The Twilight Series belongs to S. Meyer, no copyright infringement is intended. I'm just playing with the characters.


Chapter Three

When Everything Nearly Falls Apart

Rachel watched him walk away and felt an overwhelming sadness and sense of loss. She had been so sure of the look in his eyes but like everything else in her life, she probably was reading his signals wrong. Once again she wasn't good enough for someone. She stiffened as suddenly realized what she was doing. She was lusting after her friend's brother who wasn't even eighteen. Sick, that's what she was. A cougar looking for some young thing to warm her bed. Sick, sick, sick.

Turning back to Leah, she continued her inquisition. "So are there anymore secrets that you're keeping from me? Either the sex was so horrible that you didn't want to embarrass yourself? Or was it so great that you didn't want to embarrass me? So which one is it?"

Leah sputtered. What is Rachel's problem? She thought. Did she really want Leah to discuss her brother's and her sex life? Her conscience once again reared its ugly head, what sex life? it mocked. It was one incredible day over three years ago. I'm surprised you even remember it, it's been so long.

"Rachel, how am I supposed to answer that? You really want to discuss this," she asked irritably.

"Sorry, Leah, I'm just curious. She's what two, three years old? You've never said a word, nor has Jake. My dad has to be over the moon about having an heir to the Black name."

"It's a long story and I don't feel like getting into it," she replied as she watched Jake motion Collin and Brady over. As the walked away she continued, "It was after my dad died, okay. I was still getting over that shit with Emily and Sam and then that happened. I came home and it just happened. Three days later I went back to school. I only recently came home and no one knew, so that's probably why they haven't said anything."

"How could they not know? Your mom or brother had to know that you had a baby."

Leah blushed, "No one knew she was Jake's. I had a…" she struggled with the right words to describe the situation. "Boyfriend," she settled with, "and I didn't find out that I was pregnant until that summer and the dates were close, alright. Can we please drop this?"

Rachel stared at Leah in shock. She didn't know what to say. A part of her was glad that her brother and Leah were together. They complimented each other. After that shit that happened with Sam, Leah deserved some happiness and she knew her brother was like her father; he would always put his family first. Even though, she had hated that year after her mom died, she couldn't imagine what it felt like to lose your partner, lover, and mother to your children. How her father had dealt with the loss was probably not the best way, but what else could he have done?

"So, when's the wedding?" Rachel asked.

Leah glanced over at Jake and glared, then turned back to Rachel. "Never," she growled and walked away. Rachel stared at Leah's retreating form and wondered what she had done to upset her. So far she was two for two. She ordered a couple of drinks and slammed them down. Maybe if she got drunk, she'd have better people skills.


Leah wasn't sure why she was so upset with Rachel, it wasn't Rachel's fault that things were the way they were. You know why you're upset her conscience told her. You'd love to be able to answer that question but with the way you're handling things it probably won't happen. We can't even get him into our bed, much less marry us.

As she stalked outside, she caught sight of her brother, he looked miserable. His face and eyes were a mixture of emotions and she got the feeling that he would rather be tore apart by a vampire instead of dealing with how he felt. Poor kid, Rachel had practically stripped him naked and asked for his services.

"So…Rachel really knows how to run the Clearwaters off, doesn't she?" Leah joked.

Seth stared at her blankly for a moment before answering, "Yeah, she does. I don't remember her being like that."

"Oh, you're probably thinking of Rebecca. Rachel was always a trouble-maker. She's the one who instigated nearly everything that I got in trouble for growing up. Rebecca and I were her pawns."

"When people grow-up don't they usually settle down or something?"

Leah laughed, "Probably normal people but Rachel's like a sixteen-year boy. Always starting fights, rebelling…you get the idea."

Seth inwardly groaned. Of course, just his luck, he was stuck with an imprint who'd be the death of him. He barely remembered what it was like to be sixteen. His sister had left, he turned into a giant wolf at the same time his father died, and then there had been the newborn war. He went from being an innocent fifteen-year old to what felt like thirty in the course of months.

He had already been outside fighting what he was feeling, fighting the pull, and trying to get his wayward emotions in check. He wanted nothing more than to love her and care for her but at the same time he was afraid of the power she could hold over him. He had never expected the feelings to be so intense. It was nearly as bad as the first phase, his insides churned, his skin burned, and his thoughts were a jumbled mess. He couldn't figure out what was up or down, right or wrong.

They were already tied together, he could feel her sadness and the sense of loss when he walked away. He felt the confusion that she experienced and her anger. He knew without a doubt that she would not be submissive to him in any way. His wolf was excited at this thought. She'd be someone who would challenge him, argue with him, complete him, and most likely love him with an intensity that he had never known.

Fuck he thought. He didn't know how to deal with this. And he didn't think that there was anyone he could talk to either. Sam, Jared, and Paul wouldn't understand. Rachel and his sister were of a similar temperament and he knew from years of experience with Leah, that he'd end up getting his ass kicked before getting it kissed.

"I think I need another drink," he told his sister and walked back inside.


Returning to the party, he didn't need to scan the crowd to find her. His internal sensor pulled him into her direction. He found her standing with Collin and Brady near the dance floor. He watched as she talked and laughed with his friends and felt his wolf grumble at her actions. He tried to remind the wolf that they had walked away but his wolf was having none of that. You walked away his wolf reminded him. If I had my way, she would have been bent over a table screaming our name.

His irritation increased when he saw her reach over and touch Collin's arm. What the fuck he thought as Collin did nothing to push her away. He watched in horror as she stood on her tiptoes and whispered something near his ear all while holding onto his arm. He was going to kill the fucker, that's exactly what he was going to do. Then he was going to fuck her until she couldn't walk and didn't remember her own name.

He stalked over to the group and growled under his breath. Both Collin and Brady had known he was advancing towards them and the look of fear in their eyes once he reached them would normally have made him laugh. But right now he was too pissed.

"Collin, Brady," he said menacingly with a small jerk of his head towards the door. They both jumped slightly at the tone in his voice and nearly tripped over each other in their haste to get out the door.

Once the three of them were outside, Seth phased and ran towards them. They had allowed his mate to touch them. They should have walked away but now he was going to have to kill them. Mate, protect, kill his wolf repeated over and over. He was growling and snaring at Collin and Brady.

Realizing that Seth was going to most likely tear them apart, they both phased. They attempted to talk to Seth through his mind link but it was like he wasn't even there. All they heard was the wolf. Mate, protect, kill. Mate, protect, kill. It was on an endless repeat. They were fucked.

Seth charged Collin first and rammed his head into him. He lifted one of his paws and swiped it across Collin's face, his claws tearing into his fur. Collin tried to move away or cower down to protect himself but he was motionless. He had no control over his body, it was as if there was an Alpha order that prevented him from moving. He tried to tell Brady to go get help but Brady had other ideas.

Collin watched in shock as Brady charged Seth and Seth turned towards Brady. As Brady neared Seth, Collin watched as Seth's massive jaws clamped down on Brady's foreleg. He heard the crunching sound of bones breaking and felt Brady's mind go blank to him. They were going to die was all he could think.


Rachel stood there confused, unsure of what had just happened. She could have sworn that Seth had growled and his eyes had looked so strange. It was like they were lit on fire, a yellow ring had surrounded the iris. She started walking towards the doorway where the three of them had disappeared only moments before.

She didn't notice Embry and Jared in her path until she nearly ran into them. "Get out of my way," she ordered.

"Rachel," Embry started. "I don't think that you should go out there. It's not safe."

"What the fuck Embry? What's going on here? Someone needs to tell me, now!" she demanded and tried to push past them.

"Rachel, I'm sorry but we can't let you go out there. Jake would kill us," Jared told her.

"Who died and made you the boss of me?" she snarled. "I'm going out there." She remembered some of the lessons she had learned in a self-defense class a few years ago. She rammed her elbow into Jared's gut and stepped on the delicate inner part of his foot. Jared winced and bent over in pain. She glared at Embry and roared, "Guess what you'll get if you don't get the fuck out of my way?" She watched in glee as Embry covered his crotch and moved out of her way.

Walking outside, she nearly fainted at the sight before her eyes. There were two giant wolves fighting, well one was standing there like an idiot while the other one was kicking its ass. There was a third wolf lying on the ground, she assumed it was knocked out. As she stood there in shock, she remembered her father telling her and her siblings the tribe's histories. The stories of men who turned into wolves.

She didn't know which one was Seth, she hoped it wasn't the one lying on the ground. Looking at the other two, one a sandy brown color and the other a reddish brown with darker color on his face, legs, and tail; she couldn't just walk into the fray. So she settled for the next best thing she could think of, "Seth," she called softly.

She watched as the sandy brown wolf transformed back into Seth, a very naked Seth. His body seemed out of focus and his irises remained ringed in yellow. He looked right at her and she felt him, like he was a part of her. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw as Embry and Jared walked forward as if to protect her.

Seth growled, and the two instantly froze. He walked over to her, growling "Mine," as he picked her up and walked away. She wasn't sure what was happening but she knew that she would be safe.