Chapter Twenty Three – I Saw Her Standing There

Flashback. Four Days ago. Forks, Washington State

"Femke" Alavaro hissed tapping his wristwatch. He realized she and Egan were lost without each other, but honestly they'd been on the phone for close to ninety minutes now talking about nothing.

Femke glared at him in response and continued her conversation. Alavaro was about to open his mouth again when he heard her making kissing sounds into the receiver. He just shook his head. After three decades together you'd think they'd be past this stage.

"Let's go slaughter some Lycan" Femke said with a devious smile as she tucked her phone into her pocket. They crossed the reservation headed in the direction of Jacob's house. When they were about a mile away, Alavaro stopped suddenly exhaling hard.

"What's wrong? " Femke looked at him.

"You don't smell that?" Alavaro replied with a scowl.

Femke immediately tested the air. Alavaro watched as one side of her face curled into a smirk.

"I know what you're thinking." He growled at her. "DON'T say it"

Femke was about to burst at the seams, but she managed to contain her laughter for the moment. This sort of thing would only happen to him. They traveled the last mile at a quick pace. She could tell he just wanted to get this over with as fast as possible. He had his blade out the last half mile.

The closer they got to Jacob's garage the stronger both scents became. The loud banging coming from the garage was unmistakable, Jacob was inside. It wouldn't be long now. Femke sensed Alavaro's discomfort as he charged forward. They were about ten yards away from the entrance when SHE came around the corner and stood at the doorway.

"FOTTERE!" Alavaro screamed. That was only the beginning of a stream of swearing in Italian. It went unheard as he and Femke were still cloaked. "Why the HELL is that BITCH here?" He finished in English turning sharply and clenching his blade in frustration.

"Bitch?" Femke batted her eyelashes at him. "I thought she was your lover"

"She has NEVER been in my bed." He spat back with nothing but hate and disgust.

"Perhaps if she had been you wouldn't be so sexually frustrated, my dear friend." Femke enjoyed twisting the knife.

"I would rather spend eternity celebate" Alavaro snorted.

"Certainly she's not that bad" Femke commented.

"Enough" He pressed his hand over her mouth to silence her. "Do something useful and check her status"

Femke reached into her pocket and pulled out her phone. She dialed The Society and entered her pass codes.

"Yes, Femke. How can we assist you?" The voice on the other end inquired.

"I need a status check" Femke grumbled in German. "Samia Davenport"

"Samia Davenport is currently registered as Stand By" the voice replied. "Is there anything else we can assist you with?"

"No" Femke said disconnecting the call.

"She just went inside with her APEX." Alavaro whispered. "I think she's going to transport him."

"Someone else must want him more than we do." Femke frowned. "Mia's on Stand By"

"Private Contract" Alavaro sighed. "She only takes them from her coven and Harper. I think we can safely assume the Lycan Nation wants Jacob."

"Why would they want him?" Femke asked. That made no sense at all.

"Don't know. Don't care." Alavaro replied.

"She's probably taking him to the Compound. Maybe you could call her and …." Femke's voice trailed off as she saw the horrified way Alavaro was looking at her. He'd never call Mia even if his life depended on it. Femke hadn't spoken to Mia in some time, but she was fairly certain the feeling was mutual. She didn't understand why Alavaro had severed their bond in the first place. The Ancients intended the blades to be used in pairs. Mia held the sister blade to his own, just like she and Egan held brother blades. When used together the power between the blades had no limits. He was intelligent enough to know that, just too foolish to admit he was wrong. MEN.

"I suppose it's time to revise the master plan" Femke said as she tapped the tips of her fingers together.

********

Sam felt a little out of place as he knocked on the door of the Clearwater home. A few years ago this was where he spent most of his time. Now he felt like an unwelcome stranger.

"Sam?" Leah's mom was clearly in shock to see him standing at the front door.

"Is Leah home?" He asked shyly. This was even more uncomfortable than he expected.

"She said she was going to talk to you." Mrs. Clearwater looked at Sam uncertainly.

"We did talk, but there's something else I need to tell her." Sam nervously tapped his foot on the step.

"She hasn't come back yet, but you're more than welcome to come inside and wait. Seth is playing some new video game. I'm sure he wouldn't mind some company. I know he gets tired of dealing with two women everyday" Sue smiled at him.

"Thank you" Sam smiled back and stepped inside.

"You remember where his room is" Sue asked as she closed the door behind him.

"It hasn't been that long" Sam smiled as he walked down the familiar hallway. He stopped outside the closed bedroom door and knocked.

"Come in" Seth yelled.

"Hey Seth" Sam smiled as he came into the room.

"Sam?" Seth did a double take and with the momentary lapse in concentration lost the game. Why was Sam Uley here?

******

"Emmett, XBOX is not a word" Alice scolded as she removed his tiles from the scrabble board.

"The hell it's not" Emmett said as he put his tiles back on the board. "I used two X's and I want my triple word score."

"Emmett if the word isn't in this book you can't use it" Edward said as he held up a copy of the Official Scrabble Player's Dictionary.

"And how did he get a second X?" Bella asked. "Isn't there only supposed to be one?"

Alice flipped the both X tiles over to find that one had an H on the other side. "You little cheater" She said in surprise. I can't believe I didn't see that coming. She thought with a frown. Her sight had been letting her down a bit lately.

Emmett smiled and laughed. "Don't tell Rose, ok? I used XBOX to win when we played last night. And for the record, nothing about me is little." Emmett flexed his biceps kissing each one in turn.

The vampires shared a laugh as they sat around the large dining room table at the Cullen's home. Emmett put his tiles down on the board again.

"HBOX?" They all said in unison.

"No. It's HBO Ten. Go ahead. Look it up" Emmett leaned back on his chair and crossed his arms.

The doorbell rang and they all turned toward the sound. An instant later they caught the scent.

"Why do we have a mutt at the door?" Emmett asked Bella.

"I have no idea." She replied. Just because she and Jacob were friends didn't mean she knew everything about the pack at LaPush.

"I'll get it" Nessie screamed as she came flying out of the kitchen. She turned the knob and opened the door wide. "Oh hi" She said disappointed as Leah stood there nervously.

"Where's Edward?" Leah asked as she leaned forward to look inside the house.

Edward hearing his name got up from the table and walked to the front door. Bella and Alice followed close behind while Emmett disappeared upstairs.

"Leah, this is unexpected." Edward began "Why don't you come inside?"

"Actually, I think you should come outside" Leah countered as she backed down the steps making room.

"What's going on?" Bella asked looking back and forth between the two of them.

"It's ok." Edward placed a hand on Bella's shoulder as he passed her on his way out the door.

"Can I ask what this is about?" Edward inquired. He didn't have to glance behind him to know that Bella had just come outside and was only a few yards away.

"As if you don't already know?" Leah crossed her arms over her chest.

"Honestly, I have no idea" Edward replied in confusion.

"Tell me where Jacob is." Leah demanded.

"I don't know where he is" Edward replied.

"Like hell you don't" Leah dropped her arms and stepped forward. She was only about a foot away from Edward. He took a step backward and discreetly stopped breathing. Her smell was just offensive.

Leah stepped even closer to him "Let's not play this game." She growled. "I KNOW you did something to make him leave. Believe me when I tell you I will find out what it was. If ANYTHING happens to him, I will tear you apart starting right there." She dropped her gaze to his groin and growled again for emphasis.

"Leah, I did nothing to Jacob. We are trying to find him just as much as you are. As a matter of fact, Bella and I spent the better part of the day yesterday looking for him." Edward stared her right in the eyes. "And quite frankly, I'm a bit offended that after all this time you still don't trust us."

"I know it was you." Leah hissed. "You better watch your back Cullen, because as soon as I can prove it your little Forks vacation is going to end rather unhappily."

"You shouldn't be wasting your energy on me, you should use it to find Jacob." Edward advised.

Leah glared back at him fighting the urge to phase. He was so guilty she could taste it. But she knew she couldn't do anything until she had evidence.