Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight.
CHAPTER ll ELEVEN
"Mumma?" William whimpered as he stood in the doorway, his ball tightly clutched in his chubby hands. Hunter head shot up to see his son standing looking down at his mother who was paling by the second. Her eyelids where fluttering and her mouth was ajar trying to suck in the slightest amount of air.
Leah could hear Will's voice somewhere in the distance and when she felt Hunter's fingers lose some hold on her throat, she swiftly brought her knee up and kneed him right in the groin. His hands shot from her neck to his crotch as he rolled off her and held his package in his hands, withering on the ground in pain.
She stumbled using the wall to get up and took in as much air as she could muster. Still feeling lightheaded she looked down at Hunter and sneered. In one swift movement she turned around and let her foot connect with his jaw, immediately making his body go limp.
"You fucking cocksucker. You rapist bitch" She said kicking his unresponsive body repeatedly. She spat at him and fell to the ground in a heap. Her body was still trying to get use to the feel of oxygen, her muscles aching and her body feeling the weakest it's ever been.
"Mumma-" William cried dropping his red ball and running to her. Leah grunted when William collided into her, his little arms holding on tightly around her. She scooped him closer, pressing him against her chest, letting him bury his head in her shoulder. His little body was trembling against her and she rubbed his back and tried to calm him.
"It's okay Will, Mumma is here, it's alright, Mumma will never leave you" She said as fresh tears escaped her eyes, running into his soft jet black hair. Within minutes he stopped shaking and he pulled away looking up at her. She knew she must look like hell, her eye still feeling swollen and extremely tender.
"Sore" William said touching her neck, fingering the black and blue bruising against her throat. All Leah could do was nod and watch his face as his bottom lip trembled.
"Come on Will, we have to get out of here." She said slowly getting to her feet and pulling him up with her. She was still sore but she knew she had to make the most of Hunter's unconscious state.
Will looked down from his mother's arms to look at his father lying on the ground unsure of what had happened. All he knew was that his dad was trying to hurt his Mum and that she had used bad words, that he would never ever use because mummy would be upset. He held on to her for dear life and she padded down the hallway it to her room.
She sat William on the bed and pulled a knapsack from out of the cupboard. She moved around the room quickly stuffing a change of clothes in her bag while pulling on a pair of jeans, a long sleeved shirt and some of Hunter's old boots. She ran into Wills room grabbing a few changes of clothes and some shoes, dressing him in no time. She threw all of the clothes out of the top drawer looking for something she had kept hidden from Hunter.
When she had first arrived in Italy with the Cullen's she had started to save for her escape route once things calmed down and she was able to get back to Jacob. She knew it would take a long time and in saying that it wasn't like she worked so whenever she could she would sneak money from Hunters wallet. She also had a stash of expensive jewellery he had brought her over the years, necklaces laced with diamonds and even an engagement ring she was made to wear even though he had not proposed and that she never had any intention on saying yes.
She scooped it all up, stuffing it in the black knapsack and slinging it over her shoulder. She shoved the keys to Hunter's car in her pocket and also grabbed his cell phone.
"Come on Will" She said holding her arms out to the toddler on the bed. It only took him a second to be perched on his mother's hip as she used the key she wore around her neck to unlock the front door.
Will noticing the fading light coming through the windows down the large hall spoke. "We can't go outside Mumma, its almost dark time" He said watching the windows as they passed them.
Leah shifted him higher on her hip and kissed his little head. "Its fine baby. I will protect you from the bad monsters; no one will ever take you from me"
It wasn't long before Leah reached the large steps of the building and began running down them without Will being affected by the pace. "Mum, my ball, I need my ball" He said realising he had left it in the kitchen.
"I'll buy you a new one" She said hurriedly and she reached the bottom steps and kicked down the usually locked basement door.
"But Mumma, it's my favourite, I don't want a new one." He whined as she strode through the car park looking for the blue Maserati. Using the keys in her pocket she began pressing the unlock button to detect any flashing head lights. A beep in the distance made her ears prick up and she just about wanted to burst with joy in finding the car.
"Listen Will. I will buy you a whole fucking cage full of those balls but you need to listen to Mumma and do everything I say okay. If Mumma tells you to run, you run. If I tell you to be quiet you do that okay?" She sighed trying to keep her voice from cracking.
Will nodded defeated at her and spoke touching her face. "You said a bad word." He was frowning at her when she glanced at him and she couldn't help but smile. Every little tiny thing he did reminded her of Jacob. His inquisitive nature, the way he would pull faces when he was sleepy or angry or happy.
"Good boy" She said opening the passenger side of the 2 door sports car, buckling him in tight.
Hunter the son of a bitch seemed to always be allowed to leave the city while she was stuck in the floors they made their home. After Aro had learned of Hunter and Renesmee's birth he cordially invited them to join the Voulturi guard. It only took a year for Hunter to move up from the rank of solider to be sitting pretty next to the cock sucking vampire royalty in the great hall. Renesmee was still travelling with Emmett and Rosalie trying to become normal or whatever the fuck that meant and had promised Aro she would join his ranks by the time the century was up.
The son of a bitch loved Hunter like a son he never had and had kindly allowed him every privilege. Leah also knew that Aro was intrigued with the fact that a she-wolf shape shifter and her potential Alpha son would be staying in Voulterra with them, hoping that William would one day join his ranks once he made the transition from human to shape shifter.
Leah sped out of the underground garage as safely as possible stretching out her arms to hold William in his seat, as the seat belt did not hold him fully. She tore out up the ramp and soon hitting the hard pebble stone roads of the city headed for the western gates.
Leah knew the western gates did not harbour any guards just before sunset and knew that the wooden gates would be no match for a car ploughing into it at high speed. She noticed people still walking along the streets; the yellow light of the sun slowly lowering against the buildings, letting her know that sun down was imminent and fast approaching. Soon the quiet city would be lurking with blood suckers looking for a deep vein to sink their teeth into and feed off of.
She could she in the distance the large wooden gate approaching so she pushed her foot down harder on the pedal making the roar of the engine almost deafening. "Hold on" She yelled to William who was holding tightly on to his mother's arms that was thrown against his body.
"I'm scared" He cried, he fingers digging in deep on her skin.
"Don't be afraid Will. Your mummy's big boy. I love you." She said grapping the edge of his seat to make sure he was kept safe at all costs.
The moment the Maserati collided with the wooden gate, it felt like an explosion. The pieces of wood flew up and around the car, sending it spiralling like a wave of fire was engulfing the car. Will screamed at the top of his lungs, the large crashing noise scaring him and making him panic. His eyes where closed tightly and his grip still hadn't loosened on her arm.
Leah punched the accelerator flying down the dirt road in the direction of Rome. Knowing that the Maserati could do incredible speeds she knew that it would only take several hours to get to the great city. She took her first breath of air, feeling her chest getting lighter as she drove away from Voulterra. Looking back in the rear view mirror she exhaled and removed her arm from across Will's body and running at hand through his hair.
"You did good baby" She said patting his back and glancing every now and then at the road. She hoped with Will being so young he would barely remember this time in his life. That he would forget about his so called father and that he could have a normal life and not one stuck in his room, but one playing in the yard, or at first beach, with the other children on the reservation.
Will didn't speak much and eventually fell asleep in the seat with his hands clutching the knapsack and Leah's constant touch on him. When she had tried to move her hand away from him he whimpered until she lay it back on his head or shoulder. The small movements of her fingers, like playing with his hair and softly tickling his back calmed him more than anything.
An hour out from Rome she dug Hunter's phone out of her pocket booking plane tickets for both her and William to head to the states, then dialling one of only two phone numbers she had managed to remember after all the years of being away from home.
Seth grabbed the microwave dinner out and peeled the plastic back looking at the pathetic excuse for a boxed meal. The box was glorified showing a hearty roast and vegetables when really the meat was similar to shaved ham and the vegetables tasted like they were years old.
He threw another two in the microwave certain that he would be hungry after he ate the portion made for beauty queens. He took a beer from the fridge and used his teeth to pop off the cap and grabbed his tray moving to the couch.
He sat comfortably on the old tattered couch his mother had so kindly left behind and began surfing through the horrible array of Tuesday night viewing. He couldn't stand watching anything remotely family orientated which was all that seemed to be on. He turned the box off and threw the remote on the coffee table and pulled his feet up to lie across the couch.
He couldn't be bothered getting up to remove the extra food out of the microwave and just listened to it beep. His breathing became steady and his eyes started to burn.
Seth rarely ever slept anymore. With the extra patrolling he had taken up and the constant feelings of being alone, he liked more than anything just to stay up and think about his life. He thought about how if things had turned out differently that maybe his sister would still be here and that his best friend would still be happy. That the pack would still be a tight nit unit and that he would actually be happy.
How strange life had turned out.
They always thought Leah would never imprint and unexpectedly she had. Only Quil and Leah had imprinted so far as well as the older wolves in Sam's pack.
Paul had taken up the task of being Sam's beta after Jared's murder and had eventually married Rachel Black and were in the process of welcoming their first child and renovating the house Paul's grandfather had left him.
Sam and Emily where currently expecting their second daughter, to accompany Gracie, their 3 year old. The little girl was cute and a constant chatter box. When he had visited Sam and Emily at a dinner party to celebrate the news of Emily's second pregnancy Seth had been bombarded with a multitude of questions from the little brown eyed cutie. At first it had been okay but after an hour of listening to 'why is the sky blue, why are you so big, your ears are funny, where is you mummy?' Seth had secretly escaped her detective like questions and positioned himself out of her firing range.
After Jared's death, Kim had moved to Seattle to try and get away from the reservation. She said that everything about it reminded her of Jared and that she was sick of crying at night, when she knew he wouldn't ever walk through the door again. Last Seth had heard Kim had found herself a nice big shot lawyer and was engaged to him. Sam at first had taken the news hard, especially considering the guy was a pale face, but Seth didn't really give a shit what his heritage was. Kim was starting to get her life back on track and that should have been the only thing that mattered.
Seth groaned when he heard the home phone ring, knowing that the only person who called any more was either his mother to ask him if he had put the bins out for the rubbish man or Embry who had taken a liking to clubbing when he wasn't on patrol.
Ignoring the phone he slipped his hands under his head a closed his eyes tightly and stretching across the small lounge. He smiled when the sound of the phone stopped and before he could turn to his side and hopefully get some shut eye, the phone rang again.
Seth hoped up from the couch and snatched the phone of the receiver. "What?" He grumbled down the mouth piece oozing hostility.
"Seth?" As very familiar female voice said.
Seth rolled his eyes and cut her off before she could talk again. "Mum, I took the bins out, ate and mopped the floors. Relax already." He scolded into the phone.
After there was no answer except a couple of quick breaths Seth spoke again. "Mum? Are you-"
"Seth, it's Leah" The voice on the other end started, sounding like she was crying on the other side.
"Lee- Leah?" He half screamed unable to untangle his tongue or get rid of the large lump in his throat.
"Yes" She breathed. "I – I need your help" She said sounding desperate. It had been so long since he had heard her voice and he wanted nothing more than to break down in tears and jump around the reservation letting people know Leah was alive.
"Anything" He answered completely amazed that he was actually talking to his sister who he had thought he would never hear from ever again.
"I am catching a plane in 2 hours and I will be in Seattle in 14 hours. Can you come and pick us up?" She said hurriedly. Seth's ears pricked up hearing the roar of an engine in the background.
"Us?" Seth asked wondering if Leah was actually brining her imprint back on LaPush land. "I don't think it's a good idea to bring Hunter here Leah. Are you crazy? Jacob and Sam will kill him"
"It's not Hunter. He is elsewhere and I am heading to Rome. I have someone I need you to meet. Uncle Seth" Leah half chuckled having to bite back a laugh imagining Seth as an Uncle.
"Are you fucking serious?" Seth screamed into the phone, making Leah pull it away from her ear. "You had a fucking kid with the hybrid? Dear god, Jacob is going to fucking hang himself." Seth groaned slapping his forehead and rubbing at one of his temples.
"He is 3 years and a half Seth" Leah said calmly making Seth want to scream some more.
"I don't give a shit how old he- wait… 3 and a half? Holy shit Leah! Holy FUCKING shit!" Seth yelled catching on eventually.
"Jacob's?" Seth asked softly rubbing the back of his neck, wanting to take a whole bottle of Prozac for the tenseness he was now feeling.
"Yeah. Jacob's" She said quietly. Seth shifted uncomfortably in his seat when he heard the sound of a little voice.
"No baby, I am on the phone" Leah sighed. "To your uncle Seth. No. No. William come on. Fine." She grumbled. "Seth he wants to talk to you, is that okay?" Leah asked trying to bend away from William who was reaching for the phone.
"Uhh… I guess" Seth said unsure of what to say. He knew he wasn't the master with kids because they usually ran circles around him. He could hear the phone being passed and he braced himself for the onslaught.
"Hello?" A little voice rang out from the headpiece.
"Hey" Seth said back, sounding a little too high pitched and a little shaky.
"My name is William. I am 3 and a half and I can count to 10. Wanna hear?" Seth's mood brightened thinking about little William. The more the kid talked the happier he got. He wasn't demanding like little Gracie was and he actually let Seth get a word or two in as well.
"My favourite colour is Red and I am this tall"
Seth could hear Leah's voice in the back ground. "He can't see your hands through the phone Will"
"Oh yeah." He giggled. After a moment of silence Will spoke again. "Are you really my Uncle?" He asked in a small voice.
"Yeah buddy, looks like I am" Seth said with a huge smile of his face. He really liked the kid and he knew William would have been a bright light in Leah's life judging by the immediate weight he lifted off Seth's own heart.
"William where is your uhh…Hunter?" He inquired wondering why Leah was heading in the opposite direction as her imprint. Seth could hear the hesitation in little boy's voice as he tried to find the words he needed.
"Daddy hurt Mummy. He made her cry and say swear words. We had to go and I left my red bouncing ball at home. Do you like bouncing balls Uncle Seth?" William asked.
Through the shaking of his body Seth was able to let out a short yes through his clenched teeth.
"That's enough William. Pass Mummy the phone." He could hear his sister say to his nephew.
"See ya Uncle Seth. Mummy say's I'll see you soon. Love you" He said with a small yawn.
"I – um –" Seth started clearing his voice. "Love you too. Bye"
Once Leah got on the phone Seth rage came flooding back. "Did he fucking hurt you Leah? Did he? That motherfucker is a dead man. I am going to rip his head off and shove it so far up his ass-"
"Seth stop. I'll explain everything okay? Just don't tell anyone especially Jacob yet. I have to tell him myself. I need him to know the truth about me and his son" Leah sighed.
"Okay fine. You better tell me everything and not leave out anything. I want to know every detail Leah." Seth growled thinking the worst thoughts about what had gone on between his sister and the hybrid.
"I love you Seth" Leah said. Seth had longed to hear those words for so long, his heart constricted with her words, shooting a tinge of pain in his chest. It was a good pain.
"Love you too Sis. I'll see you in Seattle." He said pulling the phone any from his ear and hanging up.
A small creak in the wood made Seth spin around and he almost dropped the phone. Jacob was leaning against the doorway, his elbow dug into the frame and his eyebrows drawn.
"Shit Jake, you scared me" Seth half screamed placing the phone back on the receiver and leaning against the bench.
Jacob looked up at him and Seth could physically feel his pain. The brown of his eyes where glassy and he was desperately trying to blink fast to stop the tears.
"How much did you hear?" Seth said tearing his eyes away from his Alpha's and staring at the floor.
"Enough…"
