Gabriella's POV

"So, what do we do?" Sam asked with magnificent presence.

"The best course of action would be for me to leave." now that the topic was off my past I felt that I had some control back and was intent on exercising some of it.

"I don't think so." said the guy in the wheelchair.

"What would you know about it?" I snapped, knowing that it was inappropriate and rude but more concerned by the idea that this pack was sacrificing so much for someone they didn't know. And shouldn't trust.

"Gabriella, this is Billy Black and that's Quil Ateara Senior. They're the elders of our tribe." Jared hissed through his teeth.

I suddenly felt very disrespectful, "I am very sorry but the Stendahl you know is not the Stendahl that will be coming here. He is dangerous and you need to stop him before he gets to your borders."

"If he knows that you're here he will come regardless. And if he's willing to take a chunk out of his child then I'm sure he wouldn't think twice about killing us to prove a point." Quil Sr. smiled at me as if urging me to reconsider.

"That's just it, I can lead him away. He lives in wolf form unless he is with another pack so he'll come here through Canada, that's how I got here."

"What makes you think you can coax him away?" Paul spat and then grabbed at his face.

"Paul's right, if he's been having trouble tracking you then what makes you think he'll be able to just pick up your scent?" Sam argued.

"It's because he can't hold my track that I know I can lead him away." I looked to Jared, "You have the best eyesight, right?" he nodded, "You can see things at a distance and up close, right?"

Again he nodded, "But what's that got to do with anything?"

"I'm hard to follow, I always was. Even when someone has me in sight I can still get away, even though I'm not fast. Because I know how to travel without leaving a trail doesn't mean I can't leave one if I want. Stendahl is looking for me and he's a lazy coward, he'll choose the easiest option every time."

"So you lead him away and what? Fight him one on one?" Billy queried.

"Not necessarily. If I lead him far enough and for long enough then he won't be able to follow my scent back here. You'll be safe and I know I can keep out of his reach." I gulped. I didn't want to have to lead him away, running from him was a pain so the idea of purposefully catching his attention wasn't all that appealing.

"But we're not going anywhere." Quil Sr. started explaining, "Just because your scent doesn't lead back here doesn't mean that he won't come back to get information from us."

"Sam can use his Alpha Voice. Demand that no one talk about me, to anyone, ever. Stendahl won't know that I was here for sure."

"If he's as ruthless as you say then he'll still come here and when no one gives him answers he'll kill us all. I know you think leaving is the right thing but I strongly disagree." Billy was staring at me, for a second I thought he was trying to stare me down, make me submit.

"It'll give you time to prepare yourselves in case he comes back." I added, grasping for reasons why they should let me go.

"Time doesn't help if we don't know what we're preparing for. If Stendahl knows that you're here, then the best thing you can do is stay and teach us what you know." Billy said sensibly, "Once we've learnt everything you have to teach and Stendahl still isn't here then you can leave."

"It doesn't matter how much I teach you." I sighed, defeated.

"What does that mean?" Sam growled.

"You have ten wolves. Ten! I had a pack of thirty-eight and he found enough vampires, in Australia, to wipe them out. There'd be more vampires in a single Canadian province than in the whole of Australia's Eastern Coast. Do you really think he can't find the numbers to take you out?" I didn't want to sound negative but I knew what was coming, they shouldn't be asking me to stay.

"Maybe he will but we can't be expected to win a fight if we're running in blind." Sam stood up as if to make his dominance more explicit, "Billy is right. You need to teach us what you know, then if you want to you can leave."

I stared at Sam for a few moments, evaluating his tenacity. When he wouldn't look away, wouldn't even blink, I gave in. Sighing I looked down at the tiles of the kitchen, this was a bad idea.

"I'm sure Jacob and his pack will help. Maybe the Cullens too." Billy sounded as unimpressed to say the name as I was to hear it.

I wanted to say something, preferably something positive, but I was too caught up in the stupidity of this whole thing to actually think of something to say. After finding out that I was essentially cursed, they still wanted me around. They must have a death wish.

If they do, it will be fulfilled soon.

Billy's POV

"Do you really think letting her stay is the best idea?" Jared mumbled a few moments after Gabriella had stormed from the kitchen and the house.

"What?" Paul gasped, "It was your idea to have her stay in the first place."

"I know but maybe she's right. Maybe the only way to keep this Stendahl away from our town is to have her lead him away."

"You've got to be fucking kidding me!" Paul was oddly annoyed by Jared's comment. Everyone knew that Paul didn't like Gabriella and it was strange for him to be defending her presence, "She's potentially bringing war down on us and you want to give her a get out of jail free card. The least she can do is be the first to die." That sounded more like Paul.

"Paul!" Sue gasped, "How could you wish death on another person like that?"

"I don't want her to die, I just want her gone. Anyway, if he's so brilliant than her survival was a fluke, and maybe if she was the first to go then he'd stop." Paul tried to justify his words.

"Unlikely." I couldn't bite my tongue anymore, "I remember Stendahl. I remember him arguing with Quil, the fourth that is, about getting his share of a meal. Stendahl phased right in front of Quil, Harry and myself just to threaten us. That man will not stop just because Gabriella is dead. And if he's after her because she's his daughter than he may become irate if she dies."

"Irate? The guy carved a chunk out of his daughter. I doubt he'd give a shit if she died." Paul groaned, his voice becoming slurred and hoarse. The pain must be taking its toll.

"As Gabriella said, he killed thirty-eight shifters because she wouldn't go with him last time. Her dying is far more perpetual than her saying no, he'd lose it if she died." Old Quil sighed, "I thought all this fighting would be over."

"We can blame the Cullens for that." Paul mumbled and I agreed.

If it weren't for the Cullens then there would be no pack to have stopped Gabriella and no new risk to face. If it weren't for the Cullens, Gabriella would have moved through Washington without a second thought and everyone would be able to sleep easy tonight.

"Well, we'll just have to deal with it. What's happened has happened and we need to accept that. Gabriella will teach us what she knows of Stendahl and we will fight tooth and nail against him. Billy, will you ask Jacob if he and the Cullens would help? We will need all the numbers we can get." Sam's deep voice boomed around the room.

I was impressed by how Sam was handling this. There was no sign of fear, no anxiety. Just determination to do what was right, to protect the tribe. That was what they were for and Sam was going to make the ancestors proud.

"Of course. I'll call him when I get home." I checked my watch for the time, 8:00. At least it wasn't the middle of the night.

"How does a father do that?" Everyone jolted around to the kitchen door to find a meek looking Kim standing in the hall, "How do you destroy a life that you created?"

Jared flew from his chair and embraced Kim in a powerful hug. He hushed her as he rocked back and forth, trying to calm her down. It didn't work and she started to cry, her body heaving with the force of her sobs. Without a second word to any of us, Jared led Kim from the house and I heard them walk away.

"It is horrible to think there are people like that out there." Old Quil looked at me and I knew we were sharing the same thought.

This was our fault. We'd known there was something wrong with that man, something poisonous. We'd let him walk through this town and into the life of this poor young girl. We should have tried to hold him back, should have seen the warnings and stopped him, by any means necessary. But then again, if we'd done that Gabriella would never have been born. Which was better? Never being born or losing everything your loved?

All of a sudden the stories that I'd heard from the pack, the description of the ferocity with which she fought and the anger that she lived with, it all made sense. It was all too clear that this was not the girl that she should have been.

"I'll go call Jake." I announced as I wheeled myself to the door.

"I'll go with you." Sue sighed as she got up and took a hold of the grips on my chair, "I'll come look at that tomorrow. Don't play with it and don't phase, you'll rip the stitches out."

We left the house in silence. The walk back to mine was much the same. There was nothing that we could say, nothing that would help anyway.

Once I was home I went straight to the living room and the phone. I dialled Jake's number just to be told by Leah that he was in the Cullens'. I had their number next to the phone because I didn't want to memorise it.

The phone had barely rung once when it was answered, "Cullen residence, this is Esme."

"Oh, hello Esmé." I said, trying to be as polite as I could, "It's William Black, I was wondering if my son was there."

"Hello, William. He is. I'll just get him for you." Esmé chirped and then her voice sounded far off, "It's your father, it sounds serious."

"Thank-you." I heard Jake say before he took the phone and asked cautiously, "Hey, Dad. What's going on?"

I explained everything as best I could over the phone. Focusing on the important stuff like how Gabriella was staying because there was the chance a psychotic shifter was coming to kill her and anyone trying to help her.

"So, Sam and I were wondering if you could help us out. Lessons are starting tomorrow morning."

"Dad, you don't even need to ask. Of course we're going to help, but Embry's in Makah territory at the moment. Oh, and the Cullens are going to help out too." Jake sounded encouraged but uneasy, "What time in the morning?"

"Just after sun up, in the forests east of the town. Brady and Philip will meet you at the border."

"Okay, we'll be there."

"Thank-you, Jake. I know that you have an issue with Gabriella, I'm glad you can see past that."

"Shut up, Emmett, I was going to ask anyway." Jake must have been holding the receiver from his mouth because his voice was slightly muffled. But soon he was talking into the receiver again, "What about Gabriella? Will she be able to tolerate the Cullens?"

"She understands, better than us, how serious this is. I doubt she'll start another fight with them."

"She better not, because she can't blame them for what some Aussie vamps did to her."

"Jake!" I growled, "Her dislike for vampires is not so much a voluntary choice as it is a result of horrendous treatment. I'd say she is scared of them and you know that fears can be hard to control."

Jake sighed, "I guess so. Tell Sam we'll be there tomorrow. I'll call by afterwards to see you."

"Okay, Jake. Remember to listen to what she has to say. She knows Stendahl better than any of us."

"Okay, Dad. See you tomorrow." Jake sighed as he hung up the phone.

Authors Note:

I just realised that, somehow, not all of Chapter 6: Irrational loaded. I have updated this chapter so if you read Chapter 6 before 28.04.2012 you may want to just pop back and read the part that's from Sam's Point of Veiw. There's a little bit about how the pack is feeling about their new 'member'.