AN: Hello all. I recognize that this post is a few days later than normal. I expect that the weekly update idea is pretty much done. I've been dealing with too many personal issues and real life is picking up (which really just means work), so in the future, updates will happen as they happen. That being said, here's the next chapter. Hope you enjoy and as always, I'd like to thank those of you that choose to review, favorite, and alert the story. As a warning, this chapter has a bit of the "M" Rating applied, as well as a short POV change. Hope you enjoy!

Disclaimer: I own nothing

Jake's POV

The four of us pushed ourselves as fast as we could, stopping only on occasion to hunt. Edward – and especially Bella – needed to refuel regularly, and as much as we hated the idea, Brady & I dug into some of the same animals that they did. They weren't trying to eat the meat and we didn't need the blood, but sharing a meal like this seemed unnatural, even if we hadn't been really natural in a long time.

As I became frustrated with the progress, I began to wish that we had just flown. The problem was that with the new security measures in place, it would have been pretty difficult to get the vampires through security. The scanners apparently didn't work on their skin and a pat down wouldn't have gone well either. Since they were wanting to help and we needed to try and get as much information about Victoria's plans as possible, pushing ourselves through the woods was the quickest path.

By the second day we had come in contact with the pack who were irate that we hadn't told them before we left. We reasoned that if we showed up with the entire pack, there was no chance that Victoria would spare the two wolves she had. Edward had told us that she wanted us and only us, but that she expected Edward to be there as well. Her choice in location and insistence that she take Seth were major indicators that she wanted to torture me for some reason. I don't know what she had planned with Brady and Collin in the mix, but I knew that it couldn't be good. I had ordered the others to stay back and protect the reservation, but allowed for Sam and Leah to come after us. If nothing else, they'd be able to know what happened, one way or another.

It was also that afternoon that Brady and I were taking a rest while the vampires went for a quick hunt. The boy was exhausted and as he laid his head on his paws, I knew he was done for. Sure enough he was out cold within seconds and I decided to allow the pup to catch a few minutes of sleep. Suddenly my mind was full of images radiating out of him. This felt like a whole new level of connection, as his dream played out in front of me, uninhibited by the normal conscious barriers that we all put up in wolf form. Standing before us were the two leeches that had taken our pups, but my heart stopped as I saw Seth and Collin laying at their feet, a small trail of blood running down their necks. Both of us fell to our knees as we took in the sight of our mates, not even acknowledging their killers as they stalked towards us. Suddenly the world faded and I could see Edward shaking Brady awake, pulling us from the dream. I walked over and nuzzled the distressed pup, hoping to calm him down a little. "They're going to be fine Brady. We'll get them." I comforted. For all of our sakes, I just hope that I wasn't lying.

By the third day we had crossed over into Massachusetts. We hadn't spoken much to Edward or Bella, spending the time mulling over the possibilities instead. We knew she had the two wolves, but what if Brady's dream came true and she had already killed them before we got there? The lack of being able to feel them was really starting to get to us.

A few miles away from the cliff, Edward paused to talk to us. We were anxious, but knew that we needed some kind of idea of what we were walking into.

"All right guys, here's what I know. The two of them are still there. I can't sense much, but I do know that they still have your wolves alive. There aren't any other of our kind in the area from what I can tell, but it could be a trick. I also keep seeing glimpses of the male's powers. They're strong, but I can tell that he's worried about pushing it further. He's a young vampire so he may not have full control of it yet. Even if he tries to use them on us, there's a chance they may weaken. Still, I can't say exactly what he can do or what they have planned. It's…frustrating to be in the dark about something as big as this." He finished with a sigh. We nodded in understanding before taking off for the final few moments of the trip.

As soon as we came out of the woods we could see our wolves standing there with Victoria and her mate beside them. As we approached, the leeches wrapped a hand around both Seth and Collin's necks, showing us that we were at a disadvantage.

"Why don't you two mutts phase back?" she sneered. "Oh Edward, Bella! Nice to see you two. Welcome to the world of being immortal. Don't worry, I'll make sure your second life is a short one." She threw in as she watched the two exit with us. Her confidence was a little unnerving. You'd think that 4...or 6 on 2 would at least make her worried.

We phased back without question, knowing that we had to play along with her for now. "What did I ever do to you? You've done nothing but make my life hell for the past year. Why?" I demanded as I approached the leech. Seth was my priority, but I still wanted answers.

"Oh Jacob, you think this is all about you? Alright, alright. It is. Watching you suffer is a personal passion of mine. I guess we could have some story time. You see, once upon a time, I was a part of a coven, led by my sire. The three of us roamed the country, doing whatever we pleased. We could kill anyone we wanted and never had an issue finding blood. It was the perfect life. Then we happened across Ephraim Black and his pack of filthy mongrels. They caught my sire off guard, as he'd never seen any shapeshifters before, even in all of the years that he'd roamed the country. His mate tried to save him, but Black turned on her first before going back and killing my creator. He single handedly destroyed my family while his two dogs chased after me. Now it's my job to end his family line. With your parents gone, that pretty much leaves you and…what's his name…Collin over here. I'll probably go back and kill his mother too, just to be thorough. The key point is, the Black line will end." She snarled.

"You really are just a monster" I sighed. What more could be said? My great grandfather and his pack had ridded the world of murderers. They did what they had to, but this…creature was making us pay for it.

"Aww, now that's just mean. Don't you have the decency to avoid name calling? Tsk tsk. Oh well, I'm done with the talking. I'd rather see what you two wolves are capable of." She said with a smirk.

"What do you mean, what we're capable of? I'll be happy to take you on, one on one." I challenged.

"Oh, Edward wasn't able to figure it out? It won't be me that you are going to put yourself up against. You two dogs are going to fight. But this won't just be some sparring match. There's even a prize attached! Whichever one of you kills the other gets to have your imprint back. Isn't that something worth fighting for?" she said giddily.

"You can't honestly think I'll kill one of my wolves" I said, looking at Brady's quickly paling face. I loved Seth, a fact that I knew without a doubt, but I didn't think I could actually kill another one of my pack for a false guarantee. Victoria wasn't one to keep promises and she had already said that she wanted to kill our family line. She was contradicting herself, and I wasn't going to fall for it.

"Oh you will. You see, whether you like it or not, your wolves are extremely protective of your mates. They'll do whatever it takes to protect them. You see these two?" she asked, indicating Seth and Collin. They had an eerily dead look in their eyes. On top of that, I still couldn't feel their presence, even if I could see them clearly. "These two have been separated from their wolves. Riley here has the ability to section off peoples' minds. In this case, he created a barrier, locking the wolves in. With you two, however, I have the opposite in mind. If we get rid of your human minds, I think that your wolves will be all too willing to take the risk to fight for what's theirs."

Brady was shaking. He had been a wolf for a handful of months. I was an Alpha and much larger, stronger, and experienced. Even if he might have speed, I think he knew he didn't have a shot and while I'd like to think he trusted me not to kill him, the same could not be said for my wolf. Victoria was right. I had grown extremely protective of Seth, and while some of that might be me, a large portion of it was clearly my wolf.

Before I could respond, I felt my voice being locked away. It was as if my consciousness was being trapped and I could feel it drifting backwards into my mind. I wasn't in control and I could see my wolf rising to the surface. Sure enough, I combusted immediately, returning to the large russet form that I had become so accustomed to. Unfortunately, as I felt my head turning to look at the smaller spotted wolf, I realized that I had no say in what my body was doing. He had completely taken control of my body and I could feel his rage. Victoria was right: nothing came before his mate.

Brady charged at me, no hesitation in his form. There was no communication between us. He was doing whatever it took to protect his imprint, even if it was a long shot that he'd be able to take me down.

My wolf met the threat head on, rolling as soon as contact was made. We began to tussle back and forth, jaws and claws reaching for whatever they could get hold of. While I knew that Victoria wasn't going to let Seth free, my wolf couldn't take the risk.

I felt a large patch of fur ripped from my underside, forcing me to back away from the wolf. I cringed in pain and whimpered a bit at the throbbing that filled my senses. Even if I wasn't in control, I still felt everything that was happening. Brady was agile, but he was already feeling the effects of going up against a larger, more powerful beast. There was a sluggishness in his joints and as he launched again, my wolf latched onto the scruff of his neck and slung him through the trees and into the woods. Pouncing after him, I quickly pinned him below me, latching onto his neck. I could see the resolve weakening in his eyes as the recognition that he had lost settled in. His eyes glazed over with a degree of acceptance that his life was over. The despair at failing his imprint was emanating from him and I was attempting to find some way to pull away from the boy. My wolf was hesitating though. As much as it needed to protect its mate, the pack bond still existed as well. These wolves had trusted it as their leader. Failing his wolves wasn't something that he could do.

The Alpha released Brady's wolf and stepped away from him. Brady maintained his submissive stance, but I could feel both his pain and mine. We wanted our mates back, but this wasn't the answer. I didn't understand when I suddenly felt my control rising back to the surface. Stepping back to the cliff, I took in the sight in front of me. It was obvious that Victoria had intended to settle things with Edward, but I watched as Bella stood between the two. An odd force was rippling from her, primarily being directed towards Riley. As a bubble formed around him, I found myself completely in control again. I watched in amazement as Edward was able to get to Victoria and wrench her arm from around Seth while she had been distracted. They began a battle at breakneck speed, all while Riley began to freak out. Obviously something that Bella was doing was neutralizing his powers and he nervously backed away from Collin as the small wolf exploded to replace his human form. What he didn't taken into account is that Seth had been left unattended. Before he could even turn around, my pup had latched onto his arm, quickly removing it. As he writhed on the ground in pain, Collin tore off another limb before Seth finished the job, ripping Riley's throat out. The leech was gone and Bella had already thrown a match to burn the remains.

The two wolves collapsed in exhaustion, but remained phased. I still couldn't hear anything from them, but I could finally feel that Seth was there. His wolf was completely worn down, but now that it was free, it wasn't ready to recede yet.

Although I was desperate to go to Seth, I turned my attention to the battle between the leeches. Bella had quickly joined in, but Victoria was a smart one. Edward couldn't predict what she'd do and she continued to evade them. I signaled for Brady to go to the other two while thinking of what I could do to trap her. She was preoccupied and knowing that her attention was on the other two, I slunk around to flank her. They continued to back her up, but I think Edward had caught on to my plan. He changed their angle slightly, backing her closer to me. As soon as she was close enough, I launched myself at her, hitting the redhead with all of my weight and catching her completely off guard. The other two quickly tore her legs off, causing her to scream in pain, but I wasn't playing games. Even with all of the heartache and pain she had caused, I wasn't one to torture and I had grown up watching villains toying with the heroes for too long and ultimately letting them get free. Even though I wasn't the villain here, I applied the lesson. I drove my head down into her throat, removing her head quickly and cleanly. Standing up, I allowed Edward to light her up and as I watched her smoldering remains, I realized that it was finally over. The hatred that had been driving me to go after her had finally been appeased. I could move on.

And I knew exactly where I wanted to move on to. I ran back to the cliff, marveling as I watched Brady taking care of both of the wolves there. He had pretty much corralled them together and placed his small form defensively between them and anything that could have come. I nudged him as I neared, working my way in to wrap myself around Seth's sandy form. Brady turned his full attention to nuzzling Collin as I began to lick the top of my pup's head. He tried to burrow his head into my fur, causing me to chuckle at his failed attempt to escape. Suddenly both of the exhausted wolves phased back, collapsing onto the ground. It wasn't half a second before Brady and I had joined them, wrapping ourselves protectively around their exposed forms.

Seth was sobbing against me. I held him tightly, letting him get it out of his system. I let a few tears escape as I held him, realizing just how much he meant to me. He and the others on the reservation were truly all that I had left.

I don't know how long we just sat there, but I felt myself tense up as the sound of an engine crept up on us. I was surprised to see Edward pulling up in a Jeep, but as I noticed the clouds covering the area, I realized that they could actually be seen in public today. Well, Edward at least could, as Bella's control was probably not as strong around mobs of people yet.

Brady and I carried our wolves and got in the back seat, continuing to keep them embraced. I let the thought that "it'd be a strange sight if anyone happened to notice the four naked guys chilling in the back of an SUV" cross my mind and Edward's chuckle seemed to confirm that he agreed. Still, it's not like we could have walked into town like this, but the line "it's not what it looks like" never seemed so true.

Seth's POV

Jake carried me into a hotel room that Edward had directed us towards. Inside were a pair of double beds and a bathroom. Collin and Brady had curled up on one of the beds while Jake and I laid down on the other. Ed had gone into town to pick up some clothes and food for us while Bella went out to the woods, most likely to eat.

My imprint wrapped his arms tightly around me as I tried to press myself into him as much as possible. Being cut off from him was one of the worst feelings ever. When that leech had separated my wolf from my conscious brain, I lost everything that the wolf was to me. Namely, that meant I couldn't feel Jake anymore. After so long of being driven to be near him, the sudden absence left me feeling empty. It was like one of the most important pieces of my existence was gone. Coupling that with the fact that my wolf meant so much to me and I could barely force myself to stand at that point. If that's what it felt like to just be cut off from Jake, I couldn't imagine what would happen if he left me or...worse. There was no way that I'd be able to carry on.

After several minutes, Jake picked me up and carried me to the bathroom. He didn't ask if I wanted to clean up, but started running the shower while watching me. If the look in his eyes was anything, I probably still looked quite shaken. I definitely didn't feel calm yet.

The temperature set, Jake stood me up and helped me under the spray. The water was perfect and I felt the heat of it running over my muscles. Jake began to run his hands through my hair, apparently having lathered some shampoo while he stood behind me. It felt heavenly as he made sure that he didn't miss a spot. After massaging my scalp, he began to run a wash cloth along my body. The feeling of having him clean the dirt and grime off of me was euphoric, causing me to spring to life downstairs. I reddened as I felt his eyes lock onto it, but he didn't act as if he noticed what he was doing to me. I knew he thought I was too young, but dammit, I wanted my imprint to want me. I couldn't help but to feel extremely self-conscious that maybe I really wasn't attractive to him, despite the kiss he placed on my forehead as he let the water rinse off the suds.

I decided to take things into my own hands, pun intended. Returning the favor, I positioned him in front of me and filled my hands with shampoo. I was still able to run my hands through his hair, even though it was slightly awkward having to work above me. It was one of the many times I recognized just how much smaller my build was in comparison to the Alpha's.

Finished with the head, I picked up the small bar of hotel soap. Rather than using a cloth, I ran my hands along his back, working the lather into his tense muscles. I could feel him relax as I reached around him, massaging his broad chest. The groan that escaped his lips was enough to make me twitch, especially as I continued to feel my imprint in a more intimate way than ever before.

I continued to run my hand lower, ultimately finding that he was in the same state of arousal as I was as my hand bumped against his member. Wanting to show him that I wasn't some innocent kid, I wrapped my hand around him and began a slow stroking motion. My hand was still covered in soap and slid easily over him, running gently from base to tip. If the previous moan had been amazing to hear, I don't know how to describe the feeling of hearing my imprint stutter out my name.

Using my left hand to massage his chest, I picked up speed with my right. I pressed myself firmly against his broad back, connecting us as much as possible as I continued to provide as much pleasure to Jake as I could. I didn't have a great view of him, but I could tell by how I was holding him and how long it took to run along his entire length that he was huge. Sure we'd seen each other before when phasing, but not in any state of full arousal like this. It wasn't more than a minute or two before he was bucking against my hand. The feel of his pulsing in my hand as he released - combined with the throaty moan that escaped his lips - sent me over the edge without ever having touched myself. We both painted the shower floor before the water rinsed away the evidence. Jake sagged slightly in my arms as I held him under the spray.

Slowly, he turned around before brushing my bangs out of my eyes. Leaning down, he connected his lips with mine. This wasn't the passionate, loving kind of kiss that he normally led. This was hungry and lustful and I completely submitted as he thrust his tongue into my mouth. Although he hadn't done anything, he was showing me that he wanted me. My wolf purred at the thought.

We stepped out of the shower and dried off, each sporting a towel as we stepped out of the bathroom. Much to my horror, Brady was sitting on his bed, stifling his laughter as he looked over at us.

"You guys are jerks. Really? In the shower? I guess that eliminates that option for getting clean" he choked out before he continued laughing. My face reddened deeply, but Jake just wrapped his arms around me and guided me to under the covers of the other bed. I smirked as I heard Brady's exclamation of pain as Collin hit him repeatedly with a pillow. As embarrassing as that was, I knew that it was completely irrelevant as long as I had Jake. I curled up against his firm body and sighed deeply as I rested my head on his chest, listening to his heartbeat as it began to steady. There was nothing better in life than holding your imprint close.

AN: Well, it looks like they can finally move on. Jake has finally avenged his family, as well as his imprint's. Hope you enjoyed the small piece of smut at the end. I'm gonna go ahead and call myself on something though. This came out a bit closer to what I did in "FML" than I originally planned, but it's how the chapter flowed. Sorry (to those of you that have read the other) if the differences didn't prevent the chapter from seeming dull. As always, I look forward to hearing from those of you who choose to review. I'm not sure when the next update will be ready. My Friday posting routine is a thing of the past, so updates will be whenever the chapters are finished. Thanks for reading!