Happy Hump day!

Thanks to my beta, MarinaNamaste. She's amazing!

Give me your thoughts and comments. I'm attempting a complicated plot here and I don't know if I'm pulling it off. I'd really like to hear your predictions and thoughts.

Apparently, right before Bella and I met the three leeches in the middle of the street, Sam had spoken with Dr. Fang himself. They do want an alliance and it was my job to oppose it. Blondie, the Hulk, and Solja Boi gave us some great info, we should leave it at that.

"I think we should team up with them," Sam said asserting his dominance again. I thought it was getting really old. I agreed that being the first to phase had to be rough and getting through that alone and intact was something to be respected, but it didn't make you a great leader. Truth was, I didn't want to be the Alpha, but if he was proposing teaming up with the Cullens just for numbers he was stupid. "I think you're being a little biased and it's clouding your judgement," Sam finished.

"I think his judgement is allowed to be clouded here," Leah defended me. "I don't trust the mind-reading leech any farther than Bella could throw him. He's a manipulative ass and I just know he's up to something."

"And you know this how?" Sam cut in. I rolled my eyes. Why would he even ask that question?

"Because I have experience with manipulative assholes," Leah shot back. Pain pulsed through Sam's mind and I could feel him shut down a memory.

"No one doubts that," Paul put in, not even acknowledging the double meaning. "But the only way to figure it out is to get in their circle." I saw that wisdom, I just wasn't going to bend.

"Bella is in enough danger as it is," Embry thought. "Giving them access to her would only give them an advantage."

"And no one will want to be around Jake if something happens to her," Quil defended. He was right.

"What?" Jared scoffed. "She won't be in any more danger. We'll keep her here on the rez. Charlie's aware of everything now. If Jake can refrain from impregnating her anytime soon, I don't think Charlie will object to her being here. Besides, it's not like he imprinted on her or anything." An involuntary growl rumbled through my chest at Jared's comment. He thought he was the fucking expert on love since he'd imprinted on Kim.

"Back off, Jared," Sam thought. "We have other shit to discuss and pissing Jake off is not going to be productive." That was my cue. "We're going to take the offer Dr. Cullen has made to team up to fight the redhead. If she's building a fucking army we're going to need all the help we can get and we don't need his panties all in a wad about it."

"I've had just about enough of your condescending attitude, Sam," I growled low. "I'm not teaming up with them and that's final. I just know they have something planned and our being a part of the mission will only help them."

"You will do as you're told, Jake, whether you like it or not." Sam's alpha voice pushed against my mind, but I didn't feel it bend.

"No, I won't," I returned, my tone strained with fighting the order. "I've been reading through the histories and you don't have the bloodline to command me." I felt the division begin, like a tiny rip in the fabric.

"You want to be alpha now? Are you going to fight me for it? Do you really think that having two injured wolves is going to help keep Bella safe?" he goaded me.

"I don't want to fight you, Sam. But I refuse to follow you on this. My blood leaves me that option." I turned to leave the clearing. "Are you going to try to stop me?" I let the challenge hang in the air. I was bigger than him now. I'm not quite sure when that happened, but it was just a fact. I fought every compulsion the wolf had to tear out his throat and prove our dominance, but he was right. Hurt wolves would not help protect Bella from a newborn vampire army or from simpering, emotionally abusive ones either. The wolf understood that on some level.

"No, Jake. I'm not going to stop you. But you won't be alpha." His tone was strong and laced with alpha authority. "That has to be won." The wolf and I knew that was true. I was counting on it. I let all my pent up anger, irritation, frustration, and uncertainty from the past few weeks flow through my mind and body. No words, just emotion. The pack felt it as they mentally recoiled from it.

"I don't want to be fucking alpha! You can keep it," I mentally roared. "But I'll fight the leeches that are after Bella on my own terms," I declared, a new tenor in my tone. That was interesting. "I'll take any help you have to offer, but I won't team up with the Cullen leeches." I turned again towards the trees and almost took off in a run.

"Wait?" Embry called. "You can just leave? I don't want to follow him, either." My eyes closed at his declaration. Embry always had my back. I had to stay angry, though. He made a move to follow me and Sam growled. That kept the anger close.

"You make one more move, Embry, and I'll tear you apart," Sam said. He had to keep his pack together. I understood that. If individual wolves thought they could just come and go as they wished, the pack be completely ineffective.

"You try it," Quil pipped up to Sam. "You'll have to fight three of us then because I doubt Jake will just sit back and watch you tear Embry apart." He was right and we all knew it.

"Neither will I," Leah added. I knew she'd take any excuse to leave Sam's pack. I was surprised she'd stayed phased long enough for this whole pow wow.

"Fucking great," Sam said. "Is this what you wanted Black? Are you happy now?"

"You know better than that," I answered. It wasn't like I could conceal shit.

"Wolves run in packs," Sam said, "and they need a leader to keep them in check. That's the purpose of the Alpha."

"And they should stay," I put out to the rest of them. "But I won't have my free will over ridden and I have a choice. If you try to take that choice away I will fight you. Otherwise it's just me," I gave a pointed look at Quil and Embry, "walking away." And I did.

I actually started running. It was then I noticed that that my mind was completely quiet. No one was there. I skidded to a stop. It was wonderful, the silence—in this form. I'd felt it before when I was on patrol by myself, but never without the chance of someone phasing in. I started running again and decided to do a loop along the treaty line just to enjoy the silence.

I pushed my claws through the damp earth and reveled in the speed I was able to demand from my lupine muscles. I'd never pushed this hard and I was loving it. It was almost as if I had more power now; more speed.

More control.

The trees and leaves blurred by in an emerald haze. My sense of smell seemed keener as I picked up more defined scents of pine, moss, wildlife, and earth. I mentally shouted at the freedom of not being under Sam's thumb, the stupid alpha authority, and the sounds of silence.

"Sorry, dude. You still don't get to keep it," Embry's thought ripped through my silent nirvana.

"What the fuck?" I moaned and skidded to a halt. It was probably a good thing since I was about to hit the borders of the Cullen's property.

"We get to follow you, dude!" Quil said.

Shit.

"How?" I asked. I'd felt untethered for a few fleeting moments, but now a deep sense of responsibility settled over me.

"Does it matter, Black?" Leah asked and I could just see the smug smirk that would be plastered across her face if we were in human form.

"Yes it fucking matters!" I yelled. "I don't want to be an Alpha!"

"Language," Seth chimed in. "My mom really wouldn't want you corrupting my young mind." I could feel the others laughing at his Captain America reference. But we all knew that Paul mentally revisiting his Tuesday nights was enough to corrupt a well-seasoned sailor and Seth had already been exposed to that.

"You're not going to be able to shake us," Leah said firmly. "Sam won't take us back. At least I hope not." There was a general grumble of assent through the collective. I was irritated. I was close to Cullen land and I didn't know how far Edward could hear us or if he could hear all of us through one mind. I started heading back to La Push.

"What are we going to do?" I asked them all. "What the hell is a whole new pack going to do? Where are we gonna go? Is Sam gonna let us hang around the rez? Shit!" I put all that out there hoping someone had a suggestion.

"Well, let's head to your dad's place," Embry suggested. "He'll help us figure this shit out. We're gonna have to talk to talk to the council about this anyway. Right?"

"Good thinking," I projected back. "Go there and tell my dad to call Charlie. Bella's at First Beach and I'll need to talk to her. I'll see if she can stay down here for a while so we can take her house off the patrol route. Leah, think you guys can put her up at your house?" I asked.

"Sure. She's kinda growin' on me," Leah said. "Not that we're gonna be paintin' each other's toenails and shit like that. But chica's got balls for standing up to the leeches like that."

"Cool! Bella's stayin' over!" Seth yelled. His excitement was infectious, but there was a slight hint of an underlying crush there. My wolf wasn't threatened, though. Not like he was by Embry.

"Dude! Chill," Quill quipped. "She'd not gonna be sleepin' with you." Leah snorted and we could feel Seth's embarrassment. I wondered if that was a mental blush.

"Yeah! We gotta think here," Embry said, though his thoughts were laced with a little jealousy. That got wolfy irritated, but I didn't verbalize it. I just felt like I was getting impatient.

"Okay, let's meet at my house. I'll be there as soon as I can," I said, pushing my speed again just to see how fast I could go.

"Duuude, you are running fast!" Seth said. Through Seth's eyes I could see they were all at my house already and I wasn't far out.

"Good bye, Seth," I said and pictured him phasing back so he'd get the hint.

"Bye, Jake. This is gonna be so…" and he was gone. I sure hoped to all that was sacred he wasn't going to say "fun." This was not fun.

"Jake," Quil thought tentatively, "I need to tell you something, man." He was the only one left.

"What is it?" I asked concentrating my efforts to get there as fast as I could to sort this mess out.

"I've really been digging into the histories these past few weeks trying to understand all this shit about imprinting and I found something really interesting," he said. Quil always was a tribe nerd. After we all phased and he was left alone for so long, he really dove head first into them. I think that's why he took to phasing and the wolf lifestyle so readily and happily. After imprinting on someone so young, I could see why he'd want more information.

"And what was that?" I asked. I was getting close to my destination and I wanted this over quickly.

"Well, you're an Alpha, now," he said like I didn't already have that epiphany, "and they have certain abilities and privileges. And I think you'll really like one that isn't that widely publicized."

"What, Quil?" I was impatient with him, and I shouldn't have been. If I was going to be an alpha, I really needed to know this shit to be a good one.

"Okay, but you're really going to like this," he teased. Now he was just fucking with me.

"WHAT?" I roared so loud it came out of my throat as a howl.

"Alphas can choose their imprint," he said. And then he phased leaving me in silence.

The wolf settled and relaxed. But me, Jacob, the man, I didn't know what the hell to think. I'd almost reached the borders of our land and I phased back. I didn't want to chance others hearing these thoughts.

I could choose to imprint on Bella. Choose it. The wolf in me purred. He fucking purred like a cat. He liked that idea.

In fact, I noticed that for the first time since I'd phased, the wolf wasn't fighting me. All the hazy, confusing shit was suddenly sharp and crystal clear. I knew what I had to do and I could see many different ways to accomplish all those things-from the new born army to my relationship with Bella.

But would Bella want it? Would Bella want to be tied to me irrevocably? I wouldn't subvert her will in all of this, either. But what if she didn't want it? I didn't know if I could live without her. Maybe that's why it was a choice. The Alpha needed a dependable and supportive mate; one who chose the life. I'd have to talk to Quil about this more and get more details. But I had other things to attend to right now.

There were now two packs in La Push with opposing views on how to protect the people.

Shit.

A/N: Leave me your thoughts and predictions. :)