Rated M for Mature Content. 18 and older only please!

In no time at all, she phased back just beyond the treeline and dressed quickly. The pack knew she was there of course and gave her the privacy to put her clothes on which she appreciated. She hated having to share a mind with them let alone have them see her body.

Leah ran up to her first with the rest of the pack on her heels and slugged her in the arm roughly before pulling her in for a bone breaking hug. "I missed you, you asshole." She sniffed.

"Missed you too, Leah. Geez lay off." She joked.

"You fucking stink, Kris. Go take a dip in the ocean." Quil complained when he hugged her. She shoved him away with a scowl.

"Go drown in the ocean." She ribbed him.

As much as they pissed her off sometimes, she admitted that she had a good time with them. She would not be forced to stay though. She had thought about moving with the Cullens the entire run back to La Push and had decided to take them up on the offer. The pain of separating from her mate for only a night was already weighing on her chest and she knew she couldn't let him out of her sight for long.

Hell, the pack would be lucky to keep her until the end of the bonfire, let alone all night.

After the initial greetings were out of the way, everyone gathered around and had a few shots of Old Quil's moonshine to celebrate her return. She had a wonderful time and the wolves devoured every bit of food that the imprints had made for the bonfire. Paul steered clear of Kris but she was over feeling hurt by it. It was just how things were. If he didn't want anything to do with her through no fault of her own then so be it.

Jake approached her as the end of the evening fun dwindled down and using a head nod, invited her to walk with him down the pebbled beach. The waves were quiet this night as they lapped at the shore and they walked for over two miles before her alpha finally opened his mouth. She prayed the shield around her mind worked because she could see how tense he was.

"Look, Kris. I don't want to be the guy who demands things of you…" He started before she cut him off.

"Then don't. Jacob, please. He's my mate. Yes, I should have said something or picked up the phone when you called but my mind wasn't on my pack. It was on my imprint. It doesn't matter if you don't like him because of his genetics or whatever they are. What matters is that I got to spend some quality time with my mate." She plead with him.

They stopped and faced each other but while her face was sad and pleading, Jake's was hard and severe. "Kris Lahote. You will listen to me. What you did was disrespectful not only to your tribe but to your family." She wanted to cut him off and exclaim 'what family' but she kept her mouth shut as if she'd been ordered to like he tried when he used that alpha tone on her. She silently rejoiced that Bella's shield was perfectly in tact.

Not noticing her inner musings, Jacob continued lecturing her. "I hate having to use the alpha command on anyone but you left us. You had us all worried and wondering where you were." He started pacing in front of her, running his large hand through his short black hair. "How was I to know that your leech didn't kill you? All we knew was that you went off with him and were on the overlook last. Then you're just gone!" He rampaged angrily, though he did a good job of keeping his voice steady.

She stood there with a stoic mask on her face. She was getting angrier and angrier with every word he said. As if she needed to check in with him. She wasn't his or anyone else's. She was a part of the pack but she was her own person! No one gave a real damn about her. Paul and Sam were her only family left on this reservation and the Clearwaters were her only close friends. Everyone else only tolerated the 'gook'. Her arms trembled in her fury but she stifled it the best she could. She had to keep her head for a little longer. Let him dig his own hole.

"Paul was out of his mind with worry. Don't let him lie to you, Kris. He cares." Jake growled which told Kris the exact opposite. Paul didn't give a shit about her. Her alpha was deliberately manipulating her. She was beginning to understand what drove her mother away all those years ago. "You will not ever do that again. If you want to see your imprint, you will gain permission from me."

Kris' blood was boiling at this point. Who the fuck did he think he was? She felt her limbs shimmer but bit her tongue to calm the phase down, knowing she had to keep her cool. She was still under the 'order' to listen to him. So listen she did.

"We are all disappointed in you, Kristen. As your punishment, you will go without Emmett Cullen for seven days. Do you know what that will do to your body?" He asked as he shook his finger in her face like she was two years old.

Of course she knew what it would do. She would be practically dead and there was no way for Emmett to get close enough to keep that from happening because he wasn't allowed on the reservation! Leah and Seth came running down the beach, apparently having heard Jacob's tirade as he'd raised his voice quite loudly and the waves were too calm to stifle his words.

"Jake, what are you doing? Seven days? It'll kill her!" Seth cried as he wrapped his arms around his packmate's trembling form.

Shaking his head in denial, the alpha growled. "She'll be fine. She needs to learn this lesson. She cannot abandon her pack."

Leah had tears in her eyes as she watched Kris. She just knew what was about to happen. She'd heard of Bella's shield through Jake months ago. She'd boasted about being the best there ever was and right now, Leah could see that Kris was breaking her ties. Jake wasn't helping...he was severing the bond with rusty scissors. Watching as her brother held the trembling wolf, she nodded infinitesimally, letting Kris know that she had her back. The she-wolves had to stick together.

Besides, they had forever and four legs. They could meet up sometime. Maybe Leah could get Bella to shield her and Seth and they could break off, becoming their own pack. Something for the gray wolf to ponder.

Jake kept on his tyrant and drove his point home with a firm finger poking Kris in her breastbone where her heart lay. The shock of the touch jerked her back to reality, out of her head where she silently cursed Jacob Black. Her muscles tensed as she stared him down and Seth let her go, looking between Leah and Kris confused. Kris saw Paul walking down the beach, his brows furrowed and his hair in his eyes. She wished she could've had a good relationship with him but it just wasn't in the cards. He wanted to be a hothead and throw away his only real family left, let him.

She didn't plan on shit going this awry but Jacob was forcing her hand. To demand that she practically die before she could see her imprint again? Absolutely unforgivable.

Fuck em all, like Emmett says.

Nodding to Leah and Seth, Kris straightened her spine. Jake looked at her carefully, easily seeing the resentment and fury in her eyes but not flinching, completely assured that his command held strong.

Seeing that she had the perfect opportunity to slip through, she slowly walked toward the water, acting as if she intended to dip her feet in. Her back to the few pack members that were gathered behind her, she spoke to the waves with a flat tone. "Jacob Black, you will not command me." As she spoke, she felt waves of power enter her blood and wondered at it, but she didn't stop speaking. "You've become a tyrant with me and I will not tolerate it. Trying to keep a packmate away from his or her imprint is the lowest of the lows and against our most sacred law." The longer she spoke, the stronger the power flowed into her and the deeper her voice became.

She knew what was happening and she spread her arms toward the Pacific in invitation. Jake walked around to her left to look at her closely. The wind had picked up and was blowing her dark strands around her shoulders. Paul stood on her right, also looking at her though his eyes were narrowed. Kris could feel Leah and Seth behind her and she just knew they were going to join her.

"Jacob Black, I break from your pack. I am no longer under your control. Be ashamed of yourself." She growled as she whipped around to face him, normally hazel eyes glowed a feral yellow. Her newly alpha senses enveloped her and she breathed deeply, making eye contact with her new pack. "Will you be coming now or later?" She asked them, always willing to give her pack a choice.

Jake's head ping ponged back and forth as he looked at Leah and Seth back to Kris again. "What? No!" He cried, his deep voice raised a couple of octaves. Kris pinned him with her angry glowing gaze.

"Do not presume to tell me what to do any more!" She raised her voice loudly. Paul growled, bringing her attention to him. "And you, little brother. You think to alienate the only family you have left? Good job." She congratulated. She was done mourning the loss of a man who wanted nothing to do with her.

Leah met her gaze evenly. "Soon, sister. I'll be in touch." Seth nodded his agreement.

"They will not be going anywhere with you!" Jake cried indignantly. "They are my pack!"

Chuckling darkly, Kris stepped up to Jacob so they were almost nose to nose. "They're not yours anymore. They are mine now and I give them a choice. They have family on this rez. I do not." She said as her eyes landed on Paul.

Kris stalked down the beach, the wind now creating whitecaps and blowing her hair all around her face. She let her eyes linger on each pack member as the bonfire came into view. Everyone looked up as if drawn by the power that radiated from her and a few lowered their eyes. She stood in front of the fire and addressed her former pack. "I will not be an omega in a pack with a tyrannical alpha. My name is Kristen Lahote and I am alpha of my own pack. Any of you are free to join me but if not, please know that there are no hard feelings. I'm sorry I disappeared on you and I'm sorry that I am leaving you. I'll miss you all very much. Please take care of yourselves."

Wide eyes followed her lithe movements as she walked straight into the treeline, stripped and phased, running off into the La Push wilderness and back toward her mate. She would never be kept from him. Not from anyone.