I awoke to the sound of Sam howling off in the distance. Rolling my eyes and sighing, I resigned myself to the fact that I had to get out of bed. It wasn't even much of a choice at this point. My duty to the pack calls and I have to respond. I got up from my bed and thought about throwing on a t-shirt, but decided against it because there really was no point. I walked down the hall into my living room. My dad was sitting in his wheelchair watching some television while reading the newspaper.
"Hey, Jake, there's going to be a meeting this evening. Tell Sam I want the entire pack to be there." Billy said to me.
I bit the inside of my cheek to keep myself in check. It irritated me that when it came to the wolf pack, I didn't have a choice when I was told to do something. It was as if my free will had been eviscerated the moment I phased into the monster I was destined to become.
"Ok dad, when and where?"
"At the wolf den, seven o'clock."
"K, I'll let Sam know." I said moving towards the front door.
"And Jake, I know this isn't an easy time for you, but I hope you will represent our ancestors and our tribe well. Please, keep that in mind when you are at the meeting tonight, son, for me."
I looked done and forced myself to nod my head. "Ok dad, I'll try." I spoke even though it was clear to both him and me that if I wasn't tied into this by blood, I wouldn't uphold this supposed duty. I looked into his eyes and saw love mixed with sadness or maybe it was disappointment. I hated that I couldn't be true to myself and make everyone happy. Why was I so conflicted. I pressed my lips together and gave my father a close-mouthed smile.
"So, I should probably go. Sam was howling, so I need to see what's going on."
"Ok Jake, I'll see you tonight then?" He was still checking to see if I was going to show up or if I was lying.
"Ya dad, I will." My words came out roughly, like molasses was coating my vocal chords.
"I'll see ya later."
I walked out onto the porch and broke into a sprint as I headed to the edge of the clearing where our property met the woods. Sam let out another howl, this one more urgent and demanding than the last. It was probably a warning for those of us who were moving too slow or hadn't heeded his first call. I phased before I got the the bank of trees and ran in the direction Sam's howl had come from. I was in a dead run and knew I would be there in no time, but sent him a message through our link to let him know I was coming. As soon as I sent the thought his way and heard him acknowledge it, I heard another set of paws coming up on my right. I didn't even have to look behind me to know that it was Leah. After all, she was one of the only wolves in the pack that could come close to matching my speed and agility.
"Hey Leah."
"Afternoon Jake." She said as I slowed down so she could catch up with me.
"Wait, it's afternoon?"
"Yes, Jake, now come on, Sam's going to get impatient." She said this with a wolfish smile, her tongue wagging to the side.
"Leah, what day is it?" Slowing a little in my confusion.
"Tuesday! Now stop with the stupid questions and move it!" She seemed to realize something. "Wait, why are you so confused about what day it is?"
I swallowed knowing if I lied Leah would see right through it. "I might have gotten a little upset when I got home from patrols with Paul."
"Oh, good grief Jacob, please tell me you weren't thinking about that idiot again."
"She's not an idiot Leah." I growled out.
"Hey, don't get mad at me Jake. You're the one that's letting her ruin your life with her decisions. I'm surprised that you've backslid though. I'm not going to lie."
"I haven't backslid Leah, I was just trying to think about her to move forward more. Away from the idea of her. She's not an idiot, just misguided...She thinks what she did was right, they're fated to be together."
I heard Leah beside me as she snorted in disgust. "You say misguided, I say crazy. You know you can talk to me if you need to right?"
"Ya, I've just got a lot on my mind right now." She didn't respond, because she didn't need to.
Over the last couple of months, Leah Clearwater and I had grown closer than I ever could've imagined. She was the one person that understood the roller coaster of emotions that overtakes you when you've lost someone you love to someone else, especially when you don't think that someone else is right for the person. It helped that she didn't just tell me to get over Bella right away. She had let me wallow, she had been there when that pendulum swung into anger. Never questioning, always listening.
It had surprised her as much as it did me. I mean who would've guessed that it would just take us having one thing in common to forge a friendship? Before we had become friends, I had always thought of Leah as this angry, bitter person that would never be happy. that would forever be pushing people away, clinging to the hurt of losing Sam. I'm not going to lie, I honestly thought she was a bitch. I felt bad at first, thinking that about her, but when you try to being civil with someone and all they do is respond with hatred, what was there really left to think?
All of that changed when Bella married Edward. Suddenly, I saw what caused her to become the way she was. During the last couple of months Leah had mellowed out somewhat. If she had been boiling with anger before, she had now reduced her emotions to just a simmer. The same thing had happened to me.
I think we had our friendship to thank for that. We were there to help each other heal, learn how to feel again. I only wished I had been there for Leah sooner. She had to go for a long time being alone and misunderstood. It didn't help that she was the only female who had phased. I still can't imagine what it was like for her to submit to Sam. If it weren't for the pack and being a wolf, Leaf probably would've avoided being around Sam and Emily. She might have had an easier time moving on.
We reached the rest of the pack and slowed to a stop. "What's up Sam?" I asked.
"Ya, what's going on?" Leah followed up.
"There's an army of vampires being built by the Volturri. Carlisle told me about it this morning." Sam answered sounding both worried and angry at the same time.
"What?" I spat out. "Why the hell would the Volturri be building an army?"
Sam shook his head. "Carlisle isn't sure. Alice happened to see it in one of her visions, but the weird part is, she doesn't think she was meant to." He waited in order to let the pack process the troublesome information and then started to talk again. "Carlisle thinks since the Volturri didn't mean for Alice to see, he and his family must have something to do with it. An attack, maybe, he's not sure yet. None of them are."
"Well, what does that have to do with us? It sounds to me like the Volturri are after the Cullens, not our tribe." Paul growled, just as angry as most of the wolves were.
"Paul, you know we have an agreement with the Cullen family. Our pack has banded together with the Cullens before in order to fight for the common good. This time is no different."
Now it was Leah's turn to growl as she snarled in frustration. "Sam, I can't believe you are even considering having us help them. During the last battle with those newborn freaks, we helped them even though they weren't out to harm anyone on the reservation."
Sam's hackles were raised as he moved to stare down into Leah's eyes. I admired her as she stared up at the Alpha leader with no fear in her eyes. Before Sam could respond, I jumped in to speak.
"She does have a point Sam. Why are we fighting when this has nothing to do with us? The Cullens seem to have a knack for getting themselves in trouble, making enemies. Why should our pack have to pay for that?"
I could see Sam thinking, but it was clear to me and everyone else that as much as he hated the Cullens for what they were, he had already decided that we were going to help them defend themselves against whatever crazed scheme the Volturri were planning.
"I can't believe this!" Embry coughed out, outraged, but weak sounding.
Given his position in our pack along with his bloodline, he didn't have as much strength to stand up to Sam and let his feelings be heard. But as for me and Leah, we had plenty of strength and wear with all to stand up to him, even though Sam did have the ability to command us to fall in line and to whatever he decided. It still meant something to at least speak out in opposition to his decision. Maybe it would cause him to change his mind, cause him to rethink our pack's place in all of this.
"Jake, please don't question me...this is what I feel we have to do."
I growled at Sam feeling enraged. "They got themselves into this mess, let them dig themselves out. We shouldn't have to pay for their mistakes. Are you so weak that you couldn't tell them no!" I didn't mean the last part, but with my temper flaring along with the rest of the wolves' tempers, I said it. As soon as the words came out, I regretted them, knowing what they would force Sam to do.
"You will not question this, any of you! The decision is final!" The tone of Sam's voice had changed to the double timbre of the Alpha command.
Sam used it so rarely that I for a few seconds, I didn't truly believe the command had come from him. The packs protests were instantly subdued and in their place was a forced allegiance to what Sam willed. Most of the other wolves postures had changed to submissive positions and some of the newer wolves even laid down under the sheer weight of our alpha's command. I could still feel Leah by my side. I could tell she was in the same state of shock and anger I was. I could sense that even though we both obeyed the command, neither one of us was happy about it.
Deep amongst the urge to surrender to the almighty Alpha, I felt something else. Something I couldn't quite identify. It was like a small part of me was refusing to bow to Sam, but wasn't strong enough to overrule the rest of my spirit and break through. I wondered silently to myself if any of my brothers felt the same small part of them trying to fight its way out to the surface because Sam's decision seemed so wrong. I looked to Leah, to see if I could see any sign that she was feeling the same thing I was. If she was, she showed no sign of it. I could only hope that my thoughts were disguised as well.
"Ok, all of you head back to my house. We need to prepare."
Nobody had it in them to do anything other than follow Sam's lead. Sam rushed ahead quickly and started in the direction of his house with the younger members of the pack following closely on his heels. I huffed out my frustration once there was some distance between us and began slowly making my way to Sam's house with Leah and Paul nearby.
I heard Paul grunt through our link. "I can't believe he's getting us into this. It isn't our fight. This bites!" Leah joined in, "Ya, it does! He's making a big mistake! What the hell is he thinking!"
I shook my head and lowered my muzzle so I wasn't looking straight ahead. I was trying to pretend I wasn't going to Sam and Emily's house. To trick myself into believing that the three of us were taking a jog somewhere, not worrying about anything, just out to have fun together. It didn't work very well. When I returned my stare to the path ahead of me, I was still headed in the direction of their house.
"I don't know why he made this decision, but the elders are having a meeting tonight and they want the pack there. Maybe they'll be able to make Sam see reason."
I heard them both utter maybe in reply and we were soon in front of Sam and Emily's house. We phased back into our human forms and begrudgingly pulled on the clothes that had been tied to our legs. I walked up the porch stairs and went into the house to give Sam my father's message.
