Run fast for your mother and fast for your father

Run for your children for your sisters and brothers

Leave all your love and your loving behind you

Can't carry it with you if you want to survive

The dog days are over.

Dog Days are Over, Florence and the Machine


"Andy!"

I squeeze my eyes shut tighter, shutting out the world as I cling on to a few more precious moments of sleep.

"Andrew Black!" I roll over and shove a pillow over my ears, but her muffled voice sounds out anyway. "I know you can hear me! Get out of bed already! It's nearly six o'clock!"

What? There's no way I slept the entire day! Springing out of bed, I almost knock my head against the low-hanging beam that supports the ceiling of my room. The moment I try to move, the sheets tangle around my feet and I unceremoniously crash to the floor. Wrestling with the bed sheets, I eventually win out and shove them away with my feet, picking myself up and racing down the hall and into the kitchen.

My socks slide along the wood flooring and I grab hold of the side of a door opening to add sliding friction. I glide to a stop in the kitchen and meet the glare of disapproval from my mother.

"Andrew Louis Black, why on earth were you out so late after the bonfire?"

"I can explain!" I rush to say, but am immediately taken aback. "Wait, my middle name isn't Louis…?"

My mother sighs in defeat and her shoulders droop the tiniest bit. Pouting her lips, she says, "I wanted it to be, but your father insisted on naming you James Tiberius because of his obsession with Star Trek." Her eyes widen and her pout grows into a sly grin as she temporarily spaces out, looking back at memories of the past. "I fought tooth and nail to name you Andy."

I smile along with her, happy for the distraction. "I like my middle name. And the Trek originals are classic." Reaching into the cupboard, I pull out a random cereal box and a bowl with one hand and grab a spoon from the underneath drawer with the other hand. Sticking the spoon in my mouth, I spin around to open the fridge with my free hand and snatch the gallon of milk. All in a matter of seconds, I have made myself a bowl of cereal. Meanwhile, my mother is still pondering the subjects of names.

When she sees me happily munching on my meal, her thoughtful expression morphs into another disapproving one. With her hands on her hips, my mother defiantly exclaims, "Don't distract me! Why were you out so late?!"

I shrug nonchalantly, sidling past her to sit at the table. I pull up a chair and set my bowl down. Digging in again, I try to avoid my mother's pesky questions.

"Do you even know what time it is, Andy?" She persists, not turning the glare off as it pierces my uncaring gaze.

"You said it was six."

"Six," she nods, "in the morning."

My brow furrows. "What day is it?"

"Monday, son."

Immediately, my head snaps to the side, to the wide-open kitchen window. Bright, new daylight pours in unceasingly. If today is Monday and the bonfire was Friday…

"I slept through two whole days!?" I don't bother to wait for a patronizing response from my mother. Instead, I fly out the door, nearly unhinging the poor thing in the process. Leaping down the steps of the porch, my feet don't stop until the forest floor is all around me. The trees surround and trap me, the whispering of leaves and soft tread of paws upon hard-packed dirt beckoning me to turn.

Spinning on my heel in one fluid motion, I turn to face a giant, towering wolf of a reddish-brown shade, slightly slimmer than the Alpha and with glowing yellow eyes. In the bright morning light, the yellow eyes are alive and vivid. The fur lining the wolf's spine is lowered, not intimidated by my presence. In fact, this wolf is completely and utterly relaxed, but he doesn't plop down on his haunches beside me like the sandy-colored wolf and the sleek gray one that follow from behind him. The red wolf watches me, waiting expectantly for me to speak or phase.

"I'm sorry I slept for so long and missed patrol," I say to my father, sincerity in each syllable I utter. "I was irresponsible."

The red wolf bows his head in understanding, his yellow eyes watching me that whole time. He barks softly, signaling for me to phase. After I shape-shift and rejoin the three wolves, the voices flood my head for the first time in what seems like forever.

Don't sweat the small stuff, Andy, Seth encourages.

Yeah, Molly agrees wholeheartedly. You hadn't slept in a bed since Wednesday, at least. You've been picking up the slack for the rest of us for a long time now.

I turn to my father and his intimidating stature. He stands above me quite a few inches, his mind and thoughts guarded with the shielding ability he inherited from Nessie and Bella. I can shield my thoughts as well, but I am not as practiced as my father.

Finally, he lets his thoughts run through the minds of those around him. I have come to the decision that Seth and Molly are correct in that you have been running patrol more than anyone else for the past few weeks. Being rewarded those two days of sleep is the least we can do for you. You are free of punishment for disregarding patrols over this past weekend, given the circumstances.

Thanks, Pops. I grin a lop-sided, wolfy grin. What's on the schedule for today?

That's what we're here for. Jacob called an emergency pack meeting. Everyone is supposed to meet us out here with no exceptions.

They should be here by now, Molly speculates, more to herself than anyone else. She continues to ponder the fate of the rest of the pack members while I tune out of her head.

Do you know what's going on, Seth? I ask to the sandy-colored, all-knowing wolf. He usually knows what's up with pack situations.

He considers the possibilities in his mind, throwing a few ideas around in his head and discarding the impossibilities. The gears start turning as he narrows down the situational improbabilities. At last, he guesses, I have a few ideas. I think it's mostly about the return of the Volturi.

Will you tell us again about the last time the Volturi came? I ask.

Yeah, what are their weaknesses? Molly joins in.

He shrugs indifferently. Without Chelsea binding the others to Aro, they are a mess. They aren't bonded by love like the packs and the Cullens. If we can kill Chelsea quickly, the rest will be a piece of cake.

And our advantages?

Well, we have two big packs. That's a big one. Plus, a clan of nine able-bodied vampires and Nessie on our side. Then there's the "witnesses", or the people who stood on our side during the Nessie conflict. I'm guessing many of those vamps will return to aid us.

Wait, Molly thinks uncertainly, thoughts jumbled. I thought there were only eight vamps in the Cullen clan.

Remember they added the English girl, Hannah, a decade back?

No, not really.

It was when they lived in London. Carlisle found her thrown out in the streets to die after an orphanage burnt down. And Carlisle, being his compassionate and thoughtful self, pitied the girl and turned her. She's sort of like the daughter that Rosalie always wanted, I fill in, recalling the newest addition to the Cullen family. Initially, I was suspicious of the young vampire girl, but I grew to love her like a sister. She's just scraping sixteen years old, but that's apparently enough in the vampire world. As long as you're not under the age of about ten years, you are not considered an immortal child. I haven't seen Hannah in a while, though, because she's been visiting the site of the orphanage in London lately to come to terms with her death and find closure. She's supposed to come back this week.

That's a good point, Andy, my father says, listening in on my thoughts. I guess I forgot to shield them. I'll have to remember that for later.

What?

About Hannah being turned into a vampire so young. When the Volturi come, they will try to find as many excuses they can for destroying us. Hannah will probably be one of them, since she is only sixteen years old. She could pass for much younger, too.

But that was years ago that Carlisle turned her! Molly interrupts, bursting through. And the witch twins are forever twelve- or thirteen-years-old, right?

She's right, I can't help but point out. Although, the Volturi have been breaking their own rules for centuries on end now. This wouldn't surprise me.

Seth hesitates. I know. You're both right, in a way. The Volturi are tricky. But not too tricky for us to take 'em.

Another wolf joins the pack mind before anyone can respond to Seth's comment. Elliot prances into the inner circle, sitting on his haunches next to Molly. What's this I hear about the Volturi? Elliot asks innocently, but full of interest. He's like a teenager drafted for the Civil War. Full of zeal and seemingly invincibility, but not the wits to match.

Elliot, my father sighs in relief, good to hear from you, kid. It seems the rest of the pack is taking their sweet time getting to this "emergency meeting", including the Alpha.

Lucas is running late, Elliot explains, but doesn't go any further than that.

Because? My father persists.

The small Ateara wolf hesitates from lying to my father. Instead, he works around his question. Uh, I think he had prior arrangements.

Cut the bullshit, El, and tell us where my brother is. You can count on Molly to get right down to the point any day of the week.

Okay, okay. He succumbs under the pressure from the other wolves. Elliot is pretty much at the bottom of the ladder when it comes to pack leadership, so to have the rest of us demanding an answer from him must feel like hell. He lost a bet to me, so he had to jump off the tallest cliff in La Push into the ocean.

So? That's not really that bad of a consequence for losing a bet, Seth ponders aloud.

In his head, Elliot is cracking up with uncontrollable laughter. Through his thoughts, we can see the rest of the consequence. In our heads, we all see Lucas leaping off the cliff without any clothes on, diving straight into freezing cold, morning ocean water. I hold back from laughing, as does Seth and my father, but Molly can't help it.

She lets out a throaty cackle, throwing her head back in elation. Because Molly can be a little harpy most of the time, it's a nice change to see her happy once and a while. She must've seen Mickey lately and that's why she's in such a great mood.

Suddenly, two more voices join the pack mind and the pack is complete. Lucas is fuming about losing to Elliot, and Jacob is scolding him for gambling. And that goes for all of you, kids, he mumbles in his thoughts as an afterthought.

Sure, sure, my father grins, stealing Jacob's own little saying. My grandfather grins a little to himself before taking charge of the pack meeting.

Sitting at the head of the circle, our Alpha begins his speech. Alice supplied me with more information this morning. She had a clearer vision, this one of who would be there. And we were a bit surprised, to say in the least.

Well, tell us who was there! Seth says impatiently, hopping up and down. Sometimes, I swear, that guy is more of a kid at heart than we are.

Jacob continues. All of us, of course, and all of the Uley pack. In Molly's mind, her heart drops to the floor at the mention of Mickey being in the fight. What she isn't considering is he is probably feeling the exact same way that she'll be fighting, too. The Cullens, Jacob goes on. A smattering of the witnesses from our last encounter with the Volturi and also a few new creatures.

Let me guess, Seth starts. Denali, Irish, Romanian, and Amazon covens?

Yes. There is also the newly created Russian coven. They have three vampires, one of which is a "vegetarian". Alice foresees a handful of nomads on our side, too. Some that we haven't even met yet.

I couldn't help, my father begins, but notice that you said "creatures" instead of just "vampires". What are these new creatures?

We all turn our big heads back and forth during this back and forth conversation. None of the younger wolves speak; only the older, more experienced wolves take part in this pack meeting.

Alice has been having visions of us wolves and also hybrids, like Nessie. So, naturally, she saw a few hybrids by our side, including Nahuel and one of his half-sisters.

Sounds like our team is pretty stacked! Seth exclaims happily. Seems to me we won't even have to worry about this little spat with the bad vamps. Just go in there and get the job done.

Not so fast, Jacob says, shaking his head. There is more to consider.

Like what? I finally say. I can tell that the other young wolves are getting anxious by just sitting still and listening. I speak for them and their silence.

Jacob looks at me evenly, mind and thoughts even and organized. After all the years of phasing, my grandfather can control his thoughts quite well. Also, he's the Alpha, and that sure helps find some piece of mind. Better than the rest of us, at least.

Not all our allies will stand by our side when the time comes.


AN: Sorry about the late update. I will try to be better about updating quicker.