DISCLAIMER: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The legends of the Quileute belong to them. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.

Thanks to Mrstrentreznor and feebes86 for betaing and pre-reading this story.

A/N: "According to the Selective Service in 1942, at least 99 percent of all eligible Indians, healthy males aged 21 to 44, had registered for the draft." Extract from "Native Americans in World War II" by Thomas D. Morgan

CHAPTER 9

1942

EphPOV

Six years.

Six years the Cullens had been living near Forks.

Six years that we had been phasing, running our treaty lines, and postponing the next chapter of our lives, so that we could concentrate on protecting the people of La Push.

I was tired of it. I knew that Levi had never wanted this treaty to start with, and I was beginning to think that his choice of killing or driving away the Cullens might have been the better option. Not for the first time, I was second guessing myself, questioning my judgment, and wondering what I could have done better.

In the past six years, there had been little vampire activity near the Reservation. Although I hadn't known of it at the time that the treaty was drawn up, vampires were territorial and the presence of the Cullens kept all but the most persistent human drinkers away from the peninsula.

It was ironic then, that when the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor in December 1941, endangering the life and liberty of every American far more than any vampire ever could; Levi Quil and I weren't able to do anything about it. We registered for the draft, everyone had to; but we weren't called up. That was a relief as none of us would ever pass a medical exam; our elevated body temperatures would raise too many questions, as would our other attributes. So we encouraged our fellow Quileute to volunteer or register, and some did; but we were confined to the Rez, helping the war effort in other ways.

The second anniversary of my wife's death had passed; and we had reburied both her and the twins according to tradition. My grief over their passing had been so overwhelming in the beginning that I doubted I could ever function again; even now there were days when the pain of loss felt acute, as though it had happened only yesterday, but gradually it was lessening until it was more like a dull ache that I carried around with me every day. I lived my life one day at a time, raising Bill as well as I knew how; but without his mother it was difficult and my duties as Alpha meant that he spent a lot of time with babysitters.

And Edward Cullen had returned from College, sporting a degree in medicine, or so I had heard. It hadn't taken him long but then he was a vampire, nothing was hard for them. I didn't doubt that Carlisle's resources would keep him from the draft; his supposed age was 17 even if his real age was much more than that, but like me his inhumanity would be obvious to an armed forces doctor.

The relationship between my pack and the Cullens had never really recovered from the early tensions their behaviour had caused. Losing my wife just made it worse. I knew that Carlisle was not to blame for that, but the memory of him there and not saving her, stung me. It was a reminder of my own failings and they were many.

We patrolled our territory as they did theirs. We met with them from time to time to iron out issues that cropped up. We got on with our lives. Levi and Quil married and had children, I remained without a wife because in my mind no woman could replace the one I'd had. We became so used to the peace and quiet of La Push and Forks that even though our existence proved that supernatural beings were a reality; we had walled our minds off from the implications of it.

Until the day that Quil smelled some sickly sweet scents whilst on patrol. And they didn't belong to the Cullens. I was at home, sleeping after my last patrol. A loud and insistent howl woke me up, and I quickly made my way out of the house and into the woods, phasing as I ran. Once phased, I could communicate with Quil and what I saw in his mind caused all of my senses to go into a heightened state of alert.

Just then Levi phased and I gave them both instructions. I told them to remain phased and protect the Reservation. It was unclear how many Cold Ones there were, but there were at least one or two, maybe more. Bearing in mind the treaty, and the possibility that they might be friends of the Cullens, I didn't want to take action that was premature or that might get us into trouble with Carlisle. So in my role as Alpha, I decided that it had better be me who went to meet with the Cullens at the treaty line.

I phased back and went to the payphone at the General Store. The Cullens' number was so well known to me now that I didn't need to look it up, so I just dialled it and Carlisle answered. "Hello, Carlisle Cullen speaking".

I thought it best to get straight to the point. "Hello Carlisle, Ephraim Black here, I need to talk to you in person. Would you be able to bring your family and come to the treaty line as soon as possible?"

He replied, "Edward is at home here with me, but Esme and the other two are hunting. The two of us will see you at the treaty line in half an hour".

I thanked him and set off for the line. Carlisle was as good as his word. Half an hour later as I waited for them Carlisle and Edward approached from the direction of their house. Meeting them alone was a risk, but not as much of a risk as having the three of us come here and leaving the Rez unprotected. Since I was aware of Edward's gift, to save time I replayed in my mind the images I had seen in Quil's.

Edward turned to Carlisle. "The wolves have come across some fresh, unfamiliar vampire scents. There are at least two and possibly three."

Carlisle nodded, and then spoke. "So I suppose you have asked us to come here to find out whether we know these vampires or not, is that right?"

I replied "Yes, that's right. We don't know if these Cold Ones are friends of yours, or what their intentions towards the Rez or Forks are. If they're just passing through, then that is one thing, but as you know we won't tolerate threats to our people."

Carlisle looked at Edward, who shook his head. "I am not aware of any vampires who might be planning to visit us, especially human drinkers. Believe me; we are not here because we want visitors. What measures have you taken to this point?"

"Quil and Levi are patrolling the treaty lines and protecting the Reservation. If the Cold Ones stray onto the Rez, they will be killed. There is nothing I can do about that. But I am here speaking to you to give you the opportunity to find out who they are and take other action if need be."

Carlisle thought for a minute, and then spoke. "My suggestion is that I send Edward to track the vampires together with Quil. They can start in the area where the scents were found, and go from there. You and Levi can go back to La Push, I'll go home and wait for Esme in case they go there, and I'll send Emmett and Rosalie to Forks once they're back from their hunt."

His solution was a good one, but I needed to know how to stay in contact with them. "What will you do once you know who they are? We won't be able to get in touch with you."

"I realize that it is difficult for us to contact you. If the vampires are going to threaten La Push, take them out. If you need backup, howl to alert Esme and I and we will be there to prevent them from doubling back. It's not ideal, but we need to act quickly and it's the best we can do for now."

Having worked out what we were going to do, we went our separate ways. Carlisle back to his house, Edward to catch up with Quil, and I to start patrolling with Levi. I phased on the fly to let them both know what had been decided; Quil wasn't thrilled to be working with Edward, but he would make a better fist of it than Levi.

Levi and I took up separate ends of the Rez patrol. There weren't enough of us to plug all of the gaps; we had to trust that Quil and Edward would find the Cold Ones and kill them if they had to.

EdPOV

As I ran off to find Quil, I had to smile at Ephraim and those thoughts of his. He lived in fear of a call up to go to war; what he didn't know was that Carlisle had made some phone calls and got us all out of serving. It would do us no good at all to have the authorities sniffing around Forks, and the discovery of shape shifters might blow our secret too. So he got his lawyer Jenks Sr. on the job, and the little problem was made to go away, but without telling Ephraim. Ephraim never would have accepted a get-out clause like that; he just thought his number wasn't up yet.

A few miles down the road I was able to hear Quil's thoughts. He was pacing up and down near where the boundary line met the La Push road, impatiently swishing his tail and growling. He'd smelled vampire, and he was anxious to get going, find the source of the smell and deal with it.

There was no need for him to talk to me; I just read his mind and nodded to indicate that I was ready to follow him. So we set off in the direction of the spot where Quil had found the scents, and before too long I'd come across them. They weren't known to me, but there was always the chance that Carlisle knew them. He was 300 years old, I was 40.

The best chance to find out who they were and what they were here for, it seemed to me, was to try to stay downwind of them and read their minds before they became aware of our presence. It was a delicate balancing act as they would smell Quil easily, and know that he wasn't human. But as my power worked at a distance I suggested to Quil that he lag behind me a bit while I tuned into their thoughts.

After running for another five minutes or so, I got close enough to do that. And the result of that wasn't good. There was no chance that these vampires could be friends of our family. Their thoughts were full of feeding, blood and killing; and not of the animal variety. Worse still, they were turning and heading straight for La Push.

I turned to Quil. "The vampires you found, they're strangers, there's no way that they are here to see Carlisle. And they're headed for La Push, let Ephraim and Levi know so they can guard their people. We need to get moving."

We took off; he wasn't the fastest of the wolves, but I was the fastest vampire and I soon outpaced him. The treaty line was fast approaching and I was concerned about crossing it; but the threat from these trespassing vampires outweighed the need to obey our agreement with Ephraim.

We reached them just as La Push came into view. Any minute now, they'd be on the Reservation and the lives of the Quileute would be at risk. As a vampire, that shouldn't have bothered me too much, but the time I'd spent as a vigilante had convinced me that taking human lives was wrong. My father would expect me to save these people, so we pressed on.

Quil peeled off, and ran in behind them, I ran to cut them off from the Reservation. Finally I got my first look at them. They were scruffy looking, and didn't have shoes; in other words typical nomads. Their clothes would have come from someone they'd drained. So I felt better about what we were about to do.

I saw a blurry movement up ahead of me, and ran to meet it. The sound of our bodies colliding was like a clap of thunder; but because I knew what I was running towards and the other vampire didn't, I had the advantage. We sprang apart; he lunged for me but I read the move in his head, jumped out of the way, and took his arm off as I went, tossing it aside.

I could hear Quil launch himself at one of the vampires, a skinny female with the bright red eyes of a newborn. She'd be powerful, but not too skilled. I was sure that Quil would deal with her, but I was worried because I had smelled three scents on the trail, and there were only two vampires here.

Just then Ephraim arrived. I left him to deal with the vampire that I'd clashed with; he was off balance and looking for his arm to reattach. Running off I could hear the metallic sound of vampire flesh being torn asunder by Quil and Ephraim's teeth. It would be minutes of work for them to finish that and burn the pieces; those vampires were no longer the threat.

The third vampire was close to a house on the edge of the Reservation when I caught him. He was older and smarter than the others, and understood that a place as remote as this might provide him with some easy pickings food-wise. He just didn't know that this was a place where the supernatural was commonplace.

He smelled me before he saw me; his shock that there was another vampire around was clear, but he was barely able to register my unusual eye color before I attacked. I ran towards him, and he feinted and dodged my leap. I turned, and ran at him again, and when I saw in his thoughts that he was going to leap over me I leaped myself, twisted in mid-air and tore his head off.

He crumpled to the ground and lay twitching, his hands reaching out to try to find the head, which was glaring at me as I held it.

I sniffed the air, and looked in the distance to see a column of purple smoke. Behind me was La Push, I had cut this vampire off only half a mile from his intended targets. He was still dangerous if his parts were ever reassembled, and I didn't have any matches with me. I hadn't thought to take them to a meeting with the wolves. Who would? We were flammable, they weren't.

Just then the three wolves all arrived, having phased back into their human forms. Ephraim looked at my hands and lifted an eyebrow, smiling strangely. "Would you like some help with that?"

The vampire couldn't speak, but his nose wrinkled in disgust. It was probably the only thing keeping him from silently screaming. Ephraim was not in a mood to grant mercy to this "creature" as he thought of it. The mere idea that you could decapitate one of us, and not kill us outright was an affront to him.

He took it from my hands, and started walking in the direction of the smoke column. Quil and Levi dismembered the rest of the body, snapping off arms and legs, then picked up the pieces, and followed him.

They tossed them into the flames; all except for the head. Ephraim spoke to it. "You'll never know who I am, but your kind will learn that when you come to La Push with evil intent, you don't leave. I hope you enjoy the flames, they're a taste of what awaits you in Hell."

And with that, he walked over to the fire, placed the head in the middle of it, and bowed his head in prayer, giving thanks for their deliverance.

He turned to me. "I haven't always thought very highly of you, in some ways you seem like a boy to me; but you did a good job today and I'm thankful for it. There won't be any consequences for you crossing the treaty line, if you hadn't some of my people might have died today. Go now with our appreciation and convey my thanks to Carlisle as well. We're going to go and see our Elders and let them know what's happened; you should do the same with your family."

As nicely as he had spoken, it was a dismissal and I knew it. No vampire would dare to stay in Ephraim's territory one moment longer than he was welcome; to do so was to invite the end meted out to our uninvited guests today. I shook his hand, nodded, turned and started to run back to the house.

When I arrived back at the house Carlisle and Esme were waiting for me. Rose and Emmett were still out, checking the area around Forks no doubt.

As I ran up the drive, I could hear their thoughts. Carlisle was mildly concerned, but giving the interlopers the benefit of the doubt, as usual. "Haven't seen those vampires, yet, it's strange that they'd come past here and not notice our scents or drop in."

Esme was running around trying to straighten the house just in case they were friendly. Always the perfect hostess.

So when I arrived through the door dishevelled and smelling of vampire, wolf and the forest, their heads swivelled and their eyes widened to take in the sight of me. Not my best moment.

Esme darted over to me. "Edward, what has happened to you? Are you alright?"

I moved away from her slightly. No need for her to wear my mess. "Yes Esme, Carlisle, I'm perfectly fine. But Quil, Ephraim and I had to fight the vampires that we found. They were human drinkers, and were headed for the Reservation."

Carlisle moved a bit closer. "I don't recognise any of the scents that are on you, so if the vampires were red-eyed, Forks is better off without them. You did the right thing, we're proud of you."

It was good to hear that. Taking the life of a fellow vampire was never an easy thing to do, but our secret had to stay safe, or we could never remain here. I passed on Ephraim's thanks to Carlisle, excused myself and went upstairs to clean up.

EphPOV

As I walked up to the meeting room, where I thought I might find some of the Elders, I could see that a crowd had gathered. Our fight with the Cold Ones hadn't been witnessed by anyone, so I didn't think they were there for that.

I excused myself, moved past the people gathered waiting, and entered the meeting room. The Chief was there, as well as some Elders and he gave me an appraising look.

"You look as though you've had a busy day, Ephraim. Anything we should know about?"

As I went to answer him, he sniffed the air. He had once been a wolf but had long since stopped phasing. "There were red-eyed Cold Ones passing through the area. They headed this way, maybe to try to drain some of our people, so our pack and Edward Cullen ended them and burned the pieces."

They were surprised to hear that. "Edward Cullen? Why him?"

I wanted to know why the crowds were here but I knew I wouldn't get an answer until I dealt with this. "We saw him and Carlisle at the treaty line, because we needed to find out if they were known to them. Edward tracked them with Quil, read their minds and the decision was made to kill them. He saw them running towards the Rez and cut them off. He took the head off one of them, I've never seen anything like it."

They looked at each other. "So he crossed the treaty line."

This was becoming annoying. "Yes, but a treaty breach is nothing to the loss of life there might have been otherwise. I'm the Alpha, these are my choices to make in the moment, not yours."

The Chief glared at me. "You're the Alpha, not the Chief, your decisions can still be reviewed by us."

Oh, I'd had enough of this. "Fine, review them; it won't make the Cold Ones any less dead or Edward Cullen any less safe in his home. But why don't you tell me what's going on here?"

"We've had news from the military authorities. A couple of our young men who joined up have been killed in action in the Pacific. We're waiting to get some more details on who they were and what happened to them."

That explained it. It might be the first of La Push's war casualties, but it wouldn't be the last. I just wished I could do something to help.