"What is going on here?!" I admit, I freaked out a little bit. It was a hysterical scream but what else was supposed to be my reaction to running for a week and a half in wolf form to get back to the rez only to find my sister about to be jumped by over half of Embry's pack? All heads turned to face me, a little surprised by my presence.
"Leo?" It was godmom. She was standing in the doorway of the Council building and she was extremely…pregnant. How long was I gone? "My baby boy's back." I blushed as she started walking towards me. Geez, I'm practically a man and she still talks to me like a toddler. When she wrapped her arms around, awkwardly considering her stomach I didn't miss the stone glare Emileah was throwing our way over god mom's shoulder. Someone cleared their throat.
"I hate to interrupt this sentimental moment but we have business to take care of." That's when all attention was thrown back to Emileah. Before I could question why she'd gotten herself into more trouble god mom released and snapped at the circle.
"Don't you dare touch anyone in my pack," no one reacted to her order. "I order you to stand down."
"You can't pull rank on us Leah, we're not your pack."
"I'm not pulling pack rank, I'm pulling Haven rank. You fall under Haven jurisdiction, therefore you fall under my pack. I'm alpha right now so step back! All of you!" They did as she said though none took their gaze off Emileah. I instantly ran to her side noticing how Collin had taken a protective stance next to her. Weird.
"What's going on?" I whispered in her ear. She glanced at me out of her peripheral.
"If you know what's good for you, you won't try to be on my side for this." I was confused at first then realized she must be trying to protect me. When it's obvious it should be the other way around.
"Nonsense, you're my sister, I'll back you no matter what." She rolled her eyes.
"You don't even know what's going on." I shrugged as if it didn't matter. It didn't. It couldn't be that serious, she probably just stepped on one too many toes while I was gone. God mom motioned everyone inside the Council building. I noticed that Nana Sue, Embry, and a few of the former wolves and parents were already stationed around the Elder's table. Claire was red eyed sitting next to a stoic but extremely tense looking Quil. I couldn't find Sahara anywhere, actually, nor her parents. And where was Tre? I didn't notice I stopped moving until a door reopened behind me and smacked into me.
"Sorry man-Leo?!" It was Brady. He must have just been out running. "You came back at probably the worst time. Have you seen-Collin! Oh good you found her." Brady left to join Collin, leaving me confused as to why he sounded so urgent. Who had he found? Emileah? Where had she been? Where was everyone? What the heck was going on?!
"Everyone needs to be seated." Embry spoke in an even voice but I could tell he was angry as well. I went to sit next to Emileah when I noticed that all the LaPush pack sat on one side leaving the remnants of mom's pack on the other side of the room. It vaguely reminded me of the council meeting we had with the Rez Rogues. "We're going to keep this as civilized as possible. As most of you know we are here to discuss the circumstances surrounding Old Quil's murder-" Embry was immediately cut off by shrieking and yelling from both sides of the room.
Old Quil was murdered? But who would-
Then it clicked. Emileah's fists were clenched. She was the only one I noticed not saying a word from our side, besides me. But there's no way. Emileah may be harsh but she's not a murderer of innocents.
"Embry, you have no proof that this was Emileah's doing. You're assuming-"
"Stop blaming her before you have all the facts-"
"Stop taking up for her! She did it and we all know it-"
"Embry, just tell us the verdict!" Everyone was yelling back and forth. Embry finally held up a hand to quiet everyone.
"Quil and I visited his grandfather at the hospital around 2 this afternoon. At 2:35 Emileah came into the room and requested time to visit with Old Quil. His vitals were the same they've been for the past month when we left. At about 2:41 Emileah came back into the waiting room, we rushed in to visit Old Quil because of her distressed expression. Old Quil was pronounced dead at 2:43pm today." Despite my earlier thoughts, I found it hard to not want to shy away from Emileah. Part of me didn't want to believe she could change into a monster but how could you refute such evidence. What could have happened in 6 minutes to cause Old Quil to suddenly give up the ghost without a catalyst?
"Okay," God mom started, "but you seem to be missing the actual crime in that explanation. Old Quil died between 2:35 and 2:43. What happened? How do you know it wasn't coincidence that he passed on at that time."
"Do you hear yourself Leah?" It was the first time Quil spoke. "A coincidence? My grandfather died and your daughter had something to do with it. Period." Everyone was quiet for a while before god mom spoke again.
"Then let her tell us what happened."
"And we are to believe she'll tell the truth?" Embry asked doubtful. "And even if she were to phase and show her memories, you all are biased towards her. We'll never know the truth." He was right. Who in the pack would actually give her up if she was lying and if she isn't how do we prove she's only telling the truth. If only there was a way to force her to-
I wanted to smack myself.
"Mom," she looked back at me, a little surprised I decided to speak. "Put an injunction on her. Force her to only tell the truth." God mom's eyes widened at the proclamation while Emileah's head dropped. It made me nervous, had I accidently handed her over to the wolves? Did she really do it?
"That sounds like an acceptable idea," Embry stated then looked at Emileah. "Emileah, stand before us and explain your case after your mother puts the command on you." She took in a breath before rising. Collin grabbed her arm before she made it to the front of the room.
"Emileah, don't try to fight it." She didn't visibly respond to him though I was unsure if they had a mental conversation going on. When she reached the front she turned around to face everyone.
"Emileah," God mom said, her alpha timbre coming out. "Tell us the truth about what happened when you were with Old Quil."
"I…" I was shocked. Her voice quivered, it was the most un-Emileah like thing for her to do. Was she scared? I was getting more nervous, tempted to hit myself just to get a grip. Her eyes darted around the room, when they settled on Collin. Then she took in a deep breath and stood at full height. "Quil's right, it wasn't a coincidence that Old Quil died when I was with him. It's my fault he died. But" she yelled before there was another uproar. "I'm not his murderer."
"Explain." Embry snapped.
"When I went to Old Quil the first time, I had intended on searching his memories to find out how to read the old language. I found it but my powers, I believed at first, were too much for him. That's why I thought he lost consciousness. When I translated those pages from Sam's cellar," this caused a few gasps, one from myself, "I discovered what had gone wrong. My powers are based on the willingness of the other person. If I force myself to take control in someone else's mind I can hurt them. When I saved Collin, he had total control. When I went to Quil the first time, I had total control."
"And when he died?"
"I gave Old Quil total control before he died." Her statement was met with silence as everyone contemplated the meaning of her words.
"You little she-devil," Quil broke the silence. "Are you really trying to say my grandfather chose to die and expect me to believe that? How disrespectful can you get blaming that on an old man-"
"She's obviously telling the truth," Collin interrupted with a look of immense relief on his face.
"Shut up!" Quil yelled back. Then he turned his blazing eyes back on Emileah before stomping to get right in her face. It was both terrifying and awe inspiring to see Quil shake so much without actually phasing. "You tell me to my face, that my grandfather wanted to die."
"Old Quil was ready to die." I was on my feet when I registered Quil's intention to raise his hand to Emileah who was still holding her ground. I heard a scream and figured it was Claire. Quil had stopped his open hand from actually striking my sister. Collin was being held back by Brady and godmom who was ready to pounce herself. Quil's fingers curled in as if he wanted to strangle the girl in front of him but he froze mid struggle. Emileah managed to show no fear. "He missed Marie." At that, Quil's hand dropped. He let out a breath and took two clumsy steps back from her.
"Who's Marie?" I whispered to god mom. She glanced back at me before answering.
"Old Quil's wife." I accepted the answer. I had never heard of the woman before, how did Emileah know about her?
"I never met her," Quil started, finally having gained control over his self. "She died before I was born but he used to talk about her all the time. How did you-" Quil stopped as he questioned Emileah.
"He showed me some memories of her and said he was ready to go. He wanted to be with her again. I tried to stop him but I couldn't. If I had he would have probably died anyway from my forcefulness," she admitted without looking away from Quil. "I'm sorr-"
"Don't try to apologize."
"I wasn't going to bother apologizing for what I did," she began roughly. "It's done, there's no going back. I was going to apologize for not being able to bring him back. I'm sorry for not being that powerful." Embry broke the silence that followed.
"It's agreed then, that Emileah shouldn't be charged with murder?" Embry was posing the question to the floor but his gaze remained on Quil who had yet to acknowledge him.
"She didn't kill him," Quil finally stated gravely. He turned away from Emileah and joined Claire's side again. Emileah didn't move from her spot. Embry gave a glance at the elder's council. They all rose from their seats to discuss in a back room. Collin and god mom took this moment to approach Emileah. There were whispers coming from the other side of the room, some heard some unheard. All I could focus on was the brokenness of the pack. Half the pack was missing and the present half was falling apart.
"I'm glad you told the truth," I heard Collin say softly into Emileah's ear. She didn't seem to respond, still staring in a daze. Why wouldn't she tell truth, she's relatively innocent. I glanced around the room noticing the varying looks coming from the others. It seemed as if most of the pack wasn't happy with Embry's decision. Luckily, none of the kids were present, neither was Kim. I assumed she was watching them since both Rachel and Paul were here. A few people gave me slight smiles but I couldn't return them given the circumstances.
"So, are you back or just passing through?" I turned back around to face godmom. She was rubbing Emileah's back who was still listening to Collin speaking in her ear.
"I…"I looked down not sure how to continue. I had travelled clear across the country and still had no idea how to even approach this question. What was I supposed to say? I knew when I came back I would have to answer for a lot. Why had I run? Where did I go? Why did I come back now after being gone for months without so much as a word?
Though I figured that Jacob would have at least informed the pack that I was alive. "I'm not sure." Godmom nodded then turned her attention back to Emileah. It was then that the Council returned from the back room. By Nana Sue's expression I knew whatever they came to wasn't good.
"Everyone settle down," Embry said though he didn't bother sitting down when he approached the table. "We've come to a majority decision on the crime." Majority. That meant someone didn't agree with the decision. "While it has been decided that Emileah's name should not be tarnished with being identified as Old Quil's murderer, there's still the matter of punishment for her causing him to be placed in the hospital in the first place." Collin looked as if he wanted to protest but held his tongue when Embry raised a hand. "Therefore," he continued calmly, "we have decided it would be in the best interest of all parties to invoke temporary alienation of Miss Clearwater-Foster from the Quileute Nation-"
"Are you insane, Embry?" Godmom yelled. "You're talking about banishing her!"
"Leah-"
"Don't Leah me, Call. She is 16 years old! You cannot kick her out of her home." Godmom ignored Embry's glare and turned on her mother. "Mom, how can you allow this?" Nana Sue seemed to clench her jaw even more though now she looked near tears.
"I couldn't protect her from everything Leah," Nana Sue began, her voice shaky. "She's lucky Embry took it down to only ten years-"
"Ten years?!" Godmom was back to yelling at Embry. "You're banishing my teenage daughter from her home for an entire decade-"
"Enough," Embry barked quieting everyone in the room. "Leah, if you could settle down for one moment you would realize it's not that bad. She inadvertently caused a man to die. Ten years banishment from a place that in 16 years she's probably only spent two years living max, is not that harsh. I highly doubt she considers this her home. Finally, it is obvious that the discord between my pack and yours is causing strain on everyone." He finished with a huff.
"So now you're banishing all of us?"
"No, I'm removing the source of the problems-"
"So now it's Emileah's fault that your pack feels threatened-"
"I'm doing what I think is best for my pack, and our people. Unlike your pack that has a duty to thousands, my priorities lie with the reservation." Godmom stared at him disbelief.
"You're making a huge mistake Call."
"And why do you say that, outside of it being your daughter as the one in question?" Godmom pointed at Emileah while maintaining eye contact with Embry.
"You alienate that child and you won't have a pack to look over." The statement silenced everyone. Emileah looked mildly surprised at godmom's statement, almost as if she knew something that the rest of us didn't. Embry seemed to consider godmom's words for a moment.
"What's done is done. She's banished unless I see a good reason to overturn the decision. You have three days to vacate LaPush boundaries." Embry slapped a hand on the desk, the sound echoing like a gavel stamping the verdict for a criminal. Everyone on the other side of the room started moving around. I watched godmom stomp off after Embry with Nana Sue following her. Brady stayed near Emileah and I while Collin ran a hand through his hair, by the rippling in his arms I could tell he had reached his limits and was going to phase. Emileah stood frozen, her face expressionless. Brady fidgeted before running off after a shaking Collin who decided it was best to vacate the premises. I edged closer to Emileah not sure what to do about her frozen state of…shock I suppose. I opened my mouth to address her when her radio buzzed. When Emileah made no move to grab it, I answered it for her.
"Emileah's line."
"Leo?!" It was Sahara. "Oh my God, you're back?"
"Yeah," I answered not giving much detail. "Hey where are you?"
"In Ohio still, I've been for a few months with mom and dad. They're co-running grandpa's company." That was all news to me. "Hey where's Emi? Mom, Dad, and I have been getting some weird vibes from the pack mind and I haven't been able to get a hold of her-"
"Listen Sare," I stopped her tangent. "Do you think you could head back our way?"
"Yeah, why? Is something wrong?" I hesitated and glanced at Emileah who had yet to say anything.
"You'll need to get back to Washington in the next 48 to 72 hours…Emileah just got banished from the rez."
A/N: Okay okay...my SUPER BAD! I totally was MIA for a month. But I was busy, and finals are next week but i got alot of work done. Soooo yeah. Also it was really hard to find Leo's voice again, after being in Emileah's view for so long. But here ye are a chapter. *hopes people are still reading* Thanks for reviews, i'll try to reply to the reviews in between exams...since i only have like 2 and they're like days apart lol.
