As always, I want to thank Stephenie Meyer for dreaming up Twilight, and for putting up with all her fans, like me, who like a good twist on a dream. All characters are lovingly borrowed for entertainment purposes only, as well as all quotes and chapter titles, which are or based off of famous works and quotes. (The new groups: Anica and her family and Embry's new friends are mine, and I'm quite proud of them, and how I've wound them into the Twilight universe.)
THIS IS A REPLACEMENT CH, NOT AN UPDATE. I REALIZED TOO LATE THAT ONE OF MY STORY POINTS MADE NO SENSE. ALICE STILL CAN'T SEE WOLVES. HENCE, I ADJUSTED IT. HEH-WHOOPS.
It seems like this Author's note should be longer than the rest of the chapter based off of how long it's been since I've updated this story. I've been struggling with a play that I've been working on and other changes in my life. Part of me has just wanted to revise this story and start over, because I feel like if I can rewrite some of the chapters, I can make them better. But on the other hand if I do that, this story will never come to an end! I think I've done pretty well since I still only have vague story points in my head that I'm working toward and no true outline. It's been great experience. And if I have any readers left, I thank you all for finding me once again!
Doing Good
"In the waythis strange gentleman was going on, he would leave the world without having done any good to himself or anybody else." -Around the World in 80 Days, by Jules Verne.
Chapter 14- Intrigues and Tragic Self-Preservation?
"We cannot destroy kindred: our chains stretch a little sometimes, but they never break. -Marquise de Sévigne
POV: Leah
Time: Evening of the double attack (Leah, Eli,) day 12
Place: Back in the library, Emil's Vineyard.
Anica broke me from my excited reverie and led me back to the house.
"Well now, that was excitement enough for one day," she mused with a brief smile. It didn't last though. We couldn't stop staring at each other. The others seemed to know to automatically keep back, and we walked straight into the library. I barely paid attention to my surroundings until Anica shut the door.
"Shouldn't your family be involved in whatever we talk about? What about your family in Romania?" The seriousness of the partnership was beginning to break through my excitement, and Anica could probably sense that, but I added, "I can't fully commit to anything without my Alphas' involvements, both of them, if you'd like to ally with us formally. I can only tell you what I think."
"That's exactly what I want right now, Leah, but first, there is something I must explain to you before we move forward." Anica was abruptly looking deadly somber- no, it was worse than that. It was downright depressed and…broken. I'd never seen such sadness on her face before. I was instantly unnerved. Anica sunk into a sofa, and I sat next to her.
"Do you need something? You must be so tired. Forgive me, but where did you get that strength after all these years?"
"Now you know the answer to that, young Layah. Tell me you would not find the strength if you were in my situation. A leader of shape-shifters must always have it. For the sake of their family, their people, their magic…"
"Of course, I'm being silly. You're right."
"It's not silly my Lay-ah, for I cannot hide the true pain of my family for what has happened tonight. Killing that Czech man was a terrible tragedy that has stolen most of my strength. I will recover slowly, but not easily, it will be…"
A single tear broke through Anica's resolve. Pain completely destroyed her usually dignified confidence. I was shocked. I threw my arms around her as I spoke.
"I don't understand! He would have killed us; I thought he was your great…" I was interrupted by a pounding knock on the door, "your great…"
"Maică!" It was Lucian. "Mama, let me in!" he shouted.
"Enemy?" I finally finished. Anica could not hold back in response to her son's calls. She sprang up and shuffled to the door as fast as she could. She opened it and fell into Lucian's arms. His disposition almost matched his mother's as he comforted her. She kept trying to stifle her sobs, but she couldn't. I couldn't hear what he spoke at first, but then he asked loudly, "did you tell her? She needs to know."He looked up at me. Anica continued to cry softly but didn't answer.
"She told me the death of her enemy is a tragedy?" I began uncertainly, but thinking there was one thing I certain of. I meant my next assertions to be caring and reassuring. "We did what we had to. I take no happiness in murder, but if it's us or a werewolf, I'm choosing us…."
"Dariusz was not always our enemy. Tonight marks the end of an era in our family, a great sorrow, which I hope can finally begin to heal. But not without serious pain." He indicated Anica, who turned out to face me. She was quiet, but did not wipe the tears from her eyes this time. I held out my arms, and after a brief second, motioned for Lucian as well. The three of us hugged as only shape-shifters can. A normal human would have snapped in half. Anica wasn't yet that weak. Anica pulled back from the hug and spoke in a hoarse whisper, "Dariusz was my first husband- Lucian's father."
The only proper response was to drop my jaw, so I did.
She continued more vigorously, "The werewolves stole him many years ago and turned him against us. He had no idea who he was attacking. The Dariusz I knew died many years ago, but I could never properly grieve when he lurked among my enemies, one and the same, turned against all he held dear. Still, I never thought I would be the one to destroy him."
"That werewolf was not my father, Mother." Lucian spoke up. "The werewolves took the man we knew. Our sadness is for your pain, for your lost love."
"You knew him well Lucian?"
"Yes, I was almost a teenager when he was bitten. It was before I transformed fully into a Lynx, but with Anica as a mother, there didn't seem much doubt that I would. My father was passed 375 now. My mother is over 400. 350 years have passed, and she still misses her Dariusz. I do too, really, but I expected to lose my father one day. He was human. He should have been allowed to die a long time ago. Not like this."
"But I thought Gabriel was your soul mate?" I asked her.
"Yes. But one may love more than once in their life, yes?" Once again, Anica was so profound. For my own sake, I hoped that she was exactly right. Thankfully she seemed to be calmer and closer to her usual self. I realized this privacy was more for Anica than for catching me up on family history. I was glad she had it.
"I'm honored that you would let me in emotionally at a time like this." I told her. "And I'm sorry for your loss, no matter how long it's been. I've met vampire couples over 300 years apart, and it seems to make no difference in love," and I addressed Lucian, "still, Dariusz will always be your father. I'm glad you have good memories."
Anica nodded. Lucian smiled at me, squeezed my hand once, and departed. I gave Anica another hug.
"He's very impressed with you, you know- saving my life was only the final confirmation. But he is not one to lavish praise at every moment," Anica commented.
"I'm glad. I like him too. You must be proud of him," I said.
"Yes, I'm proud of all my family. I knew Emil would come around given the appropriate inducement, he is not stupid, and the others are smart enough to follow my lead." Anica chuckled once, and then sort of sighed and yawned at the same time. I helped her from the library.
"You need rest."
"Of course I do, but not until I finish the business that must be attended to. I must tell my family of a legend that was passed down to me as a little girl. I've never spoken of it because I never dreamed that the legend would ever come true again, in any of our extended lifetimes, but it might just have tonight. I'd like everyone's opinion on what is to be done next, including yours, based on what you can tell me."
"More new information?" I squeaked. "Well, I'll certainly try."
"But of course! That is life!"
POV: Embry
Time: Late evening of Day 16
Place: The coast of Norway, somewhere
Even though Lia and I had rushed as fast as we could to find her cousin Alin, it had still taken four days to get to Norway. We had decided that we were not vampires, and therefore, we couldn't simply swim across the North Sea even if it wouldn't tire us. We'd still have to stay too close to the surface to come up for air, and neither of us had any idea how to fight off any whales, sharks, and/or who knows what we'd come across in the waters. We might be spotted by any passing boats. We couldn't take the risk. Instead, it turned out that the Lynxes had about as much money as the Cullens, (how did anyone else have anything?) and the same kind of access to a number of accounts. We each bought 2 new international cell phones with sturdier cases; new clothes, a better backpack, and Lia had finally called her family in France and Romania to explain what'd happened to her. She spoke to her grandmother Anica, and we found out that both she and Leah were just fine. She was thrilled with Leah's talents, and adamant that Leah had performed a miracle in saving her and her son's life. I overheard Leah yell that she was just as grateful to Anica for her help, and I made sure to thank her for saving our Sister wolf. Lia took the phone back then to playfully reprimand her grandmother for being too modest. She was still in awe over the thought of her grandmother as a Lynx- that much was obvious. They seemed to agree with our plan. Anica never turned the phone over to Leah, there was still too much to deal with. I wasn't ready to try and hash out what all these new problems would mean for the two of us.
The next part of the plan was to try to get to Oslo unseen, and hopefully find Alin there. Alexandru called us back yesterday to tell us he'd managed to successfully get a hold of Alin through their mind link, and that he should bring Fayina to meet us, if he could. He also told us that Sam had contacted him through their way of communication, and that he would fly to meet us whenever there was a good chance we could organize ourselves and meet as a larger group. I'd kept a constant look out for Uta, Nic, and Rodika, but I never saw them. Either they were good at subterfuge and concealment, or we were simply being too cautious and it was all a big coincidence. Frankly though, I'd mostly stopped believing in coincidences after everything I'd been through in the supernatural world. Everyone seemed to know of each other, somehow.
We'd become stowaways on a massive cargo ship bound for Oslo itself, but we slipped into the water, (this time with waterproofed supplies) at the first sight of land. Going blind into a city was suicide. I found an abandoned shack this time, filled with old fishing gear, it looked like. Lia feel asleep almost immediately. As I finished settling her in, I looked down because my phone vibrated. It was Jacob.
"Jake- anything new?"
"Are you safe?" He asked anxiously.
"Yes, finally hit land. No one's around- do you have news for me?"
"Yep. We've got news alright. Alice has finally checked in. We weren't worried or anything, but it was weird."
"Isn't she always?"
"You know what I mean."
"Right, well, what'd she See?"
"She and Jasper are tracking right now, so she had to keep the call short. She wanted me to ask you about going when you went to the pub with Leah- was there a guy there who wanted to buy her a drink?"
"Oh geez. So much happened afterward that I can barely remember the guy's face."
"Right, right, I won't go there. But how about the bartender- you remember him?"
"Yes! He assumed Leah and I were together, asked if we had any kids. Leah got so upset."
"Oh right, shit wow! Leah told us. Understandable…"
"Well Alice saw him come to work in a noisy pub, start his shift, talk to that other guy who was approaching anything with a chest, and then her vision cut off...when you wanted to go out she assumed it was you two she saw."
"Right, and then what?"
Jacob sighed. "The day after they left Paris she got a flash of the same two guys burning."
"Burning? As in?"
"Yep- newborns on your tail. Except their creator's now been destroyed, thanks to you."
"Cole?" I couldn't believe it.
"Yes."
"But how did Cole find us in the first place? Was he tracking all of us in London? How would we have missed a vampire?" That'd be insane.
"Alice said Jasper thinks there was a comrade of Stefan and Vladimir's who happened to be in London when we arrived. He'd heard of him in his past life in the time of all his battles with Maria, but didn't know him well. He might have recruited Cole, but maybe not. His name is Jacques, and he spends most of his time keeping tabs on the Volturi from the protection of the Alps. It doesn't seem like the Volturi believe him to be enough of a threat, but he reports back to Stefan and Vladimir sometimes. A week ago, Alice was able to pick up his trail while they were looking out for any Volturi guard themselves. They never made it to the Lamborghini factory. They've managed to pick up tidbits of information that Jacques isn't troubling to keep quiet. They can't quite tell if he's purposely trying to lead them somewhere, or if he's carelessly underestimating Alice and Jasper. From the clues they got, it seems Cole was wrangled in by someone to help out, but they can't tell who exactly. Stefan and Vladimir have enough acquaintances, when they want them."
"But wouldn't Stefan and Vladimir still choose us against the Volturi? Have they decided we're an enemy as well?" I asked anxiously. I couldn't be too surprised. Wasn't everyone always against us?
"Jasper figured that they might be trying to separate us Wolves from the Cullens, figuring we're more closely related to the werewolves- (which are Caius' particular enemy, and probable allies of Stefan and Vladimir.) I don't think they trust the Cullens as much. We can't tell if they know about Wolf imprinting, but they know how it works for Lynxes… Catching a run-away Lia might have been a way to blackmail us, or perhaps they instructed Cole to simply keep her from escaping long enough to try to convince you to join up against the Lynxes. They couldn't have factored in Leah making a connection with Anica. We don't know how much they knew about all of our relationships. Maybe we're completely wrong. Alice couldn't talk long enough for us to debate the possibilities."
"Sounds complicated. Could it be someone else other than Jacques?"
Jake responded quickly, "Alice thinks Jacques was involved somehow. He knows too much, but there could be others, absolutely."
"Does Jacques know Fayina?"
"He's hasn't mentioned any names explicitly, so we don't know. But Fayina was probably supposed to meet someone in Norway before traveling to Amsterdam. That's the other news. Alin called me this morning- I gave Alexandru our phone numbers when he contacted me through the link. He's in Oslo, so he's staying human to blend in." Jake gave me his phone number. "Check in with him, especially if you need help getting into Oslo inconspicuously, but not too often. Alin almost always has someone stalking him, vampire and werewolf alike, since he's Alexandru's second in command. He's found traces of Fayina's scent in Oslo, but so far, there's no set pattern. He can't tell when she was there."
"That's too bad, but it sounds like a start. I'll talk to him myself before I sleep."
"Sounds good."
"How are you all holding up?" I asked.
"Most days it's pretty calm here except for the updates we get about the latest drama. The attack was the worst. I'm spending most of my time keeping Nessie occupied, but Bella and Edward take her running locally when you all need me. It's hell being away from her. Thank God I don't need to come see you all yet."
"Don't worry Jake; we won't pull you away from her."
"If you ever do, we'll have to figure out another safe location. The Cullens will back us up where ever I need to be."
"I'm sure. It'd be nice to have them meet the Lynxes too. The more allies, the better, really."
"Yeah, well not tonight. Get some rest- you've got a darling family member of your own to look after now. Although it sounds like she's a bit fiercer than Ness, so far at least."
"But I don't even want to think about who she might imprint on one day. She's so young! I'm so not ready for that. Oh God, do I really have to introduce her to the guys at some point? I think I have a better understanding of what Bella's going through now, even just being her brother. You better take care of Ness!"
"Oh come on, you know me…"
"Yes, but I'm not used to worrying about hugely under-aged young ladies. This is new to me. It's hit me hard."
"Would you rather not have a chance of witnessing your imprint's birth then?"
"That is if I even have one. And no, if it comes to that, but I can't imagine dealing with all the pain of loving her mother like you did- oh shit- you don't think I'll somehow imprint on Leah's daughter, do you?"
"Considering Leah's currently single, I doubt it. I doubt history repeats itself that closely. That'd be horrible irony, too weird, and just plain cruel."
"I agree."
"You still want Leah though?"
I considered for a millisecond. "Yep, I do."
"Well then I'm pulling for ya. Sam is too, ya know."
"I know, he told me himself."
"You guys both deserve good people."
"Thanks Jake. Right now I deserve some sleep."
I could hear Jake's smile in his voice. "Absolutely. Night Embry."
"Night, Alpha. And thanks, too you know, for everything."
"Sure."
I hung up the phone and walked over to where Lia was sleeping on a cot that seemed to be missing most of its stuffing. I lay down on the wood floor next to her and quickly fell asleep. Thankfully thoughts of Leah couldn't penetrate my exhaustion tonight. I was simply too tired.
Poor Anica, huh? And all the Lynxes really. Tragedy, indeed. I was kind of wondering if I should have held this info back on Dariusz' identity, but then I figured in building a relationship between new allies, that wouldn't be something Anica would hold back. I think she might have if she could, but it's too important. And Embry and Lia are still on the hunt for Fayina, as it always gets more complicated! You knew you could count on Alice to See something even if it breaks off, and Jasper will keep her nice and protected, even though she doesn't need it. :P Let me know what you think! Thanks.
TE