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. For the ones who don't know anything about Our Dawn Series, you can always read Our Dawn 1, 2, 3 and 4 but if you don't want to bother I have a resume on my profile page.

A/Note 2: A huge thank you for everyone who reviewed Our Dawn Series so far.

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.

Thanks you for reviewing: Starr Cullen, A. Ali, Rafaela, evanescent reality, ABarbieStory, brankel1, Isa Clearwater, BB-Waters, Jeakat, Jada91, Ritchi, MelkiSihou, iLoveYouStar.

Our Dawn

Part V

Book 1 – Summer Rain

Leah Clearwater

2. Blood & Tears

"Remind me again why we're here." I asked Quil after we arrived at one of the most popular night clubs in Port Angeles. I didn't go to a night club for ages now. I certainly didn't miss it but I could still remember how fun it was to go to a club on the weekend with my friends.

"We're here because we have to look out for Claire." Quil stated seriously.

"She's almost nineteen, Quil." I didn't approve stalking people.

"I know…"

"And she has a boyfriend."

"I know that too."

"And this is not a club just for couples." I said when I realised there were a lot of people inside without a date.

"Sorry…" Quil said choosing an empty table for us.

"You lied to me?" I gave him my best glare and he recoiled a little. I smiled knowing I still had my "fêmme-fatale" status intact despite being a wife and a mother now.

"I said I'm sorry." He apologised again like the true gentleman he had become over the years. If there was someone who still believed in good manners and honour was Quil Ateara.

Even though I hated to be lied to, I knew that Quil had only lied to me because he was forced to, because he knew I would decline to be his date if he told me the truth. And he was right.

"If we weren't in a public place I'd kill you, Ateara." I snarled, sitting down across from him.

"I had to lie. You wouldn't have come if I had told you the truth, would you?"

I wouldn't. I had better things to do tonight other than babysitting Claire and her boyfriend in a pub. I wanted to be home when Jacob arrived. Since the kids were out we'd have some time alone.

"Why did you want me to come?" I narrowed my eyes and peaked at my watch. Jacob would be home soon.

Quil could've spied on them on his own. With our wolves' abilities we could walk around and keep a low profile, avoid being seen and know everything Claire and Clark did that night.

"Because…if Claire sees me here alone she'll think I'm stalking her."

"Which is true." I whispered.

"Yeah…but she doesn't need to know that."

"Look I know you're worried about her and she's your imprint but I can't stay here all night."

"I'm not asking you to be here all night Leah, just a few more minutes."

"Grow a pair, Quil." I said crossing my arms over my chest. "You need to figure your shit out. You need to know what you want and talk to her about it."

"This is not about me. It's not about what I want. Claire's the one who has the power to decide."

I rolled my eyes impatiently.

"I'll be whatever she wants." He added firmly. "If she decides that she doesn't need me anymore and that she loves Clark, then I'll accept it and move on."

"You're such an idiot."

"Please just try to understand."

"I just want to go home."

I had my whole night planned since a week ago. I was dreaming about Jacob coming home for ages and I wanted to spend time alone with him that night. I couldn't take another abstinent night. I missed the physical contact more than ever.

"I only need to know if this boyfriend of hers can take care of her properly. I need to know if he can be trusted."

I knew Quil was being honest. He cared too much about Claire to just hand her over to the first guy she had a date with. Quil had done everything so far to make sure that his imprint was happy.

That was why when Claire finished High School, he persuaded her to apply to the Berkeley University in California. She ended up winning a scholarship since she had the highest marks of the state in ten years. Claire was bright, she was a typical A-student but she would've never left the Reservation without Quil's encouragement.

The first couple of months were really tough on Claire since she was all alone in California. She called Quil every day to tell him about her doubts, her favourite subjects and her fears. He was the first person she contacted whenever she was feeling sad, anxious or worried about something. By the end of the first semester, Quil couldn't be more proud since Claire was the top student of her class.

Soon he realised that Claire could eventually fall in love with someone she met in Berkeley, after all she was going to meet new people. Though he didn't appreciate the idea completely, he ended up accepting that Claire was now old enough to make her own choices.

Besides, when Claire was just a child he had a few girlfriends. The only thing that bothered Quil was that Claire had arrived to La Push two days ago with Clark to celebrate her nineteenth birthday and she hadn't introduced her boyfriend to him yet.

While Quil thought that Claire was embarrassed of having him as a friend and didn't want Clark to know, I shared Emily's opinion that she was scared of Quil's overprotection.

Since Claire's parents weren't worried about her dating a normal boy from Berkeley, Quil was forced to investigate Clark Kramer on his own.

"I just don't understand why she hasn't introduced him to me yet." Quil muttered.

"They only got here two days ago, give her some time."

"Do you think she's ashamed of me?"

"I don't think so but I have an idea…why don't you go over her table and introduce yourself instead?"

"No way."

"Chicken."

"I don't want her to think I'm pressuring her."

"But you're not so worried while spying on her, are you?" I half yelled.

"Shhhhh!" He scolded. "You're such a bitch when Jake's not around." Quil muttered and I scowled.

"What's that supposed to mean jackass?"

"I'm just saying that you're a pain in the ass when Jacob's not here. You yell all the time, you take out your frustration on us and…it's a freaking nightmare to patrol with you."

"You're kidding right?" I looked at him fiercely but he shook his head negatively.

"No, I'm not. I'm just stating the facts. Do you think you can hide all your thoughts about him while we're patrolling? I'm just thankful that you and Jake don't usually have sex in weird places and positions like Paul and Rachel…I'll never understand how the hell she's able to do that to her body."

"I do not think about Jacob when I'm patrolling!" I denied. "And thanks for the information about Paul and Rachel…I'll have nightmares about it."

"I understand you want to go home and see Jake since you're not having sex in a while but I really need some girls' intuition here. I need your help."

"Go there and talk to them. I can't do miracles."

"I can't."

He was a stubborn asshole and was getting on my nerves.

"Quil…I want to be home in half and hour so you better start acting like a grown up man."

"You're counting the minutes to get home?"

I shrugged.

"What if I am?"

"You owe me this, Leah. I'm going to have a dog in my house for your daughter's sake, remember? That was our deal."

I frowned. Emotional blackmail was a bitch. I had promised him to go out tonight if he helped me with Sarah. I had underestimated Quil. I had completely forgotten that he was a star with kids. He was the only person who still accepted to babysit Paul's children. Everyone was too scared of the Lahote's trio to babysit them.

If Satan had children they would surely be James Ephraim, Daniel and Deborah Lahote. They were a nightmare: Paul's attitude and Rachel's stubbornness, a powerful and deadly cocktail. Satan would be proud.

Of course that we all had a feeling that Quil could only manage those three with the help of a Xanax. Those kids would provoke chaos without a sedative.

"I think she's afraid you won't approve her boyfriend." I said.

"I will…If he proves to be worthy of her. But I can't tell if he is or not if she doesn't introduce us, can I?"

"Ok, you have a point there." I admitted.

"Shit…" He whispered suddenly.

"What?"

"Claire saw us."

I turned back and Claire was waving at us shyly. I guess the game was on, we couldn't hide anymore.

"Come on Ateara, let's go meet Clark Kramer." I suggested getting up.

"What if she asks why we're here?" Quil followed me.

"We'll make something up."

Fifteen minutes later we were all chatting nicely. Clark seemed to be a good kid. He wasn't even drinking because he was driving later on. That was quite responsible and rare for a college boy.

He told us he was born in Utah. He was twenty years old and was studying Marine Biology in Berkeley so he was on Claire's class. We also learned that Claire was his second girlfriend. His first girlfriend had dumped him two years ago right after going to Harvard.

Quil seemed satisfied with Clark's answers and we started talking about other things such as baseball and football. Clark was a football player since his first year in Berkeley and during his high school years he was in the baseball team.

When Claire asked us what we were doing there we had told her we were waiting for Jacob and Embry to meet us and she actually believed us.

Almost an hour later Clark and Claire decided to go back to the Reservation and we walked them to the car. That was the moment a group of young boys decided to rob us. They probably thought we were drunk and wouldn't put up a fight. Two couples leaving a pub at night were an easy target. But this time they were going for a surprise.

To protect Claire and assure her safety, Clark gave them his wallet but when they asked me and Quil to hand over our possessions we attacked them. There were five of them and only two of us and the situation became somehow confusing for a couple of moments.

There were screams and punches and all of the sudden one of the robbers took a weapon from his jacket and almost hit me in my left arm hitting Quil who was behind me. I managed to knock him out but I turned to see if Quil was alright.

The bullet had gone in and out and he was bleeding but it wasn't a mortal wound so it would heal in a few hours.

"We need to get out of here. Quil was shot." Claire yelled when all the robbers were unconscious on the ground.

"He's bleeding." Clark stated worriedly.

"Come on, let's go." I decided pulling Claire and Clark to the back seats of the car while Quil sat on the seat next to me.

"What are we going to do?" Quil asked.

"Pretend you're in pain or they'll be suspicious." I whispered back.

"I'm healing already. I can feel it."

"Awesome." I complained. I was happy to know he was alright but that wouldn't help us.

"Leah? Where are we going?" Claire asked when we left the parking lot.

"Don't worry Claire. I've got everything covered." I replied.

"Quil needs to go to the hospital." She insisted.

The hospital was the last place Quil needed to go. No doctor in the world would be able to explain how someone that was shot a few minutes ago had no wound at all.

"And we need to go to the police to press charges against those idiots." Clark added searching for his cell phone.

If we did that and by the state we'd left the robbers the police would probably think we were the criminals and not the other way around so I turned the wheel rapidly to the left and then to the right making Clark lose his cell phone that was shoved under Quil's seat.

"Leah…the hospital is that way.." Claire was really nervous. "We need to help Quil. He's hurt."

"I know what I'm doing Claire. Trust me."

"He's bleeding." She almost yelled.

"Seth will help him."

"Who's Seth?" Clark asked confusingly.

"My brother. He's a doctor."

"But we'll take a half an hour to get to La Push." Claire cried.

"No, we're not. Hold on."

I was driving like a maniac and luckily we didn't run into a traffic patrol. Clark couldn't take his eyes of speedometer probably thinking that we were going to end up crashing.

"You're going to kill us all." He whispered and I ignored it.

"Let me see the injury." Claire asked in panic.

"I'm fine." Quil assured. "I don't feel any pain."

"That's not good. It means you're in shock." Claire tried to keep her composure but she was giving in to the fear of losing Quil. "Wrong answer you moron." I him. "I'm never going out with you."

"And how was that my fault?" He retorted.

"She's panicking because of you." I accused.

"That's not my fault. I think the imprint is making her act this way."

He was probably right. Except for Jacob's injury after facing that new born vampire to save my life, no other wolf had been badly wounded. We didn't know what would happen to his imprint if a wolf died.

Quil was perfectly fine but Claire didn't know about his healing powers so she was getting worried and desperate by the minute.

"I bet Seth will manage to get Quil all the assistance he needs." I said to calm her down.

"What if he needs surgery? He's probably losing too much blood." She cried again.

"You can't panic. Stay calm Claire."

I parked outside my brother's house in La Push knowing that he would hear us. Anyways Quil had already texted him and Seth knew exactly what to do. "You can go home." I suggested, getting out of the car and opening Quil's door to help him out.

"No way." Claire said immediately. "I'm not leaving Quil!"

"You can't do anything for him right now." I insisted.

"I'm fine Claire. You can go." Quil said.

He wasn't helping at all. The more he said he was alright the more hysteric Claire became. As for Clark he was probably asking himself why his girlfriend was freaking out and why a guy who had been shot sounded so damn healthy.

"Please, I need to be with him." Claire begged.

"Okay…just go inside and call Seth."

She followed my instructions and I saw Clark raise his eyebrows in confusion as he left the car to go after Claire.

"Can you at least pretend you were shot and you're dying?" I glared at Quil.

"I've stopped bleeding." He informed. "I've always been a lousy actor."

"Obviously." I rolled my eyes. "When are you going to tell Claire the truth? She's old enough to know about us."

Years ago when Claire was a teenager she noticed we were different. We didn't get old like everyone else and we never got sick. Quil answered her questions with half-lies. He hated lying to her but didn't feel comfortable enough to tell her that we were wolves and that she was his imprint. Since Claire was his imprint we never interfered. It was his decision.

"Not yet. I need to know if she's happy with Clark."

Quil was an idiot. An idiot in love. An idiot in love who hadn't realised he was in love.

"After this, I swear I'm going to kill you Ateara."

Quil laughed.

"I'd like to see you try Clearwater."

"Leah?" Clark called me and I instructed Quil to pretend to be in pain. "Why is Claire acting like this?"

I didn't know what to say. I couldn't tell him the truth. Clark would never understand the imprint bond that linked Claire and Quil together.

"Quil is Claire's best friend. Didn't she ever mention Quil before?"

"She mentioned a best friend…someone special who was always there for her during her life in the Reservation but I assumed she was talking about a girl."

"Well she wasn't. That friend is Quil."

Clark looked at Quil who pretended to be unconscious. I just checked my watch and thought that my night with Jacob was had just been ruined and someone was going to pay for that.

As you probably noticed I'm focusing on Quil and Claire's relationship for now. Don't worry too much because Leah and Jake will be around anyways. In case you didn't understand, it's been three and a half years since the Cullens returned from Italy (Our Dawn 4 Epilogue).

Rafaela – Sim, resolveram os problemas finalmente. A Leah e o Quil tiveram um encontro maravilhoso (estou a brincar, claro!), mas pelo menos teve acção. Obrigado pela review.

evanescent reality – I don't like the "imprint-on-a-child deal" either. I still don't know how things will turn out for Quil and Claire but either she stays with him or with another guy, it will be Claire's choice. Thanks for reviewing.

Isa Clearwater – Sim, vou mesmo traduzir todas as histórias Our Dawn. Originalmente só ia publicar em português, por isso continuo com a ideia de traduzir tudo o que escrevi para a minha língua materna, além disso não seria justo para os leitores de português se ficassem apenas com a visão das duas primeiras partes. Mas vai demorar. São muitos capítulos. Obrigado pela review.

Jeakat – I always try to situate the readers in time…I guess I failed you…I'm truly sorry. I also said Sarah was 5 years old last chapter and I was wrong, she's 6. So, as you requested, here are the ages and names of all the children:

Jacob and Leah's: Harrison (nearly 15), William (nearly 15), Isaac (7) and Sarah (6)

Sam and Emily's: Ella (15) and Levi (10)

Paul and Rachel's: James Ephraim (14), Daniel (8) and Deborah (nearly 5)

Embry and Rebecca's: David (13) and Denise (nearly 5)

Jared and Kim's: Jeremiah (12), Julia (nearly 6) and Jaelle (nearly 6)

Thank you all for reading and reviewing.

Karisan