All characters except for Annabelle Causley, Frederick Randal Laskaris and Rosa Maria de la Luna and a few others belong to Stephenie Meyer…and, of course, the writer is not receiving any profit for this story whatsoever.

This story follows right after Already Gone. The timeline of the story backtracks to two months after Rick and Leah return from their honeymoon in Greece after the prologue, which will reappear later in the story.

AN: It's taken so long, I know! But here's the next chapter and even better news...I've already started the next one! I should update soon! Enjoy and review!

Chapter Three

The beat of the music permeated the atmosphere, swelling and pulsing as bodies moved to its rhythm. The energy pulsating from wall to wall, ceiling to floor infused the club's inhabitants from the moment they walked through the door.

"Wow," Collin looked around wide-eyed, quickly taking stock of the short skirts and tight jeans showing off great legs, "This place is dope."

Seth and Embry turned to look at their younger friend, raising an eyebrow at his slack jawed expression.

"Close your mouth, Collin," Seth nudged the underage boy, looking around to make sure no one else had noticed…not that they would believe Collin was still several months away from turning eighteen, "Try to pretend like this isn't new to you."

"Sorry," Collin ran his hand over his short hair, a gesture he'd been trying hard, without success, to break as he scanned the crowded room again, "Whoa."

"What," Embry smiled at a blond that was dancing a couple of feet away.

"Cold stone babe, four o'clock," Collin rubbed his hand over his wide chest, fighting the tingling that ran down his spine.

Both Embry and Seth turned to look where Collin had indicated, sucking in a collective breath at the long-legged pale red-headed beauty sitting alone at a table on the second level, nursing what looked to be a full glass of electric blue lemonade.

"I call dibs," Seth laughed at the scowl Collin sent his way.

"I saw her first."

"Tell you what," Seth slapped Collin on the shoulder, "You go up to her and look her right in the eyes without being afraid you might imprint on her…"

"Which is known to happen," Embry cut in, grinning as a brunette sidled over to him, her body moving to the beat of the music.

"I'll let you have the first bite," Seth grinned as Collin's face paled at the thought.

Glaring at Seth, Collin stuffed his fists into the pockets of his washed out jeans, "Fine, take her. I'd rather give the finishing blow, anyway."

Embry and Seth laughed as they ushered the younger boy towards the bar situated at the back of the club.

"Hey," Seth lifted a hand over his head, which was unnecessary due to all three being much taller than anyone else at the club, "There's my girl!"

"Seth!" A long-legged brunette moved around from behind the bar, pushing through the crowd to get to Seth, laughing as he picked her up in a tight hug, "You made it!"

"Of course," Seth smiled at her, kissing her nose before placing her back on her feet, "I would never miss the chance to spend time with my girl."

"Oh please," she grinned up at him, stepping several feet back to avoid straining her neck, "Whatever. You came because you know I'll give you and your friends' unlimited drinks for free."

"That too," Seth grinned down at her before reaching out and snagging her around the waist, "Let me introduce you to my friends here. Embry and Collin, this is Mattie. We met last semester at Port Angeles Community…what was the class?"

"Of course you wouldn't remember," Mattie kept her hand pressed against his wide chest, "You were too busy tutoring the girls in the class….apparently you didn't tutor them in economics."

"Yes I did," Seth ran his fingers through her long dark hair, laughing as she playfully slapped his hand away, "I taught them demand and supply."

"Demand and supply?"

"Yep," Seth gave her a wicked grin, "They demanded, I supplied."

Embry and Collin laughed as Mattie pushed him away, "You are incorrigible, Seth Clearwater!"

"Never lied to you about that," Seth and his friends followed behind Mattie as she moved back towards the bar, "When are you going to go out with me?"

"Never," Mattie moved around to stand behind the bar, grabbing three beers and popping them open before handing them to the Quilette boys, "I've told you time and again, I don't want my heart broken and you, my friend, are nothing but an admitted, not to mention practicing, heart breaker."

"True, true," Seth took a swig from his beer, leaning against the bar as Embry and Collin positioned themselves at either side of him, "But baby, I promise you, you will have so much fun before I break your heart."

"Yeah," Mattie leaned in close to him, their faces inches away from each other before she smiled, "No."

"Oh well," Seth flicked his finger over the tip of her turned up nose, "Your loss."

"No, Seth," Mattie pushed away from the bar, pouring a couple shots of whiskey and placing them on the tray of a waiting waitress, "Your loss."

"You've never dated Seth," Embry asked, leaning over the bar to make sure Mattie heard him.

"Nope," Mattie laughed as she quickly mixed a couple of Cherry Vodka Sours for another waiting waitress, "I might be the only one."

"Will you go out with me," Embry grinned as she almost dropped the bottle of vodka, "I don't like dating Seth's leftovers and as I'm sure you know it's hard to find a girl that hasn't succumbed to his good old boy charms."

"What kills me is that he's honest about being a heart breaker and they still date him," Mattie shook her head, recalling a friend of hers that had dated Seth for two weeks before he dumped her and moved on to the next one.

"They think they can change me," Seth wagged his eyebrows at her, making her laugh as he pushed his empty beer bottle across the bar, taking the fresh one she handed him, "That's part of my charm…and not my fault. So technically, they break their own hearts."

"You're just along for the ride, right," Mattie handed Collin a fresh beer, taking his empty one and tossing it into one of the buckets under the bar.

"Right," Seth took a healthy pull from his beer, looking over his shoulder to make sure the long-legged redhead was still at her table, her full drink still in front of her, "Embry's still waiting for your answer."

"I don't need you to run interference for me, Clearwater," Embry looked over his shoulder at the same redhead before looking back at Mattie, "But I am still waiting for your answer."

"How does next Friday sound," Mattie smiled at Embry, liking his honest looking smile and soft brown eyes.

"Sounds perfect, I'll give him your phone number, he'll call you, now tell me, do you know the redhead over at that table on the second level," Seth tipped back his beer, draining it in a couple of swallows, shaking his head when she offered him a third one.

Mattie looked between Seth and Embry's wide shoulders, catching a glimpse of the redhead Seth was referring to, noticing as she turned to look their way, the strobe lights looking strange against her pale skin.

"Don't know her name, but she's been here a couple of times the past week," Mattie wiped down the bar, taking the empty beer bottles and dumping them under the bar, "She's trouble, Seth. Even for you. Stay away from her."

"Trouble how," Collin spoke up for the first time, not bothering to look over his shoulder at the subject of their conversation.

"Hey, you can talk," Mattie teased before answering his question, "Rumor around campus has it she's a man-eating bitch."

"You mean to say that's the Clarissa I've heard so much about," Seth rocked slightly against the bar, pointing at a whiskey bottle then tossing back the shot as soon as Mattie served it.

"That's her…apparently any guy she dates doesn't return to campus…you've never ran into her 'cause she takes night courses….but I knew this one guy who dated her for a while…haven't seen him in months."

"Was he reported missing," Embry pulled out his wallet, taking out a few bills and stuffing them into the tip jar, returning Mattie's smile with one of his own.

"No," Mattie poured a third shot of whiskey for Seth, "Everyone around campus said he dropped out and headed back to Maine after she broke up with him…apparently she gets so deep into their hearts they can't be anywhere near her after she breaks it off with them. Seth, stay away from her."

"Mattie, baby, it's the challenge I enjoy," Seth tossed back his third shot, placing the glass on the bar, "Watch me walk out of here with her…this time around, she'll be the one going home with a broken heart."

Mattie laughed at his cockiness, shaking her head as he pushed away from the bar, walking through the crowd as if they weren't there, "He just might be able to do it."

"Never doubt Seth," Embry took the fresh beer Mattie handed him, "Anyway, Collin wants to dance and he's a little shy, so I'm going to have to hold his hand, figuratively speaking. I'll give you a call tomorrow afternoon, how about that?"

"Aren't you afraid Seth might give you the wrong number," Mattie laughed at the scowl Collin gave Embry as he too pushed away from the bar. Quickly glancing towards the second level, she saw the empty table, neither Seth nor the redhead anywhere in the club that she could see…and Seth was a hard one to miss.

"If he does, I'll beat the right one out of him," Embry emptied his beer, leaned over the counter to toss it into the half-empty bucket before snagging Mattie by the neck and dropping a quick kiss onto her surprised mouth, "Don't worry about Seth. He can take care of himself."

Mattie stood motionless for a few seconds as Embry and Collin moved through the crowd, their bodies moving to the rhythm of the music. A customer called her attention and in the time that it took her to fill his order of ten tequila shots, three rum and cokes and two Amaretto Sours, they were gone.

Shaking her head, she pushed them out of her mind. She still had five hours to go on her shift and had to get home, sleep then study for an exam on Monday…she was not going to worry about three grown boys that knew how to take care of themselves.

"Sorry about not getting drunk on your birthday," Embry pulled on his shirt, his eyes never leaving the purple column of smoke that rose from a rusted metal can they had found in the alley behind the club…it was the good part of being in the warehouse district…no one came to investigate the smoke.

"That's alright," Seth zipped up his pants, an extra pair that Embry kept in the Rabbit for situations such as this. While his friends had had time to strip before shifting, he didn't get the same luxury, "Getting drunk only comes second to killing bloodsuckers."

"Think she was alone," Collin asked shrugging on his jacket, unable to find his sneakers…he had kicked them off without paying attention to where they landed.

"I am going to say no," Embry stared at the open end of the dark alley, reaching to undo his jeans.

Seth and Collin looked to see what had caught Embry's attention, watching as a tall man walked towards them, the street light behind him throwing his entire face into shadow yet not able to completely mask the unnatural beauty or the sweet scent that burned their noses.

"I guess this means we're running home," Collin said before the man ran towards them, giving them barely enough time to shift.

Seth: Son of a bitch, he's a good one!

Embry: Watch your left Seth! Collin, go around behind him.

Collin: Sam is going to be pissed! Seth, grab him before he climbs the fucking wall!

Seth: Where the hell do you think you're going, you blood sucking ass?

The intense fight finally ending as Seth finally sank his teeth into his leg, dragging him down the wall, bringing along brick and concrete as the leech dug his fingers into the wall.

Moving quickly to the opposite side, Embry grabbed one of his arms in his jaws just as the leech pushed away from the wall to turn on Seth.

Holding him between them, Seth and Embry tightened their jaws as Collin lunged at the vampire's neck, the screeching sound of metal echoing down the narrow alley only to fade unnoticed as they tore him to pieces, tossing him into the metal can, Embry quickly phasing to find the fluid lighter he always kept with him even though he didn't smoke…none of them did, but carrying them was a necessity for their line of duty.

Flipping the lighter on, he tossed it into the can, stepping back as the cold stone pieces went up in flames, the thinning column of smoke from their previous kill thickening as the new one joined it, rising up into the dark sky.

Looking at his brothers as they sat back on their haunches to watch their handiwork, he grimaced as he realized that none of them had enough clothes intact to put together one decent outfit…Collin had been right. They were going to have to run home and come for the Rabbit tomorrow.

"What the hell is this?"

Seth, Embry and Collin looked up from their breakfast of bacon and eggs, which were piled high on their plates.

Grabbing a biscuit from the overflowing basket in the middle of the table, Seth gave Sam a squinty look, "If this is how you're planning on greeting us for breakfast, I'm going to start having breakfast at my sister's place."

"Yeah, like Rick's gonna let you," Collin sniggered, spreading butter onto his fourth biscuit. He along with his brothers, were big fans of Emily's homemade biscuits, "We all know what goes on in that house early in the morning when he gets back in from the woods."

"Shut up Collin," Sam and Seth growled at him, frowning as the rest of the boys laughed. They were all, with the exception of Dougie and Paul, having breakfast at the Uley's place, just the way they did every morning.

"What I'm wanting an explanation for is this," Sam waved a folded newspaper over the table before dropping it in front of Seth's plate setting.

"That, o mighty Alpha, is called a newspaper. I don't exactly know the origin of it or when it was first printed –"

"Stop being such a smartass," Sam growled, pulling out his chair and sitting, giving Emily a smile of thanks as she placed a heaping plate of scrambled eggs and bacon in front of him, "Read the front page article, then explain to me why the hell it happened. Were you all too drunk to drive so you decided to run here from Port Angeles?"

Collin leaned over to read the paper, thoughtfully munching on a fresh biscuit, "Well, what do you know. Someone saw us after all."

"On a weeknight," Embry raised an eyebrow in surprise, reading the article over Seth's shoulder, "Think anyone saw more than that?"

"What else was there to see," Sam asked darkly, trying not to bend the fork he held in his fist, "Will one of you explain how this all came about in the first place?"

"We went to this new club that opened up in the warehouse district of Port Angeles," Seth drained his tall glass of orange juice, smiling up at Emily as she refilled his glass, "A friend of mine from Community is a bartender there –"

"Speaking of Mattie, I'd like her phone number," Embry wiped his hands on his napkin, digging his cell phone out of his jeans' front pocket. Seth rolled his eyes before giving him the ten digit number from memory then continuing with his story.

"Anyway, we didn't get the chance to get drunk, at all, because there was a bloodsucking babe in the club…Collin here picked up her scent as soon as we walked in."

"Well," Collin's face looked sheepish, "I didn't so much as smell her as…she was sitting at an angle of a strobe light…looked unnatural aside from the fact that she was the hottest chick in the place…look wise, that is."

"The point is, for some strange reason, she didn't recognize our scent…until it was too late."

"We were gonna let him take her on by himself," Embry scraped the last of his eggs from his plate, holding it out with a smile for Emily to spoon more onto it, "But when we went outside to watch the show, she was putting up quite a fight."

"I could have finished her on my own," Seth grumbled, biting into a strip of crispy bacon.

"Yes, you could have but why should you," Collin finally pushed his plate away after finishing his fourth helping, "We work so much better as a team."

"True, true," Seth wiped his mouth with his napkin, giving a sigh of satisfaction, "Anyway, we would have been able to drive back but then the other one showed up –"

"There were two," Sam interrupted, his fork frozen midway to his mouth.

"The other one's partner," Seth shrugged off any importance to his statement, "He didn't give us a chance to strip so we had to run back. We kept to the shadows as best as we could."

"You destroyed both of them," Brady finally spoke up, trying not to laugh at the look of awe on the faces of the two newest pack members.

"Of course," Seth stated matter of factly.

"He almost got away," Collin felt no qualm in supplying details, "He was scaling the wall but Seth clamped on to a leg, Embry grabbed an arm and I went in for the kill."

"How," Dylan asked, his still baby smooth face rapt with attention.

"Just call me the guillotine," Collin shrugged nonchalantly, secretly loving the look of awe directed his way.

"Okay, shop talk is over," Emily walked into the kitchen, carrying a sleep tousled Bailey, Bradley tottering behind, rubbing his bleary eyes. Unlike his cousin Gabriel, Bradley was not a morning kid.

"Brady!" Bailey threw herself at Brady, laughing as he caught her and buzzed her cheek the way he did every morning.

"What about Daddy, uh," Sam growled in mock anger, giving Brady a narrow eyed look that smacked of jealousy.

Bailey giggled, climbing over Brady's arm into her fathers', "I love you Daddy."

"Sure, just not as much as Brady," Sam gave his daughter a look of mock seriousness, "Now listen here young lady. On your list of important people is me, your mama, your brother, Grandma and Grandpa Young, Grandma Uley, a whole lot of other people and then, at the end is Brady. Bottom of the list. Got it?"

"But Brady mine," Bailey poked out her bottom lip, giving her father the pleading puppy eyed look he could never say no to as the others in the kitchen laughed over the simple truth of her words.

"I'm yours," Sam objected, knowing he was going to lose the fight.

"No, you mama's," Bailey shook her head, her soft black hair swinging with the motion.

Everyone laughed at Sam's obvious defeat. Having won the fight, as usual, Bailey graciously gave her father's cheek a kiss before climbing back into Brady's arms.

"Well, gotta jet," Seth pushed away from the table, Bradley in one arm. The little boy tended to gravitate towards him. Handing him to his father, he tousled the fine dark hair before turning towards the front door, "Gotta pick up the tornado and take him to the beach. See you at Leah's this afternoon."

"At least pretend you have no idea," Emily gave him a pleading look, "He's so excited about today."

"Of course I will," Seth turned to them, the door opened behind him, "I've been working on my surprise look. Check this out. Ahh!"

They all laughed at Seth's open-mouthed, wide-eyed look. Seth gave them a quick bow before walking out of the Uley house.

He just hoped he wouldn't be disturbing a moment between Rick and Leah.

That would be an awkward, not to mention disgustingly traumatic, start to his twenty-first birthday.

Rick collapsed with a deep groan, burying his face into Leah's neck.

Sliding her hands down his sweat-slicked back, she struggled to catch her breath, slowly descending from the high Rick had taken them to.

Smiling into her brown-green eyes, he kissed her swollen mouth before rolling onto his back, pulling her into his arms.

Snuggling into him, she pulled the bedsheet up to cover their nakedness, glancing at the clock on Rick's bedside table, "Gabe's going to be waking up in half an hour."

Rick groaned, his arm around her shoulders tightening as he turned to kiss the top of her head, "Sometimes I wish our kid didn't have an internal alarm clock."

"You and me both," Leah whispered into his ear, slowly sliding her leg over his, "Thirty minutes isn't enough time to cuddle."

Rick smiled at her, sliding his hand up Leah's thigh as he began to nibble on her neck, whispering into her ear between tiny bites, "We can do a whole lot more than just cuddle in thirty minutes."

"Mmm, really?" Leah arched her back as Rick slid his hands over her bottom, his mouth making its torturous way down to her breasts, "Like what?"

Rick chuckled, using his knee to spread Leah's thighs, settling himself between them, sliding his hand down to touch her, making her gasp before a low moan escaped her.

Kissing one breast then the other, he framed her face with his hands, licking her bottom lip before angling for a deeper kiss.

Leah slid her legs over his hips, locking her ankles against the small of his back, wanting him inside her with an intensity stronger than the first time.

Rick sucked his breath in, feeling the fire of desire running in her veins, heightening his own.

Positioning himself, he knew with an aching certainty that he would die if he didn't get inside her now.

"Daddy, what are you doing to mama?"

Rick groaned, resting his forehead against Leah's, narrowing his eyes at her as she giggled at the look of pain and disappointment that had briefly flashed across his face.

"Why is he up early," he whispered hoarsely, rolling off his wife, keeping his knees drawn up.

"He's excited about the party," Leah smiled at her little boy as he approached their bed.

"Daddy," Gabriel stared at his father, his guileless blue eyes wide as he waited for an answer.

Rick chuckled as he reached out to tousle his son's dark hair, "I was showing your mama how much I love her."

"You love her a lot," Gabriel exclaimed before his little face scrunched up, a tinge of jealousy coloring his next words, "I love mama too."

"Then get up here and give your mama a hug and kiss to show her how much," Rick lifted the little boy, letting out a groan when Gabriel's foot connected with his stomach, "I think he did that on purpose."

"No he didn't," Leah sat up, keeping the dark blue bedsheet tucked under her armpits as Gabriel threw himself into her arms, wrapping his little arms around her neck, giving her a smacking kiss right on the mouth.

"I love you mama," he declared, laughing when Leah buzzed his cheek.

"I love you too baby."

"I'm not a baby," Gabriel frowned at his mother, his little fingers playing with her mussed hair, "I'm going to be three."

"Yes you are," Leah rubbed her nose against his, "But until then, you're still my baby."

"Mama," Gabriel whined as he pulled away from Leah, "I'm a big boy now."

"Tell you what," Rick pulled his son towards himself, "When mama and I make you a brother or sister, you won't have to be a baby anymore."

"Then make one now," Gabriel demanded, bouncing impatiently on his father's stomach.

Leah laughed as Rick moved Gabriel to sit between them, rubbing his stomach, "I was trying to before you came in."

"Rick," Leah tried to glare at Rick but couldn't hold back her amusement, not seeing how her carefree laughter made the two men in her life, the little one as well as the big one, smile with pleasure.

"Go to the kitchen kyrio," Rick swung Gabriel off the bed and onto the floor, "I'll be there as soon as I get some pants on."

Gabriel stopped midway to the bedroom door, turning to give his father a strange look, "Why aren't you wearing pajamas?"

"Because your mama doesn't like them. Do you want pancakes?"

"Yeah!" Gabriel gave a leap before running out of the room, yelling out instructions, "With chocolate chips and in shape of bears!"

Rick and Leah laughed as Gabriel's excited yells filled their small house.

Leaning over, Rick gave Leah a quick kiss before rolling out of bed and grabbing his jeans, pulling them up. He had just zipped them when Gabriel ran back into the room.

"Is mama eating with us?"

"No," Rick gave Leah a slow smile, unfulfilled desire turning his eyes a hot blue, "Mama has to sleep so she can show Daddy how much she loves him after Uncle Seth picks you up."

"If she buzzes you, that means she loves you as much as me," Gabriel informed his father in a serious voice before running back to the kitchen, "I want orange juice! And scrambled eggs! And sausage links!"

"Can he eat all that," Rick gave Leah a questioning look.

Leah laughed, snuggling down on her pillows, "Give him a few years. For now, Seth will help him finish his big breakfast."

Rick nodded, walking to the door, tossing an order over his shoulder, "Stay in bed glikia mou. I'm not done with you and if I have to put you back in bed, we'll be wasting time needed to get things ready for today."

Rick smiled as Leah's laughter followed him down the hall and into the kitchen.

He knew she was going to stay right where he left her. He also knew his rich and full life was soon going to become richer –fuller –so much more than one guy could handle.

But he sure as hell was going to give it his all.