Chapter – 11
Maggie was making French toast when Lily got home, and by the way things looked, she'd been doing so for quite some time. Seth was chewing away, probably on his second or third plate, but still managed to give Lily a big cheesy smile as she sat on the stool next to him. She was dead tired and starving and knowing Seth wouldn't mind (and Maggie wouldn't either) she leaned against him and began to pick at his plate. In fact Maggie didn't mind, she stacked Seth's plate and handed Lily a fork.
"I'm sorry Seth, but you gotta go" Lily said taking the plate away from him.
"Why?" he asked looking a lot younger as his faced turned into a mixture of hurt and stun.
"Jake needs you" Her answer washed him with relief "You should get your sister too"
"Something big is going on, isn't it?"
Lily squeezed his hand just as Jake's howl answered the question. He jumped up and gave Maggie a quick kiss while promising to return as soon as he could.
"Seth?" Lily called, causing him to brake at the door "Follow your heart" it was clearly evident that he had no idea what she was talking about "Whatever happens, we're still family and you're always welcomed here, ok?" he nodded with a smile and ran off.
"That bad?" Maggie asked as she took Seth's seat
"I'm really hoping it's not"
"But you have a feeling it is" she nodded
"Yeah. Something deep inside me says it is"
Lily had been trying to ignore that twinge in the pit of her stomach, the one she always got when something big was gonna go down. The something never turned out to be good. She closed her eyes to clear her head but the hard part was opening them again.
"You need to go to bed" Maggie said, waking Lily up from her 30 second nap.
"I do" she sighed as she opened her eyes "But I can't. I gotta take a shower and get ready to go to the Cullen house with Jake" she stood up knowing that the only way she could keep herself awake was by staying mobile. "You're coming with so you better get ready too"
"Can you tell me?"
Lily finished her French toast as she told her little cousin everything that had taken place in the last couple of hours. Surprisingly she didn't freak, she listened attentively and went on to get ready as Lily headed up to her room. Lily was sure that internally she was probably screaming her head off but on the outside she appeared to be unfazed, proof that she was doing everything in her power to get used to things.
A hot shower sounded perfect but the last thing she needed was to fall asleep while standing, so she opted for a very quick cold one. Lily was literally sleepwalking so getting dressed was nothing more than getting comfy and what better way than with her big and soft plushy gray sweats and a t-shirt. Her bunny slippers would've been perfect but Alice would have a heart attack so she went with sneakers. With no energy for hair and makeup all she did was brush and run down the stairs where Maggie was waiting.
"What, no bunny slippers?" Maggie smirked as she took a look at Lily's outfit of choice.
"Alice is already gonna kill me for wearing this. The slippers would throw her over the edge"
Lily and Maggie were laughing when Jess burst through the door, scaring the hell out of the girls.
"ALL HELL BROKE LOOSE!!!"
"What?" Lily and Maggie chorused "Calm down, Jess, what happened?" Lily added
"Need you, you gotta go, now!"
"Talk in complete sentences" Maggie stated in frustration.
"The pack wants to kill the baby which means killing Bella, Jake left the pack, Seth and I left with him and Collin and Brady said their neutral and not doing anything, we are two packs now and probably gonna have to fight each other"
It was far worse than Lily expected. Stupid twinge!
"Where's Jake?"
"He and Seth went on to warn the Cullens"
"Until we figure things out, it's not safe for you here" Lily warned Jess "Go, we'll be right behind you"
Fear and worry gives you one hell of an adrenaline rush and that beats tired and sleepy everytime. On red alert and ready to take anything on, Lily and Maggie ran out and floored it to the Cullen house, arriving only minutes after Jess. Lily ran to Jake as he stood outside talking with Edward and Carlisle.
"Jess told me what happened" she stated as she threw herself into his arms "You did the right thing"
"This is what you had to do?" he scolded Jess
"Sorry" Jess smiled "But you have to admit they're our best bet in keeping things under control"
"Where's Seth?" Maggie asked as she frantically looked around.
"He's doing rounds with Emmett and Jasper" Edward answered.
With a look and a slight head nod, Jess was given orders to join them.
"On it" Jess nodded and ran off.
"Told ya you'd be a great alpha" Lily smiled
"You can only evade your destiny for so long" Edward stated, taking Lily's words out of Jake's head "The alpha blood than runs through his veins would only sleep for so long"
"Sure, sure" Jake rolled his eyes as Lily wiggled her eyebrows.
"I know at what cost all this comes to you" Carlisle stated "We can never thank you enough"
"That's what family's for" Jake answered as he kissed the top of Lily's head.
"I don't think it will be a good idea for you to return to LaPush" Carlisle stated "At least not for now"
"I can make it safe" Lily smiled "But I think you're right"
"You know our house is yours" Carlisle smiled at Jake and Lily "And the same goes for everyone else" he added as he and Edward focused on Maggie.
"Oh, sorry" Lily stated, remembering they had not been introduced "That's my little cousin Maggie"
"Seth's imprintee" Jake smiled making her blush.
"Hi" she said with a shy little wave as her face turned various shades of red.
"Another witch, I smell" Edward smiled causing Maggie to frown
Lily laughed at her expression, knowing what she was probably thinking "We smell like candy to them" That piece of info changed her face to an obvious wtf. "Trust me, it's a good thing" Lily laughed "We don't smell like blood, they don't wanna eat us"
"Ok?" she whispered causing Edward and Carlisle to smile
"You boys need to work things out, so we'll leave you to it" Lily smiled as she took Maggie's hand "We'll go in and join the girls"
"They're stocking up the kitchen" Edward nodded towards the house
"And getting the rooms ready" Carlisle added
For brief second Lily thought about asking how they knew they needed to do so but the answer was so obvious "Alice" she and Edward chorused.
Lil tiptoed to give Jake a quick kiss but he picked her up with a big hug, giving her one that was not meant for an audience. After he placed her down, and she caught her breath, she took Maggie, whose hand she was still holding and walked away.
"What did you mean by Alice" Maggie asked
"Alice can see the future" Maggie's face was priceless, but to her defense, she didn't freak. "And fyi, Jasper can sense your emotions and Edward can read minds"
"So one knows what I'm feeling and the other what I'm thinking?"
"Yup"
"Great!"
*****
"Maggie hasn't known long" Edward stated and not asked
"Nah" Jake smirked "A few days but she's doing better. You should've seen her the day she found out" Jake laughed "Not pretty, Seth was dying, let's just say it was a long night"
"She was aware of being a witch, right?" Doc asked
"That's a whole other drama series that's still ongoing" Jake rolled his eyes
"All clear" Edward said for the sandy wolf that was Seth ran by.
"I don't think they'll attack today" Jake stated "Not while we're waiting for them"
Sam was not stupid, he was outnumbered 2 to 1 and surprise was no longer on his side. Attacking would be a suicide mission. When and if he decided to attack, it would no doubt be at night and when he thought they weren't expecting it. He might also go with plan b, catch them separated and attack separately.
"But you're not too sure" Edward picked out of his head. "Sorry" he added after getting Jake's 'stay out of my head' glare.
"Just to be sure, avoid going out at night and make sure to stay in groups"
"Will do" Doc nodded
"I got this area covered!" Lil yelled from the steps. "What?" she laughed as they turned to her "Simple protection spell, geesh!" she smiled before disappearing into the house.
"She's fearless"
"Tell me about it" Jake shook his head. "She's sure everything will be just fine"
"Wish I could feel the same" Edward said in the same distraught tone he had earlier
"Maybe you should talk to Lil"
"Why is that?"
"Because she knows a lot more than we do" Doc answered
"Well I'm gonna check on the kids" Jake smirked and ran off as the bloodsucker zoomed back to the house.
He could smell Emmett and Jasper had taken the north and southwest of the area while Jess and Seth had taken the north and southeast.
"No sign of anyone" Seth reported "From the other pack, I mean"
"There is no other pack" Jake snapped "There's the pack and there's us"
"Keep telling yourself that" Jess laughed "Maybe you'll begin to believe it"
"You sound just like your sister" Jake mumbled
"Hey, guys" Seth interrupted "You've noticed how quiet it is?"
"They aint coming" Jess answered
"We should still be able to hear them" Jake said thoughtfully "Sam has them on red alert which means they'd be in wolf form"
"Separate packs can't hear each other's thoughts"
!!!
Shock washed through them, and then Jake and Seth snarled as they read deeper into her thoughts.
"Go away, Leah!" Seth groaned quickly turning into a howl.
"Cut the noise, Seth"
"Right. Ugh! Ugh! Ugh!" he whimpered, pawing the ground
"Stop whimpering, Seth" Leah groaned "You're such a baby"
"And you're such a bitch" Jess snapped
"Tell me something I don't know" she barked out with a loud sarcastic laugh.
Jake growled at her, his ears flattening against his skull. She stepped back automatically.
"What do you think you're doing, Leah?" he barked
She huffed a loud sigh "Isn't it obvious" she rolled her eyes "I'm joining your crappy little renegade pack. I can't wait to be a vampire's guard dog"
"No you're not!" he barked "Now turn around before I rip out your hamstrings"
"Like you could catch me" she smirked as she got ready to run "Wanna race, O fearless leader?"
"I can help" Jess suggested "And if you let me get Lil, she can freeze her ass in place"
Jake took a deep breath to fill his lungs until they were about to burst, but instead of screaming like he wanted to, he let out a big gust.
"Seth, go let the Cullens know it's just your stupid sister" he thought as harshly as he could "I'll deal with this"
"On it" Seth answered, happy he had a reason to leave.
"Jess, go with him"
"You're gonna let them run off to vampires?" she barked as they vanished towards the house.
"I'm sure they would rather take them on than stay here and deal with you" he smirked
"Shut up, Jake! Oh, so sorry, I meant to say, shut up most high alpha"
"The Cullens are friends, but since you don't believe that then you should know that Lil is there" Leah had no snappy comeback for that. She didn't trust the Cullens but she knew damn well there was no way Lil would ever allow anyone to hurt the kids. "Why the hell are you here?"
"You think I'm just gonna sit home while my little brother volunteers to be a vampire chew toy"
"He doesn't need or want your protection" he smirked "In fact, no one wants you here"
"Ouch, that hurts" she laughed "Why don't you tell me who does want me and I'm outta here"
"This isn't about Seth at all, is it?"
"Let her stay" Lil stated as she sneaked up on them, something not easy to do
"What?" he whined.
"As much as she hates being here, she hates it less than being with Sam"
"Shut up, Lily" Leah barked
"She'll never admit it" Lil went on, ignoring Leah's bark "But she needed a way out and this is it"
"Come on" Jake whined
"I know you guys don't like her cause she's always so bitchy" she smiled and turned to Leah "I'm sorry but you are. But she has all the right to be" she added as she turned back to him "Remember what it was like to find out you were a werewolf, and all the crap you were going through over Bella? Now imagine going through all that and on top of it being stuck with Bella day in and day out, not only watching her with Edward but hearing her every thought, constantly hearing how much she loves him. That's what Leah's had to deal with" Lil looked empathetically at Leah who stared at the floor "And then add nine dum-dums on top of that, who wouldn't be bitchy" she laughed
"My allegiance is no longer to Sam"
"You're loyal to me now?" he asked in deep sarcasm "Uh-huh, right"
"My choices are limited" she laughed "I'm working with the options I've got. Trust me; I'm not enjoying this any more than you"
"Esme says lunch's ready"Maggie said as she walked up, holding hands with Seth as he munched on a drumstick.
"Time to eat"Lil ordered"Both of you" she added with a 'don't you dare say no' stare to Jake and Leah.
"Ugh!"
"Whose you're alpha now?" Leah laughed