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Instinctual Reactions

A/N: This story is written as a collaboration by both Xo BellaItalia oX and VampSaxAngel. If you have any questions or comments, post them in my reviews and I will answer them in my next Author's Note! We hope that you enjoy the story and look forward to reading your reviews! – Bella'Xo

Chapter 10
(Alice's POV)

Alice's POV Takes place during the Last Chapter…

Have you stared into a void? Maybe a swirling vortex of nothingness, maybe? The only reason you can recall to do so is simply to delve into your own psyche for a while? Have you ever wanted to do something so bad, but you knew you weren't supposed to? How about, in the end, you basically said 'what the hell?' and did it anyway?

Well, welcome to my twisted world.

I sit in solitude, looking out the window, facing towards the front porch. Leah sat there, cursing as she tried to clean off her mud covered shoes. Her work of simply wiping it off with her hand was failing immensely.

I watched her for a few more minutes, my eyebrows moving closer together with every passing moment. Finally, you know what I said? 'What the hell'? Precisely…

I was at the door, opening it, in the next second. I stepped out onto the porch and she stiffened. She was tense as she went back to her work acting as though I wasn't there. I reached over, picking up one of the boy's t-shirt they had left on the porch. It was not like they needed it anyway.

I walked over to her, reaching a hand downward, fingers stretched. She stared at my hand like it was the most offensive thing that she'd ever seen. I lifted an eyebrow. Eventually, I sighed, shifting to one leg before grabbing the shoe for myself. Her eyes flashed to mine in anger. I glanced at her, continuing to wipe off the grime.

I felt her eyes on me so I looked at her. "Problem?" I asked.

Her eyes tightened. "I believe you took my shoe, bloodsucker."

I hid the wince at that, and I could tell she was just as disturbed by that as I was. I smirked. "I did. And I'm cleaning it, just as you were trying to do." She lifted an eyebrow. "Only I'm succeeding."

Her lips twitched, and a growl rumbled through her chest. "I don't remember giving you permission."

"Oh, you didn't. But I was tired of watching you."

Her hands landed on her hips, and she shifted her weight. "Becoming a stalker, now? I can't say I'm surprised."

I stared at her seemingly unaffected. "Yeah, yeah. Now, give me the other shoe."

She looked on at me incredulously. I sighed, dropping the now clean shoe to the porch. "You might as well hand it over. That or I can take it off of you myself."

"Or you can give me the shirt, and I can do it myself," she countered.

I blinked. She groaned in defeat, bending over to pull of the shoe. She lifted up, giving me the object. I shook my head, taking a seat on the top step. I cleaned the white faux leather, waiting for her to sit down.

When she still had not sat by the time I was finished, my hands plopped onto my lap. I chunked the shoe down to the bottom of the stairs.

"Hey!" she exclaimed, moving past me. She looked up at me. "What the-"

"I didn't want you staring down my neck anymore. I could feel your eyes."

She took a few steps closer so she was two steps below mine, looking down on me. "What if my fist touched your face? Hmm?"

My eyes fell closed, and I breathed deeply. Her foot contacted my shin, and I was standing before her immediately. Eyes to eyes.

"Alright! Enough! We cannot keep doing this," I stated. "You've been ignoring me, I try to make some sort of interaction and you just become a bitch. Is that how you want this entire thing to go?"

"Well, if you mean by me continuing to ignore you and acting like this when we talk? Then, yes, I'd be perfectly fine with that," she replied.

I rolled my eyes. "You do know it's going to happen eventually."

"And what makes you so sure, bloodsucker? I haven't exactly wanted any of this," she said.

"I haven't either." My eyes pierced hers, and she seemed to back off a little. "I've seen it. Us. Together. Happy. It's gonna be hard to fight on my side whenever I can see it."

"Stop looking," she stated.

I shook my head, looking at her like she was stupid. "I can't. My powers don't work that."

"Make them," she commanded. "You don't need to see it, and I don't want to know about it." She turned, hopping off the step. She began to walk away, but I followed her.

"You're not curious? Not even a little. After all, two enemies falling in love. It's almost poetic. I mean, really, have you ever wondered about how things get when two enemies go at it?" She stopped, and my lips curled as I stared at her back. "Explosive, maybe. Cosmic. You never know until you try, and I'm willing to."

Her shoulder began to turn towards me, but it was as if she was working against an unknown force as she wrenched it back forward. "No. I don't believe I've ever thought of anything like that." She turned her head, casting a solid glance at me with one brown eye. "It's rather disgusting, honestly. But, hey, if you like that type of thing, just go get a human. Show them how a vampire should really act. Become their enemy. I bet you could really rock their world." She smirked and turned back, taking another step.

"I just might. Think of it. Me, a guy. Hell, maybe a girl..." She stopped, her shoulders tense. "All attractive..."

She had me by the throat in the next second, growling into my face. "You little...little..." I lifted my eyebrows. "You have no power over me, you know that. This is not going to be a little fest between the two of us, sucker. I'm better than you, and I always have been. It wouldn't work even if you were human. I'm not into girls anyway. So, have fun with your human of choice, but if you drain them, you're mine to deal with. And trust me, you don't want me on your case after something like that." Her hand tightened, and I felt as though I was experiencing the true act of being choked.

"I'd love you on my case. That means you'd have to be close. It's fate, Leah, we can't fight it forever," I breathed loosely, brokenly.

Her lips curled back, flashing her teeth, and she dropped me. I shifted on my feet, catching myself as they hit the ground. "When I start aging again, we're done, completely. This imprint is not going to rule me."

"You're never going to age again," I stated.

She breathed deeply, harshly. "You've seen that, too?"

I did not reply, and she nodded her head, glancing away. She lifted a solid finger at me. "Well, let me tell you something, I will not-" Her words were cut off by a sharp howl in the distance. I looked past her as she glanced back. She turned back to me. "We're not finished." She took off into the trees.

"I was hoping we wouldn't be. Soon..."

._.-:'~Instinctual Reactions~':-._.

(Leah's POV)

I took off into the trees, not even daring to change into my other form now. For once, I wanted every single thought at this moment a secret, my own property. This was none of their business.

I followed the echo of the howl, knowing that it was definitely Seth's. Before long, the sound faded away, but I had already caught the trail. As I grew deeper into the forests, new sounds drew my attention, leading the way precisely. I came to a line of trees, and the noise was monstrous. I broke the trees to see all of the wolves; new, young, leader, non-leader, one pack, another pack.

"This is not up for negotiation, Sam, and you know it!" Jacob yelled.

"It's dangerous!" Seth reputed. "Do you wish to see people die? 'Cause if you do, it's blood on your hands, Jacob!"

"No one is going to die! That is a moot point now. I can tell that the child will not be a danger to anyone, but Bella. The Cullen's would never let that happen."

Oh, this again. I stood at the back, watching the interactions, keeping my mouth shut. Seth saw me and moved closer, standing behind Jacob.

"What's your proof? Huh? It's in the womb. It's not exactly intelligent enough to make the proper decisions to be considered 'safe.' The chances are running against all of us," Paul entered. "We cannot watch as this thing is born and begins taking out innocent people." The boys around him crowed in agreement. I raised an eyebrow, staring hard around the circle of men.

"I say we get rid of the Cullen's, as well. Plenty of less vampires to worry about," Colin said. Again, the boys agreed with whole hearts.

Can't say I disagreed with the kid, but that was not the answer to this entire problem.

"What if we just get rid of the problem entirely?" Brady asked. "Let the 'good' ones live, and get rid of Edward, Bella, and the little bloodsucker. Problem solved."

Jacob growled at him viciously. "No one is touching them!"

"And who's going to stop us? You and your pathetic little pack? Please," Sam huffed.

Jacob stared venomously. I lifted a finger to my lips, wrapping my other arm under my chest to support that one as I watched on. My head tilted slightly.

"It's pack to pack, Sam. Mine's small, but experienced. What have you got? New mutts," Jacob sneered.

Sam moved forward, but Paul grabbed his arm to stop him. Sam pulled back as Paul told him to chill down. I smirked at this. The Alpha loses his cool. That's a first.

"The thing should die. It's not of nature. Hell, it shouldn't have even been created. I mean, we can't predict how things are going to go with this little monster. Why should we risk lives when we can dismiss all of this in one quick swoop?" Quil amended.

Jacob seemed shocked at his entrance in all of this, but his anger for his words overruled that. "And what about that crush you had on Bella, huh? All of you do understand that if we go after this thing, Bella's dead, too, right?"

"She'll be dead soon anyway!" Paul quipped.

Quil reflected then, but it did not seem to be his focus at the moment. Sam, however, looked as though he could care less. "One thousand chumps one, Jacob."

"No, it doesn't. Not when one chumps one hundred years of being alone," Jacob replied, referring to Edward. "We cannot kill him, too, which means we'd consequently kill all of them with grief. If we did that, if anyone did that," Jake paused, "it makes all of us monsters."

Suddenly, everything grew silent. They all stood like statues, looking amongst one another, communicating with only eyes. Jacob stared hard at Sam, seeming to implant his words into his head like permanent ink.

"We are not the monster, Jacob," Sam amended. "But, if you wish to side with them, then all of you are the monsters." His eyes connected with Seth's piercingly. Now, that, I could not handle. I stepped in front of him, squaring straight. I glared in return, Seth shifting behind me. I knew the words hit home for him. He liked the Cullen's, and he knew they were not monsters. I may not agree wholly on that fact, but my brother likes them, and that's good enough for me.

"You say we are the bad ones, Sam, yet here you are, marking words into one below you. The truth is, he is so above you, that you should be able to look up at him. In fact, Seth is the reasonable one, in case you haven't noticed. He hasn't declared war, death," I looked at Sam, "and he hasn't been working his life away protecting anyone," I looked at Jacob. "He has stood for what he believes in and helped everyone. The Cullen's included. To him, it doesn't matter if they are vampires, they deserve as much help as they can get. And I can't say I disagree with him. I follow my brother on this. He's the most level-headed right now, and none of you are thinking clearly during all of this."

"And what makes you so mighty? You and your leech girlfriend?" Brady threw back.

I wanted to strangle the boy, but Seth stopped me with a hand on my wrist. "Don't bring Alice into this. She's not the problem and neither is Bella. These arguments are getting old."

Jacob nodded in front of me, apparently agreeing with my statement. "She makes a good point. All of you need to stay on your own turf and leave us alone on ours."

(Jacob's POV)

"This used to be your turf, too, Jake," Quil said. "We want you to come back."

"You've torn our family apart. It's not meant to be this way." Jared said as Embry let out a soft whine behind him.

"I don't know if it's that easy, guys," I sighed as things began to calm down a bit, though I knew that it wouldn't be for long. This was just another one of their tactics to try to get their way.

"Come home," he said, leaning forward. Pleading. "We can sort this out. You don't belong here. Let Seth and Leah come home, too."

I laughed. "Right. Like I haven't been begging them to do that from hour one." Seth snorted behind me, the only one of the three of us still in wolf form.

Sam assessed that, his eyes cautious again. "So, what now, then?"

I thought that over for a minute while he waited. "I don't know. But I'm not sure things could just go back to normal anyway. I don't know how it works – it doesn't feel like I can just turn this Alpha thing off and on as the mood strikes. It feels sort of permanent."

"You still belong with us." Quil pressed.

I raised my eyebrows. "Two Alphas can't belong in the same place, Jared. Remember how close it got last night? The instinct is too competitive."

Sam sighed dejectedly, knowing I was right.

"So are you all just going to hang out with the parasites for the rest of your lives?" Paul demanded. "You don't have a home here. You're already out of clothes," he pointed out. "You gonna stay wolf all the time? You know Leah doesn't like eating that way."

"Leah can do whatever she wants when she gets hungry. She's here by her own choice. I'm not telling anyone what to do."

Sam sighed once again. "I'm sorry about what I did to you."

I nodded. "I'm not angry anymore."

"But?"

"But I'm not coming back, not now. We're going to wait and see how it plays out. And we're going to watch out for the Cullen's for as long as that seems necessary. Because, despite what you think, this isn't just about Bella. We're protecting those who should be protected. And that applies to the Cullen's too." At least a fair number of them, anyway.

Seth yelped softly in agreement.

Sam frowned unhappily. "I guess there's nothing I can say to you, then."

"Not now. We'll see how things go."

Jared turned to face Seth, concentrating on him now, separate from me. "Sue asked me to tell you – no, to beg you – to come home. She's brokenhearted, Seth. All alone. I don't know how you and Leah can do this to her. Abandon her this way, when your dad just barely died -"

Seth whimpered.

"Ease up, Jared," I warned.

"Just letting him know how it is."

I snorted. "Right." Sue was tougher than anyone I knew. Tougher than my dad, tougher than me. Tough enough to play on her kids' sympathies if that's what it took to get them home. But it wasn't fair to work Seth that way. "Sue's known about this for how many hours now? And most of that time spent with Billy and Old Quil and Sam? Yeah, I'm sure she's just perishing of loneliness. 'Course you're free to go if you want, Seth. You know that."

Seth sniffed.

If was quiet for a minute before Sam turned to Leah. "Leah?" he asked. She met his gaze, her lips turning up into a sneer. Sam didn't seem surprised by her hostility. "Leah, you know you don't want to be here. You don't want anything to do with your imprint on that leech."

She didn't say anything to him, only snarled under her breath. I gave her a warning glance she didn't see. Seth whined and nudged her with his shoulder.

"Sorry," Sam said. "Guess I shouldn't assume. But you don't want any ties to the bloodsuckers."

"I'm here for my brother," she answered in somewhat of a monotone as she looked at her brother and then at me.

"So, you want to watch out for Seth, we get that," Quil said while Sam's eyes touched my face and then went back to hers. Probably wondering what that second look was about – just like I was.

"Jake's not going to let anything happen to him, and he's not afraid to be here." Jared made a face. "Anyway, please, Leah. We want you back."

Sam nodded in agreement. "Yeah, Leah. I want you back." Leah twitched. "I'm begging you. I will literally get down on my knees if I have to. I want you home, Lee-lee, where you belong."

I saw Leah flinch when Sam used his old nickname for her. And then, when he added those last three words, her hackles seemed to rise on her skin and she began to shake as a long stream of snarls echoed between her teeth.

"Why you little…" She phased right out of her clothes and she was yowling a long stream of snarls through her teeth. I didn't have to be in her head to hear the cussing-out she was giving him, and neither did he. You could almost hear the exact words she was using.

I waited till she was tone. "I'm going to go out on a limb here and say that Leah belongs wherever she wants to be." Leah growled, but, as she was glaring at Sam, I figured it was in agreement. "Look, Sam, we're still family, okay? We'll get past this feud, but, until we do, you all ought to stick to your land. Just so there aren't misunderstandings. Nobody wants a family brawl, right?"

"Of course, not," Sam snapped. "We'll stick to our land… for now." I didn't like that 'for now'. It gave me the feeling that it would only be a temporary solution.

"But where's your land, Jacob? Is it vampire land?" Paul sneered.

"No, Paul. Homeless at the moment. But don't worry – this isn't going to last forever." I had to take a breath. "There's not that much time… left. Okay? Then the Cullen's will probably go, and Seth and Leah will come home."

Seth and Leah whined together, their noses turning in my direction in synchronization.

"And what about you, Jake?" Quil asked.

"Back to the forest, I think. I can't really stick around La Push. Two Alphas means too much tension. 'Sides, I was headed that way anyway. Before this mess."

"What if we need to talk?" Jared asked.

"Howl – but watch the line, 'kay? We'll come to you. But you all don't need to come. We aren't looking for a fight."

(Leah's POV)

Sam scowled, not liking Jake setting conditions for him as the hostility rose back up into the air around us. "You might not be looking for a fight, but you're gonna get one whether you like it or not at some point and whether you're on our side or theirs will determine your fate."

Taking a step back as Sam flicked a hand backwards, showing that they were finished. For now, at least.

"You used to always be on our side," Quil said absentmindedly in disappointment. "Just as this used to be your home."

Jake shook his head once. "Not anymore, not when you're wrong."

"You've betrayed us, Jacob!" Brady called back as he left.

"Proud to," Jacob said confidently.

"We'll be back, Jacob," Sam stated as the rest of them disappeared.

"And we'll be on alert."

Sam turned, and we listened as their footsteps faded away.

"What now, Jake?" Seth said.

"We go back to the house, and be prepared. We will stay at the house for the next few days. We need to be on guard and as close to the Cullen mansion as possible for a little while. Then, we can integrate back into patrols. Even so, the baby could come at any moment this week, or so I think, and we need to be careful that when it does come, we are already prepared to fight. Once words gets out, there's probably no stopping Sam, and I don't want to risk their safety, especially Bella's." We nodded in agreement as he glanced between us. "Come on. We should go back. I'm done with idiots for the day. Let's go do what we do best. Protect people."

Jake and Seth took off, with me close behind. The house was in few in very short minutes. We took our places, the boys at the bottom of the stairs with me on the porch, looking over them. Jake and Seth stood back to back, watching. This would get boring after long, but it was better to be guards and protect than to be the monsters worth fighting.

You know what they always say: "If it's worth fighting for, it's worth keeping." And I guess these vamps are, as much as I hate to say it.

Maybe I was the monster for going against my people, but I would redeem myself by protecting the better. And that's exactly what I intended to do.

"The weaker you are, the louder you bark." ~Masachi Kishimoto

Funny, everything was dead silent.

A/N: So, what did everyone think? We hope that you enjoyed the chapter! Any guesses on what's coming up next? We will be learning more about Bella's pregnancy and the birthing process, along with the legends. Review!

If you have any questions or comments, post them in my reviews and I will answer them in my next Author's Note at the end of the Chapter!

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To see more, go to either page: Xo BellaItalia oX

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