Chapter 25

Pack Meeting

Seth, Leah, and Kori were sprinting through the forest, making their rounds quietly while Jake was doing something at the Cullens' place.

Seth suddenly skidded to a halt, his shoulders stiff and ears perked. Leah and Kori put on their breaks and followed his gaze, and thoughts. Footsteps were headed their way, several of them by the sound of it. Kori lifted her nose to the air, managing to catch the scent of wolves before her pack mates. She threw her head back to let out an alert howl.

They almost immediately felt Jake phase in as he hurried to get to them.

"What's up?" he asked tensely.

"Some of Sam's pack. Can't tell how many yet. They're headed this way." Seth answered hurried, his ears perked to catch any sound out there. Everyone knew he had the best hearing out of all of them, while Kori had the best sense of smell.

They felt the strange yet familiar sensation of shimmering in the air.

"Someone's phasing?" Seth guessed in confusion. What were they playing at?

Jake slowed to a trot and walked up to the point. Seth stepped up to Jake's right shoulder, Leah took his left a little less enthusiastically, and Kori moved to Seth's opposite flank, figuring the Clearwater's had seniority over her.

"So now I rank under Seth." Leah grumbled.

"First come, first served," Seth thought smugly, "'sides, you were never an Alpha's Third before. Still an upgrade."

"Below my baby brother is not an upgrade."

"At least you're something, I'm just a random member." Kori answered, not really caring what position she held. As long as she wasn't alone, she was fine with whatever she got.

"Enough, all of you." Jake ordered as he stared into the trees, waiting for whoever was coming their way.

After a few moments Seth said, "Three wolves, one man. Still can't tell who yet."

"We'll see soon enough." Leah answered.

Like Leah said, after a few moments four figures stepped into their view. Jared was in the lead in human form with three large wolves behind him. Kori almost flinched when she saw who was standing before them. Paul, Quil, and Collin.

Was Sam trying to hurt them by sending the three wolves that would have the largest impact on them? When Kori thought about it, she figured that's exactly what Sam was probably doing. He knew having Quil there, that might weaken Jake's resolve, as Paul would for Kori, and Collin for both of them being their younger cousin. But then why would he send Jared instead of Embry?

"Cause if he sent all of them, who would be around to stop any of them from joining this pack?" Leah asked rhetorically, answering Kori's thoughts, "Jared's here to make sure no one else jumps ship."

"Makes sense." Seth agreed.

Kori's eyes scanned over her former pack brothers. She didn't like not being able to hear what they were saying. They all had blank expressions. And Paul was pointedly looking away from her. She couldn't tell why, though. Did he hate her? Or was it too painful for him to see his little sister on the opposite side?

Jared cleared his throat and looked straight at Jake. "White flag of truce, Jake. We're here to talk."

"Think it's true?" Seth asked nervously.

"Makes sense, but…"

"Yeah,…but." Leah agreed with Jake's unfinished thought.

Jared glanced among the renegade pack. "It would be easier to talk if I could hear you, too."

Jake simply stared him down until he sighed. "Okay. I guess I'll just talk then." he started awkwardly. "Jake, we want you to come home."

Quil whined softly, pawing at the ground with one front paw.

"You've torn our family apart. It's not meant to be this way. We know you feel…strongly about this situation, but this is an overreaction."

Seth growled, his muscles tensing against Kori's shoulder. "Overreaction? And attacking our allies isn't?"

"Seth, ever heard of a poker face? Cool it."

"Sorry."

Jared glanced at Seth before looking back at Jake. "Sam calmed down after you left and talked to the Elders. They've decided immediate action is in no one's best interest at this point."

Leah snorted. "Translation: They've lost the element of surprise."

"Sue and Billy agree that we can wait for Bella…to be separated from the issue. None of us are comfortable with the idea of killing her."

Jake snarled. "So they don't feel comfortable with murder, huh?"

Jared raised his hands as a sign of peace. "Easy Jake. You know what I mean. We've decided we'll wait a bit, reassess everything, and decide later if there's a problem with the…thing."

Kori couldn't help it. She snarled at his choice of words. Thing. Fetus. Demon spawn. Monster. Why couldn't anyone just call it what it is? A baby!

Jake's head snapped around and he snarled at Kori, making her crouch and look at the ground. Jared and the others watched in tense confusion, not knowing what was being said or thought by the renegade pack.

"If that's how you feel, why don't you start your own pack?" Jake snarled coldly.

"I'm sorry, okay! It was instinct!" Kori whimpered, her belly in the mud.

"Jake?" Jared asked.

Jake sighed.

"Leah, Kori, make a circuit."

"Give me a break, Jacob. Just phase. Despite my best efforts, I've seen you naked. Doesn't do much for me."

"And I used to take baths with you when we were little. It's nothing I haven't seen before." Kori added, trying to lighten the mood as she stood up again.

Seth and Leah snorted in laughter while Jake glared at his little sister.

"Leah."

"Fine." Leah turned and bolted into the trees, leaving the others behind.

Jared and the others watched the bushes she'd disappeared into with wary expressions.

"Where's she going?" Jared asked. By the time he looked back Jake was in his human form. Kori pointedly looked away from her brother. "Oh, hi Jake."

"Hey, Jared."

"Thanks for talking to me."

"Yeah."

"We want you to come home, man."

Quil whined again.

"It's not that easy, Jare."

"Come home." he pleaded, "You don't belong here. Let Kori, Seth, and Leah come home, too."

"Believe me, I've been begging them to do that from the beginning."

Jared thought silently for a moment. "So, what now, then?"

Jake was quiet as he thought it over. "I'm not sure, but I don't think things can go back to normal, Jared. It doesn't feel like I can turn this Alpha thing on and off when it suits me."

"You still belong with us."

"Two Alphas can't be in the same place, Jared. Too competitive."

"So you're just going to hang out with the parasites for the rest of your lives?!"

"I guess we'll just see how things go."

Jared narrowed his eyes before turning to Seth.

"Sue asked me to tell you-no to beg you- to come home. She's broken, Seth. Alone. I can't believe you and Leah are doing this to her, just barely when your dad died-"

Seth whimpered and Kori instinctively stepped in front of him, snarling a warning at Jared before turning and brushing her nose against the top of Seth's head.

"He's right." Seth whimpered.

"Seth, ignore him. My dad, Sam, and Old Quil are with her. She's fine. Everything will work out."

Seth didn't answer, just buried his face in the fur of Kori's neck.

Jared examined the two for a moment. "What about you, Kori?"

Kori's ears went flat to her head, knowing what he was doing.

"How can you just abandon your dad, who's confined to a wheelchair, and your sister? You hate Bella! Everyone knows that!"

"Rach and Paul can take care of him." Jake pointed out quietly, feeling guilty for leaving their father the way they did.

Jared glanced at Paul before looking back at Kori, ignoring Jake for the moment.

"Paul's going to kill me for telling you this, but him and Rachel aren't exactly on good terms right now. He's been sleeping outside your house in wolf form 'cause Rachel's mad at him for all this."

Kori glanced at Paul, who was glaring at Jared's back.

"Jared, lay off." Jake ordered, taking a step forward. "Playing off their emotions like that is out of line. 'Course, you two are free to go if you want. You know that." he added, looking back at the younger wolves.

Seth and Kori both snorted. They weren't going anywhere.

The bushes rustled before Leah slid into view, taking the point in front of Seth.

"Leah?" Jared asked.

When she met his gaze her lips pulled back over her teeth.

"Leah, you know you don't want to be here."

Leah snarled at him, "You don't know what I want." even though he couldn't hear her thoughts.

Seth nudged her with his shoulder. "Calm down, Lee."

"Sorry, guess I shouldn't assume. But you have no ties to the bloodsuckers."

Leah kept her mind blank as she pointedly looked at Seth, then Kori, and finally Jake. What was that about?

"Alright, so you want to look out for Seth, I get that. But Jake and Kori would never let anything happen to him. You know that. He wants to be here." Jared grimaced slightly. "Anyway, please Leah. We want you back. Sam wants you back."

Leah flinched and Kori stepped forward in case she needed to hold her pack sister from going for Jared's throat.

"Sam asked me to beg you. Like, literally get down on my knees and beg you to come back. He wants you home, Lee-Lee," Leah flinched at the old nickname Sam gave her, "where you belong."

Leah's hackles rose when Jared finished his sentence.

"You stupid, damn, son of a-"

Kori flattened her ears against the string of profanities Leah was letting out, though it did no good. It was in her head. She also seemed to be snarling the words as well, so Jake and Jared had no trouble guessing what she was saying.

"I'm going to go out on a limb here and say Leah belongs wherever she wants to."

Leah growled in agreement. "Damn straight."

"Look, Jared, we're still family, okay? We'll get past this feud, but until we do you might want to stick to your own land. Sam wouldn't want a family brawl, right?"

"Of course not!" Jared snapped. "We'll stick to our land, but where's your land, Jacob? Vampire land?"

"Nope, homeless for now. But this won't last forever. There's not much time left, okay? Then the Cullens will probably leave; and Seth, Kori, and Leah will come home."

The three wolves named whined, turning to look up at their Alpha.

"What about you?" Jared asked quietly.

"Probably head back to the forest. Can't really stay here. Two Alphas means tension. Besides, I was heading that way before this mess started."

"What if we need to talk?"

"Howl, but stay at the line, alright? We'll come to you. And tell Sam he doesn't need to send so many. We're not looking for a fight."

Jared scowled as he nodded, probably not liking that Jake was setting the conditions instead of Sam.

"I'll let him know. Bye Jake."

"Yeah, bye Jared. Hey, tell my dad that Kori and I are okay, will you? And that we're sorry and that we love him. Same with Rach."

Kori yelped in agreement, feeling Seth nudge her with his head.

"I'll pass that along."

"Thanks."

"Lets go, guys." Jared turned to head into the bushes to phase.

The other three hesitated and Kori met eyes with Collin. She glanced at Jake, who was talking to wolf-Quil.

She hesitantly crossed the clearing to meet up with her cousin. Collin whined and bumped his head against hers. Kori pulled back a little and nuzzled his head with her nose before looking over at Paul a few steps away. His massive head was held high and he was looking into the distance, but she could see him watching her out of the corner of his eye.

She took a couple hesitant steps until she was right in front of him, scanning his face in an attempt to see what he was feeling.

Slowly, nervously, Kori stretched her neck up and nuzzled her face in the thick, silver fur of Paul's neck; breathing in the warm, woodsy, familiar scent.

She heard a sigh just above her head before Paul lowered his head to rub his chin along her back, a wolf version of a hug.

Kori whimpered quietly as a couple tears ran down her cheeks, wetting her fur. A low rumbling came from Paul's chest, right where Kori's ear was. Not a growl, more of a purr.

A loud, commanding bark in the bushes caused Collin, Paul, and Quil to look over into the distance.

Kori stepped away and looked up, meeting Paul's eyes. He was angry, frustrated, and scared. He didn't want to fight her any more than she wanted to fight him.

Another bark, more impatient than the first, sounded loudly from the bushes. Jared clearly wanted to get going.

Paul growled in frustration before he leapt away into the bushes, followed closely by Collin and Quil.

"Was that okay?" Kori turned around to see Jake had phased back to wolf form and was glancing anxiously between the other three pack members. "Did I say everything right?"

"You did great!" Seth urged.

Jake sighed in relief. "Alright; Seth, Kori, you two mind making a few rounds while Leah and I crash for a bit?"

"Sure!" they both agreed happily before bolting through the trees. Jake and Leah shook their heads at the two hyper pups.

"Kori got dropped on her head a lot when she was little." Jake explained.

"Seth too. And he used to chew on the crib bars, too."

"Lead paint?"

"Looks like it."

"Real funny guys." Kori snorted.

Seth agreed. "Just shut up and sleep."