."

"Of course uncle Seth." He grinned, "I was winning anyways."

"Was not!" Riley and Lilly said at the same time.

Ryder laughed and jogged up the stairs to see his sick mother.

He knocked softly on the door and went inside without waiting for the answer, knowing what it would be anyways. He walked to the bed and sat down on the edge, his mother smiling up at him. And he smiled back. He loved his mom so much, she had always been there for him and his brother and sister, and he found it hard to see her in the state she was in. So fragile, sick before it was her time to go.

He remember the conversation they had when they had first heard that she was sick, that she had cancer. He had urged her to phase. Had tried to anger her.

...

"Dammit mom! It's selfish! Why won't you phase again! You know you can do it, you've done it for years, why won't you fight now?"

"Ryder…" His mom had come to him and placed both hands on his cheeks, she'd smiled sadly.

"Don't be angry at this, don't think I won't fight for you. You're my family and your all so dear to me. But you can't fight fate. I learned that a long time ago my sweetie. You can't find fate." Then she kissed both his cheeks and took his dad's hand. Walking onto the front porch with him, probably to snuggle to him on the porch swing, their favorite place to be.

...

He looked at his mom now and she looked tired, all but her eyes. Which were still very smart and alert. Which just made him realize that her strong mind must be struggling in a weak body.

"Ryder," she whispered the words and smiled at him.

She tugged softly on his hand and he stretched out on the bed beside her, looking up at the ceiling, only their hands linked.

Her voice was soft when she started to talk again.

"Ryder," she paused briefly, like she had to think of her words and it made Ryder look at her. "Mom?"

She turned her face and smiled softly, "I have to tell you something, it's going to be hard to say and perhaps even more difficult to hear."

He swallowed at her words and her intense stare, she didn't look tired anymore, but a glimpse of the mom of his childhood came back. The strong, confident woman who had given his father a run for his money. She's been so filled with fire, she'd been hard on him, although she'd always been fair. He looked at her and nodded. Which earned him a smile.

"I raised such a strong young man," his mom mused. "Of course you had no choice but to be strong, given your parents." She laughed slightly.

"You are so much like your father," Ryders eyebrows shot up at this, he was always told that out of him and his siblings he was least like his dad and always more like his mom.

She held his hand tighter, "It's true, your level-headed, your strong, you think before you act and you always put the needs of the pack before your own. So much like your father."

"Mom? Are you feeling okay?" He frowned watching his mom, putting the back of his hand on her forehead to check if maybe she had a temperature.

"Dad is nothing like that. He's a hot head who acts before thinking. He gets wound up at the smallest things. Okay he's calmed down the last couple years, but I still remember how he used to be."

She nodded at him. "I was speaking of your biological father, Ryder. Not Jake."

Ryder froze completely as he heard his mom say this, he couldn't say anything or move, it was just his jaw that dropped.

His mom stroked his hair softly and whispered, "I'm sorry Ryder, but you do deserve to know. You weren't loved less because of who your biological father is. And Jake has been and will always be your dad."

"Who?" He didn't recognize his own voice, it was strangled and high.

Leah closed his eyes for a while before opening them again and looking at him, squeezing his hand softly. "Sam."