Jace had a look of disappointment and confusion, but most of all, sadness. He never did like it when anyone in our family had conflicts. He always tried to be the oracle of the situation and it worked. But for this particular situation, I don't think anything he could say or do would get me to change my mind.

The first thing that he did when he finally got to the porch was take a long, hard look at me. I was the kind of look that made me think that he was going to burn a hole in me. The second thing he did was pull me into a big hug and squeezed me as tight as he could and right then, I almost fell apart in his arms, but I managed to keep it all together, even if it were just for a short time. I couldn't allow myself to break, not when this was the time that I had to be the most strong; stronger than I had ever been.

"What's going on Ava?" he asked, his voice cracked just a little. Just that small question was so ponderous, only because it meant a great deal of things. There were many questions wrapped into the one that it boggled my mind.

"Haven't you heard?" I asked sarcastically. "I'm getting married."

Jace sighed and pressed a small kiss against my temple and let go of me.

"Let's go inside," I said.

"Are you sure Billy and Jacob won't mind?" he asked as if he had never step foot in the Black's residence.

"What do you mean 'do they mind?' of course they don't; you're family."

He shook his head. "Yeah, I don't know what I was thinking."

"Yeah what were you thinking?"

"It's just that everything that I've just learned about over the past couple of hours just kind of knocked me off my rocker y'know?"

I nodded my head. "Yeah I definitely know what you mean."

We walked into the house and I saw that Jacob and Billy were no longer in the living room. I guess they wanted Jace and me to have time alone. And for that I was grateful.

We sat on the couch and I took a deep breath. Before I knew it, I was starting to pour my heart out. I told him everything that had happened over the course of the night. I stopped at some parts of the story, trying not to get upset. Jace gave me small smiles to let me know that he was here for me and that I was going to be okay. I continued to tell the story and Jace nodded at the appropriate moments.

After I finished telling Jace everything that had happened over the course of that night, he opened his mouth to speak. But instead of saying anything, he sighed and shook his head. As I waited for him to speak I started to get lost in some of my own thoughts.

I began to think of how my parents, or any parent however, would think to do this to their progeny; their own flesh and blood. I could still hear my mother's words in my head:

"It's for the best. We only had your best interest at heart."

What a stupid thing to say!

"Ava," Jace said calmly. "What are you thinking?"

I rolled my eyes. "I think I've already made it clear about how I felt 10 minutes ago. But if you want me to tell you again, then fine. I don't like the fact that I have to marry some dude that I've never met before; I'm sorry, no I have met him, I was just a toddler at the time. I hate that my, our, parents would do something like this to me. Have they ever stopped to think that it was my prerogative to marry whoever I wanted? Or that I might imprint some day? What happens then huh? I feel like I'm caught between a rock and a hard place and I just want this night to end and I want to pretend that this never happened. That is how I feel."

I wanted to break down and cry so badly. I felt like I was doing some dishonor to my imprint; the one person who I was destined to spend the rest of my life with. I couldn't believe that my parents could be so narrow-minded. Everything just seemed so unfair.

"As much as I hate the idea of being married to Derek, mom and dad do have your best interest in mind…"

"But at what cost?!" I shouted standing up. I started to angrily pace back and forth. I needed to keep calm; otherwise I'd phase in Billy's living room. "My life as I know it is over!"

"No it's not," Jace said standing to his feet, approaching me cautiously.

"Yes it is! I'm starting to go down this tortuous road and all I can see is darkness, pain, despair…"

"Would you stop being so damn stubborn!"

I stopped in my tracks. Jace rarely used this tone of voice, but when he did, you knew that he was starting to get pissed off.

"Look, I don't mean to yell or scream, but whether you like it or not, you're gonna have to marry this guy. Trust me before I got here, I was practically tearing mom and dad a new one for this stunt they've pulled. But we can't turn back now, we're in too deep."

Just then my knees buckled and I fell to the floor with tears streaming down my face. I had realized that there was no getting out of this, no matter how hard I tried. I was going to be married to a man I didn't know, not to mention the fact that he's a lycan. He'd be some much different from me yet, still the same as we both have the supernatural umbrella that hangs over our heads.

Just then, Jace slid down and held me as I cried and while I felt the comfort and safety in my other bother's arms, I still had the feeling that breaking down and crying my eyes out would be the only thing that I could do, I could feel helpless, like a small child. That's how I felt.

Small.

"I don't know what to do Jace," I cried. "I just don't."

"I know honey."

I sat there and cried for what seemed like forever until I felt that I had no more tears left in me to shed. I lifted my head from Jace's shoulder and gave him a smile of gratitude. He stood and held out his hand toward me. As soon as I took it, Jace pulled me up and into another hug. He quickly let go and smiled.

"I hate to leave you in this state but I gotta go. I left Mackenzie with Bob and Janine and I said that I'd be back within the next couple of hours."

I nodded. "I understand, don't worry I'm fine. Give her a hug and kiss for me?"

"Of course."

I walked Jace to the door and he opened it.

"If you ever need me for anything, call me. I don't care what time it is, you call me."

"I will," I promised.

"Take care," he said.

"You too."

He then walked out of the door and into his car, turned it on and backed out of the driveway. I closed the door, feeling like everything was going to be alright with the auxiliary of my family and friends by side to push me forward. No matter what decision I made, they'd always be there and I was forever grateful for that.

I looked around and saw that still neither Jacob nor Billy were in the living room so I took that opportunity to be by myself for a little while. I walked around the living room and looked at all of the pictures and wooden carvings that were on the mantle. Wood carving was something that almost everyone on the res took part of. I remember when Jacob started, we were 12 then. It was also around the time his mother died.

When Sarah, Jacob's mother, got sick, Billy refused to believe that she was seriously ill and that it wasn't something that Calfuray, the crone in our tribe, couldn't fix. But sadly, he was wrong. Billy eventually gave in and took her to the hospital where they learned that Sarah was had cancer and that it was at such an advanced stage that they didn't think that the chemo therapy would help. But they tried and it was every expensive. Being a bourgeoisie the Blacks had always managed a very good lifestyle, doing what they could to get by. I'd be lying if I said that everyone on the res was filthy rich, but with the medical bills coming in, it was damn near impossible to keep food on the table and pay bills. Everyone on the res, including my family, helped in any way that they could.

I practically knew everything that went on in their house because I was a denizen at their residence, helping out in any way that I could. As Sarah got progressively worse, Billy's health started to decline as well. Days before Sarah's death, Billy was declared a paraplegic and was wheelchair bound for the rest of his life. They physical damage was bad, but the emotional toll that it took on the Blacks was even worse.

I remember having to stay over to console Jacob and the twins for almost a week. It was hard seeing Jacob like that.

I shook my head of those horrid thoughts and sat on the couch. I lied down and finally let sleep consume me.

I was awoken by a ray of sunlight that shined on my face. I opened my eyes and realized that I was no longer on the couch, but was on Jacob's bed. I sat up and supported my weight on my elbows, thinking of everything of everything that had gone on last night. I began to think of my parents and began to get a bit equivocal about what would happen next. Would they ship my off to Beacon Hills? Would I ever see my family again? A million questions were going through my mind as I pulled the sheet off, got out of the bed, and walked out of Jake's room.

I made my way into the kitchen where I saw Billy and Jacob sitting at the table. Billy was staring off into space with a cup of coffee in his hands while Jacob was wolfing down a bowl of Frosted Flakes.

"Good morning," I said with a smile. They both snapped their heads in my direction.

"Hey," Jacob said. "Are you alright?"

I nodded. "Yeah, I feel much better now."

"I know that this situation might be a bit of a conundrum but you have to look go home and level with your parents," Billy said. "Talk more with them and try to understand."

"With all due respect Billy there's nothing for me to really understand. I mean how can one fully comprehend their parents are giving her them away to a man I haven't seen since I was 2? This is a substantive situation; one that concerns my life."

I could tell by the look on Jacob's face that he was trying to find something veritable to say, where it would convince me to actually consider marrying Derek. I wanted him to tell me the verisimilitude of how he actually felt about the situation.

I could see that we definitely needed to talk.


Hi guys! I know that this chapter was short, but I wanted to save all of the good stuff for the next chapter.

I hope that you guys like this one and I'll see you guys next time!

~TTDH