Chapter 12

Noah blinked in uncertainty, and then raising his head from his uncle's shoulder, he innocently questioned, "How you know my name?" Harry stared back at him unable to answer. His eyes fixed on his son. He trembled with excitement and fright, wanting to leap forward and take his son in his arms, but his body refused to cooperate. His legs felt like stone, no amount of willpower could make him move them forward. All was silent for those couple of moments.

But Noah's question had snapped Emily out of her disorientation.

"Sam, take Hania out of here! Go to Leah and Seth. Just get out!" Despite having a rock hard shapeshifter for a husband, Emily managed to push him physically out of the door. Emily, who had always been the sweetest and kindest, never spoken a word out of place; it was then Sam knew instantaneously something was wrong and didn't hesitate in running out to his car and pulling out of the parking lot, the car swerving dangerously along those turns. Emily whipped her head back and glared at Harry. "Mister Harry Potter," she hissed out, "What do you want here?"

"That was my son, wasn't it? Noah Hadrian Clearwater. What are you to him?"

Emily was flabbergasted this man even knew Noah, let alone his full name. Her tone changed instantly, "His mother's sister...uh…cousin. His aunt," she stuttered out. Harry's face hardened.

"Mother's…sister? Aunt? And that was your husband I presume? Uncle Sam? It's interesting how much you are pretending to care for my boy. Why is he here with all of you? Where is his mother?" Harry's eyes glared at the native Americans in front of him. In the moment he saw not Emily, but his bony horse-faced Aunt Petunia. Aunt Petunia, where are my mummy and daddy? Don't ask questions, you stupid boy! Whack. He clenched his teeth together and shut his eyes, trying to get a hold on his magic; already from the corner of his eyes he could see the paintings rattling on the walls. No, it would not do for him to lose control.

"Pretending to care?" it was the third big man that spoke, "How dare you? Emily does nothing but love that boy to bits!" Paul, it seemed his name was as Emily was trying to placate him the same way Hermione was doing for him. He brushed away Hermione's hand and stepped forward glaring at that man over the reception counter.

"Don't call him 'boy'! And yes, but for how long? As soon as her babe steps into this world, my boy will be neglected and thrown to the side. After all, blood matters most right? So I will ask you again, where is his mother?" Both Paul and Harry were glaring at each other right in the eye, refusing to look down.

"Leah sure knows how to pick 'em, huh? First person who refuses to back down away from Paul and his temper. Even got that scary thing in his eye going on," Harry heard the boy named Jared mutter. Scary eye thing? His magic must be acting up. Harry backed down. He couldn't expose in front of muggles. He looked to his side at Hermione.

"Good job at picking the hotel, Hermione. What lovely reception here! Now if everyone here does not mind, I am really jetlagged. I need some rest. The room keys, please?" Tipping the boy who picked his luggage a hundred dollar bill, the two stormed away to the assigned rooms.

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"That's him? That's Leah's imprint? He looks younger than Seth!" Paul hissed out through his teeth, his eyes wide open in befuddlement. "A 100$ tip in a motel and an Audi with a chauffeur outside? You know he's one of those rich kids gone bad. There is no way I am even allowing him to even look upon Hania. He doesn't come near the kid!"

"Shut up, Paul! Am trying to hear what they are talking about!" The shapeshifters then thanked their very prominent wolfy traits that allowed them to spy undetected on unsuspecting people. Tuning out the low mutters on the ground floor, they concentrated and followed the sounds of their two guests walking up the stairs of the small hotel. They identified the two very stark English accents from that of the gossiping girls in the basement, the couple making love on the ground floor rooms, the couple fighting upstairs, the sounds of the blenders going off in the kitchen. Even their footsteps made them sound posh, thought Paul with disgust.

"Harry…I…"

"Not here, Hermione. Let's get to the rooms. I don't want to be overheard."

The shifters laughed mockingly. Wow, was this guy in for a surprise. Even if Leah and him worked out, if he dared mutter something unknowingly Leah would eat his head off. They heard the door of one room open, the two pairs of feet shuffle in, and close with a quiet thump. Now they would start talking in another ten seconds or so. This girl seemed like she was bursting to say something and the boy, Harry, was it? He seemed to be exploding on the inside. Leah and Hania were family to the shifters, and if some rich British kid thought he could come in with a fucking lawyer and mess up their entire lives without even understanding what the imprint bond and the Quillete tribe pride were all about, he had a gang of overgrown wolf shapeshifters to deal with. Now that Hania knew the secret and he hadn't been scared of it…of course, why would he, the Quillete blood ran through his veins…they would take him and run if it came to that. This boy, what the hell did he think of himself? Coming here and dictating what could happen and what couldn't. He wanted privacy to talk did he? Now they would find all his secrets and show him who was boss. Maybe even blackmail the little sne…

"What the hell is going on?" James, the youngest shifter hissed out interrupting Paul's inner monologue. He was rubbing his ears and his dark bushy eyebrows were set together in an irritated frown. His eyes flickered to the ceiling as if trying to discern the Britishers' footsteps. It was then Paul, Jared, Collin, and Jonah noticed something was wrong. The more they tried to concentrate on finding the sounds of the couple, the more of this stupid annoying humming sound infiltrated their ears. Gosh, it was really an irritating little noise. Something was definitely up. Never before had their ears failed.

Paul sniffed the air, nothing there that lingered of their natural enemy. Strange smelling blood, but blood and heart thumps only. Yet, his eyes flickered to the ceiling where he assumed their rooms lay, something was different.

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They emerged out of their rooms about two hours later looking sleepy like anything. Despite their stiff postures which indicated they acknowledged the pack was there but were determinedly ignoring them all the same, they walked into Emily's Kitchen. The restaurant had both indoor and outdoor seating. It was drizzling a bit outside and for some reason, the Indian boys were still playing football, or soccer was it on the beach. Harry chose the bigger table near the window and started glancing at the menu in front of him. Within two minutes, a shirtless waiter with just two dungaree straps on his upper torso came up to them with a pen and a pad in his hands.

"I'm Jonah, and I will be your server today. What can I get you?"

"I'll have 'Catch of the Day' with a portion of garlic bread and baked potatoes. And for Hermione, an 'Indian Taco' on fry bread."

"Would you like to make that a Monster Bite? It's about three times the size of a regular serving."

"Three times? Who the hell eats so much?"

The boy gestured towards his own hard body and Harry was instantly reminded of the boy Paul at the reception. Yes, he could presume the boy ate so much. With his temper he seemed like he ate puppies for breakfast. Stupid Americans, supersizing everything. He shook his head and declined, adding sodas to his order. As the boy left, Harry calmly and arrogantly sized up the three boys from the reception coming up to their table, glaring as Harry met their gazes with a nonchalant attitude.

They came up and slid into the seats next to Harry and Hermione squeezing them inside till the Britishers were smack against the window. Hermione bit her lip and Harry was reminded of the time she punched Malfoy in the face in third year. God, it would be hilarious if she burst out here and punched one of these guys. But Unspeakable Harry came out and judged his position. Advantageous and disadvantageous. Advantage- he does not have to check his back. Disadvantage- Hermione was across the table and they had limited area to move. He settled for calling a bit of magic to him, it built up and his palm warmed instantly, ready to strike out of his fingertips at a moment's notice.

"So, welcome to La Push! I am Jared, this is Paul and this is Colin. We are the brothers Leah never wanted. You are Harry…Potter? Hermione Granger?" They both nodded in acquiescence. "So, here in this hotel we have many recreational opportunities. There are hiking tours conducted both individually and in groups. For individuals it is at whatever time is convenient for you. For groups. The morning tour is at 9am the afternoon at 2pm and the evening one is at 4pm. Each tour lasts about 2hours. Then there is the Tribal Lore which is basically story telling around the fireplace organized for groups. The one this evening starts at 8pm. Buffet dinner included. Then there is fishing. Bonfires. Etc. Anything you can think up, we can provide. Your package includes…"

"Enough chit-chat, Jared!" Paul hissed out from his clenched teeth, his fist curled into an angry ball, resting upon the table. "Listen up, you both. Here in this reservation and town, our reign upholds. That means you follow the three rules we tell you. Number 1. Stay away from Leah. Number 2. Stay away from Hania. Number 3- Never diss Emily in front of us. Got it, brats?"

Harry and Hermione slowly looked at one another, and then burst out laughing. Harry covered his eyes with his hands to wipe away the tears of mirth building up in them and started coughing to cover his amusement. Hermione giggled and laughed and tried to wipe away her smile as she admonished Harry by hitting him gently on the forearm.

"What the fuck is so funny?"

"Oh…oh! Please stop! 'You follow our rules'….oh man! Classic!" Harry laughed and then suddenly wiped it away from his face completely. He looked at Paul silently, staring him in the eyes and let the aura of his magic out slightly the one that made his eyes a bit hypnotic and his face appear somewhat surreal. "Listen up, fucker. Hania is my son. If I have to take him away from you lot in order to do what is best for him, I will fucking do it. Ain't no asshole in this town of yours that can fucking stop me."

Paul stumbled a bit in his seat and fell back but he was a shifter. And the meanest shifter in North America. There was no way he was backing down from this ruddy pain-in-the-ass. He sneered at Harry, "So much cussing and so many threats! Are you over compensating for something? Did little Harry-Warry not get enough love as a child that now he has to take it out on his son?"

Harry narrowed his eyes and smiled threateningly. "How quick you catch on! Yes, I grew up in an abusive household. Problem with that?" The three shifters glanced at each other and retreated in their movements. Jared glared at Paul and glanced unknowingly at Harry.

"Umm…" he started, "Yeah…sorry about Paul. He's a bit of a retard. Sorry that you know…your parents did that…yeah."

"My parents were murdered by a serial killer when I was fifteen months old. I lived with my mother's sister…uh…Aunt," he finished imitating Emily's tone. The entire company fell silent. Within a couple of seconds, Jonah came over with the food. It seemed the small part of the pack too had ordered theirs at the table. Harry and Hermione gaped as they started gulping down three giant sized burgers each with supersized sodas. Hermione was very heavily reminded of the dinners at the Burrow except multifold food and minimized number of people. She bit back disgust as bits of burgers fell from Collin's mouth and he paid them no heed. She reverted back to her steaming food and started munching slowly on them. The company had fallen into an awkward silence a gap no one was sure how to fill. Hermione glared at Harry for being such an idiot. Who reveals all that to strangers? But Harry being who he was just shrugged his shoulders and went back to his trout.

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Harry glanced at the clock beside his bed again and groaned. 4:07am. Urgh, why didn't he listen to Hermione? She had warned him. We are going to be jetlagged, Harry. Don't fall asleep until at least ten otherwise you are going to wake up super early and your body will adjust to an incorrect time. But noooo… Urgh! As soon as he had come out of the restaurant, after that weird and awkward encounter with the overgrown jocks he had fallen asleep. At like 6:30pm. But this possibly had to be the longest he had slept since…well ever. First it was Aunt Petunia who used to wake him super early to make food. Then boarding school followed a very strict pattern. Later on, nightmares. Then, being on the run. Then Auror lifestyle, being ready to be on call all the time. Then living with Ginny had given him such pangs that he hadn't understood why until later.

But the problem wasn't all this. Now that Harry had finally found his soulmate. He wasn't excited. He was nauseated. He really didn't remember her much less what her personality was like. But if a soulmate was your other half, it had to be what you needed in life right? But how did people even confront themselves when they were perfectly complete? Harry had never been perfect, no matter what rubbish the editors of the Daily Prophet printed. He had been impulsive, angry, isolationist, etc. etc. for most of his life. Could he be someone's other half? And probably the better question was…could he be a dad? Sure he was already a 'god-papa' as Teddy sometimes liked to call him and probably the only father-figure the boy could have, but with his own son? Who didn't even know he existed? Yes, he had to be, didn't he? He wasn't just about to leave. He had flown halfway across the world in that godforsaken contraption, he wasn't going to leave now if the going got tough.

He climbed out of his bed and walked towards the window. Somehow this forest made him feel at home. Maybe it was because of the Forbidden Forest feel it had going on. Maybe his wolf form, or Akela as Ron and Hermione, well more Hermione had dubbed him, wanted to go for a run. He put his hand back and twisted his wrist. His wand flew from under his pillow and into his hand.

His eyes however were trained on that spot in the forest. Two men were emerging it seemed out of the forest. Merlin's pants! They were naked! Night time rendezvous. Wow…nice. Poor Kim. It seemed her fiancée was most definitely gay.

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A/N: This came out quite a short chapter didn't it? Sorry about that. I think a couple more till Harry and Leah meet. Or maybe just one more.

What other suggestions can you guys give me? Am a little short for ideas.