Part 2, Chapter XIV: The chase

Disclaimer: I like to play pretend in the house Stephanie Meyer created but I really like to do renovations because I don't particularly like the finishes or the majority of the house (is that a witty enough way to say I don't own shit and think that the Twilight Universe has promise? Yeah, I think so).

Warning: This story contains Adult Content. Beware.

Summary: Charlie Swan went missing on the 12th of November 2005. They found no blood, and no body but the police had stopped looking. That's why I was coming back to Forks. I had to find my father. Follow Bella in this dark exploration of what the Twilight Universe could be when faced with the reality of wolves pretending to be boys, and monsters pretending to be high school students.

Missing Youth

by: brbbbe (Emily)

Love it's hard, I know
All your lights are red, but I'm green to go
Used to see you high, now you're only low
All your lights are red but I'm green to go

I want you
I'll colour me blue
Anything it takes to make you stay
Only seeing myself
When I'm looking up at you
I want you
I'll colour me blue
Anything it takes to make you stay
Only seeing myself
When I'm looking up at you

Troye Sivan ft. Alex Hope - Blue

Previously:

He must have heard the order in my voice, for he didn't resist. He gave me a nod, and I went back to cleaning. I was so mad – so infuriated by my father – that I scrubbed madly at the sheets enough to rip a hole in the cotton. I had been my fathers carer since I was twelve, but time hadn't made it any easier.

It never did.

JACOB

I felt him before I heard him.

The indescribable feel of panic, rolled in with an anxiousness I had only ever felt with Seth. The thirteen-year-old pup always carried himself with an unsure eagerness. He wanted so much to be able to everything right, that he often doubted every natural instinct he had.

Seth Clearwater, and his sister Leah, had phased on the same night. Leah had seen Emily and Sam that day, in the supermarket. We had all seen what she had seen, of course; when she had first phased, in the living room of the Clearwater's small home, she had been frantic. And yet beneath the panic, there had been anger. Leah had been angry at what she had seen – the sight of Sam wrapping his arm around the cousin he had left her for was enough to set her off.

And then suddenly, she had become a wolf. It had been so shocking, so completely and utterly unexpected, that Harry Clearwater knelt over and inhaled his last breath. I could remember the scene that I had found when I had ran to the Clearwater house. Sue had been screaming. Leah had been hysterical. And Seth … well, Seth watched it all before phasing himself.

That had been in January.

He didn't take to the phase as harshly as Leah had, but it wasn't like turning into a giant animal didn't have an affect on you. Seth had been our youngest, until Brady and Collin came around. And as the youngest, he was the most uncomfortable with his position in the pack. He didn't let on, but it wasn't too hard to see.

"JAKE?"

The sound of a panicked screech caught me off guard, and forced my head upwards – smacking in to the car hood. "Fuck," I swore, before I looked back to where the voice was coming from.

Seth tumbled through my garage, his thirteen year old face contorted in panic. "What's wrong?"

"It's Old Mrs. Ateara," He said, consumed by panic. I sometimes forgot he was thirteen, but in these moments, it became painfully obvious. "She's collapsed."

It took us five minutes to make it to the Ateara property. It was a lone house, surrounded by the woods and the sea. It sat atop the cliffs; dominated by the smell of sea salt and pine. It was an old house, having been built of the time of the last pack, and it had been passed down the generations. Old Quil had lived here since here he was a boy, and it had been the place he raised his family with his wife.

Molly Swan.

We called her Old Mrs Ateara, so I had forgotten that Molly was a Swan. I think most of the people on the tribe had, but I guess that's why Charlie had always been welcome on the reservation. Dad had always called him an honorary member of the tribe, and I had always wondered why; it wasn't exactly like the people around here were that welcoming of pale faces.

But it hit me, then, that Charlie was tribe. Or he had been.

Through Old Mrs Ateara.

Seth and I burst through the door, the sight of the wooden cabin filled with people. Sue stood over the lazy boy that you could often find Old Quil sitting in, talking quietly to Mrs Ateara, as if to reassure her.

"How is she?" I asked, looking to Quil.

"Not good, Chief," Quil murmured, shaking his head.

I winced, annoyed that Quil was referring to me by my technical title. I was fifteen fucking years old. I shouldn't be Chief. But tradition called for the Alpha of a Quileute pack to be Chief of the tribe. I would officially be Chief when I turned eighteen; my father still held the title, but unofficially I was already the leader of the tribe.

"How not good?" I questioned, cocking a brow.

"Her heartbeat is too slow," He said. "Can you hear it?"

"Barely," I said, before crossing to kneel before her. "Mrs Ateara, how are you feeling?"

"Like death has come," She murmured, opening her eyes for two brown eyes to peak through. Swan eyes. "Chief Black, I am honored."

Molly Swan was of the old generation. She was of the generation where being Chief actually meant something. It meant something more than hereditary bullshit and she respected it, wholeheartedly. When I had become Alpha, Molly Swan had called me to her home and had given me blessings. Like she, offerings and blessings were of the old generation and few still gave them anymore.

La Push had grown with the times – losing more and more of the traditions it once held dear. Dad had told me to cherish the giving's of those of the old generation; for they would be the last time I would receive them. Molly was nearing 70 – Old Quil had been younger than her when they had fallen in love.

She had been a beautiful woman, and she still was. Despite age, you could still see why Old Quil had fallen for her. Her chocolate eyes reminded me so much of Bella's, while her skin was the same russet color as most of the tribes, maybe even a tone lighter. When she was younger, her hair had been raven and long – always twisted into a braid.

I had known her my entire life. Old Quil and Molly were my mothers Aunt and Uncle, and so they were mine. Molly had always been in the background, whether she was tutoring me on the legends of our tribe or whether she was helping my father organize my mother's funeral. Molly had been a second grandmother to me, and now she dying.

"Aunt Molly," I murmured, my hand grasping hers. "Do you want to go the hospital?"

I knew what she would say, of course I did.

"Hítkwolli. Yapótalli. Tixwáli," She said, her weathered skin pulling together in a smile as she grasped my hand. "Don't worry for me, young Chief. The spirits are calling me, and who am I to refuse?"

"Ah, Moll, stop being a martyr," Old Quil said, rolling his eyes. "The spirits can wait another day."

"Eh!" She said, waving her hand. "Hísta lab."

I laughed, shaking my head at the woman's Quileute. "I don't think the spirits will be taking you today, Aunt Molly."

"Maybe even a few more weeks," Sue said, her hand coming to rest on the older woman's shoulder. "She's a tough one."

"Of course she is," I said, smiling. "She always has been."

Molly giggled and she put her thumb on my forehead before I stood. Uttering a prayer of goodwill to spirits, I felt the weight in her blessing before I stood. I glanced at Sue, my concern for my old Aunt weighing heavily on me. "Sue."

Sue pulled me aside, and into the kitchen – the smell of spice and herbs filling the room. "Tell me the truth – should she go to the hospital?"

"Her heart is weak, and her breathing is shallow. If I stay the night, and monitor her, she should be fine here," Sue murmured, before she rubbed her chest. "Mrs. Ateara will not go to the hospital – not when she knows a Cold One works there."

"We can't just let her die," I said, shaking my head. "If- if a Doctor could do something, shouldn't we at least … try?"

"The Doctors will say the same thing, Jacob - she is an old lady has smoked since she was fourteen. Her lungs are damaged, and her heart is extremely weak," Sue explained. "She might have a murmur, or need a new valve – either way, Mrs. Ateara will not let us take her to the hospital or to Forks."

"Are you okay for staying the night here?" I asked, and Sue nodded.

"Of course," Sue said with a nod.

"And what about getting back tomorrow?" I asked. "I can get one of the boys to come get you. I think there's gonna be a storm tomorrow."

"Oh, Jacob, for goodness sakes, I'm not incompetent," Sue said with a roll of her eyes. Very Leah. "And the weather is fine for tomorrow. They said light rain-"

"Sue," I cut her off. "I'm a wolf, remember? Trust me when I say there's going to be a storm."

"Okay," Sue said. "Well, you know what that means."

I nodded. "I'll get the guys on to relocating some of the Cliffside houses. Paul was saying the other day that a lot of the places got damaged in the last big storm. Are you okay with a few people staying at yours?"

"Of course," Sue said, nodding. "Call me with the names."

XXX

The storm came in quickly.

La Push was battered, and the cliffs took the hardest hit. We spent most of the day getting the older inhabitants of La Push to houses more inland. It was something we had to do with each storm; the roads became too overrun by fallen trees, and the forest became flooded with mud and uneven ground. It was too dangerous for those that lived Cliffside to not be inland, just in case something happened.

Storms were always the worst for us.

Patrolling, the rain swept away any scent of vampires. That was the cover storms gave leech's; it gave them protection, and a clean trail. Which is why it meant that during storms, we had to be on alert. I could hear the sound of Jared, and Paul in the back of my mind, bickering about something. Quil and Seth were buzzing as well, arguing about star wars or some bullshit like that.

Bella was pacing.

I knew that I was acting like some sort of stalker, I couldn't help it. I had taken patrol her tonight, mainly because the thought of being anywhere else when there was a storm was unnerving. Her scent had once saturated the back yard, but it had been washed away by the rain.

I hadn't seen her since I had kissed her.

I could still taste her lips, and feel her in my arms. I could still hear the whimpers she let out when I bit her lip. I could still feel the warmth she filled me with, and it burned.

She was talking to her Mom on the phone; assuring her that she wanted to spend Christmas alone. But I could tell as I saw her twist a curl around her fingers, and bit her lip, that she was lying to her mother. I didn't know much about Bella's mother, only that she had left Forks, and had taken Bella with her.

Charlie hadn't spoken about it very often, but when her name was brought up, you could see that his love for Renee burned. My Mom had once been friends with Renee, but she would never talk about her. On the odd occasion Mom would talk about Renee Swan, she would talk about her with a smile.

Bella sighed as she tried to diffuse her mother's worried tone on the phone, shaking her head as she sat down on her bed. She looked out the window, watching as the rain hit the window. Even with the distance, I could see her wide chocolate orbs, glittering beneath the light of her room.

Hey, Jake, pull the tampon out of your pussy when you phase back, okay? It's getting hard to be phased with you, Paul sneered, and I growled.

Shut the fuck up, Paul, I snapped, before I the scent of vinegar filtered through the bond. Paul?

It's going to be a long night, boys, Paul said, before he howled. I followed suit, howling so loud that I hoped everyone woke up. If it was the nomads, we needed everyone phased.

And then the chase was on.

It was the one with dreads that Paul had caught heads of. He wasn't as smart as the red head, but he was quick. Bounding off trees, he swerved through the forest – four wolves on his heels and more coming. Jared was frantically snapping at the leech's heels.

I could hear Collin and Embry as soon as they phased, and I ordered them to come to Bella's immediately. It took three and a half minute before I could hear the sound of their paws against the dirt. I took off, my nose burning as the fresh trail was being washed away by the pounding rain.

I could see the leech border the treaty line, bouncing back and forth.

Fucker is testing us, Jared snapped.

He knows about the treaty line, Paul surmised.

Is he friends with the Cullens then?

Those fuckers, I snapped, pushing myself further. Kill him. Kill him now.

On it, Paul thought, before he grabbed the leech's leg with his jaws – snapping it from the kneecap.

Yes, I thought, the satisfaction from Pauls' achievement flooding through the bond and filling everyone with adrenaline. It pumped through us as the leech let out a cry, and pushed himself up and into the tree. Get him down, and get me his head.

With pleasure, boss, Jared thought, jumping up the tree and pulling him down by the other leg.

I got there as Jared pulled the leech's head from it's neck with his jaws, and spitting it out. I phased, my hand coming to pick up the leech's head by it's dread.

"Good work, Jared. Anyone got a lighter?"

Translation:

Hítkwolli. Yapótalli. Tixwáli = I'm sick. I'm tired. I'm going home (home being related to passing over)

Hísta lab = Give me a drink

Preview:

"Hey, if you can lie I can lie," She said with a shrug. "And it's not like I've phased with you in a while – I haven't been able to see into your twisted mind since …"

"Leah," I warned her, not wanting to have this conversation here, on Christmas Eve while my pack was eating inside. I didn't need this now. Not now.

"What?" She asked, her eyes wide. "We just can't talk about what happened, now? She was my cousin, you know."

A/N: :)