Chapter 10

When a Stranger Calls

Leah lay stretched out on the carpet with her eyes closed, shaking her leg restlessly.

Raven rotated through the television channels, feeling uncomfortable with Leah's silence, and with all the far-fetched information Leah delivered to her. If she hadn't seen Jacob and Seth for herself, she wouldn't have believed any of it. As it was, she still found it hard to believe.

Jacob was a wolf and vampires had taken his sister, and Jacob thought vampires might be after Raven. She entertained the notion perhaps she'd be waking up from a strange and fanciful dream at any moment. Maybe a nurse, Leah the nurse, would hand her a glass of water and some medication because she was, in all actuality, confined to the psych ward at some strange medical institution. Or, there truly was a Twilight Zone, and Raven blindly stumbled into it.

She turned the channel to some stupid reality television show, trying to grasp a little of the "reality" to take her mind off everything that happened, and all she recently learned. She forced her mind into the program being aired. "I hate girls like that!" she spat, annoyed.

Leah opened her eyes and looked at the television set. "Don't you, though?" Leah said. "I mean... you're on television for cripes sake! Show some class."

"Not only that, but there's always so much drama going on, and the way those girls stab each other in the back for some stupid guy is ridiculous."

"I know, I hate that! You can see the prick thinks he's God's gift to women, and those idiot girls are all over him, feeding his overblown ego when he isn't even good looking!" Leah sat up, leaning her back against the love-seat.

"And where do they find those kinds of girls? Acting so prim and proper in public and then being a slut every time some random guy gets them alone. It's disgusting," Raven scoffed.

Leah nodded. "I know! It irritates the hell out me, too, but for some weird reason I still watch it."

Raven grinned. "It reminds us of everything we don't want to be."

"That's true."

The longer they talked, the more Raven grasped how much they had in common. Everything from the music they listened to, to the guys on television they thought were hot.

"Jacob will probably want you to stay in La Push tomorrow. We'll need to somehow get your mom out there, too, at least until we know it's safe. Maybe I could have a cookout. That'd be sweet. It's been a long time since I got to hang out with any girls."

"My mom will already be out there tomorrow. She didn't get to make her rounds today, because of everything that happened last night. I'm just glad she's finally resting."

"Oh, I know. Jacob told me. Well, he didn't 'tell me' tell me, but you know what I mean."

Raven nodded. "Besides, I can't do it tomorrow. My older brother is coming home to surprise my mom. I told him I'd try to get over there to pick him up without her finding out. He's flying into Seattle at two and my friend Kristy said she would drive me in the morning."

"Um, I don't know if Jacob will want you driving to Seattle alone, especially if he and Sam haven't figured things out yet. It'll be way too dangerous. I tell you what, I'll take you in my Jeep. I've been dying to take a good road trip."

"That'd be great!" Leah opening up thrilled Raven. She could see underneath her rough and tough, bitter shell, Leah was actually very sweet, but very lonely. Raven felt saddened to know the story behind it, because Leah was awesome. She deserved better than the destiny designed for her. "Can I ask you something, Leah?"

"Ask away."

"How come you didn't like me when we first met?"

Leah's eyebrows lifted. "Oh... It's not that I didn't like you. It was just that... I was jealous," she said, knocking the wind out of Raven. Catching her horrified expression, Leah chuckled. "Wait... not of you and Jacob. I'm jealous, because Jacob seems to be able to do what Sam couldn't do or wouldn't do. You know? With the imprinting and all?"

Raven nodded, pretending to know what Leah was talking about. "Could you explain that to me a little more? I'm not so sure I understood it that well. Jacob gave me so much information last night, it was difficult to comprehend it all."

"Sure. I'll give you my account of imprinting. Imprint, The World According to Leah." She snickered.

Raven grinned.

"I think of it like this: it's something like an arranged marriage. Only, it's arranged by a force more powerful than us. They say it's rare, but it's been happening more frequently than we would have guessed. Sue says we don't know everything, yet, because there has never been as many wolves at once. So, we're still finding out new things, you know? Creating or adding new legends for our posterity."

"What if someone doesn't love the person who's arranged for them? What if they love someone else? I mean, it sounds terrible, not having any choice in the matter."

"Uh huh, I feel the same, but I'm told the wolf will love the person arranged for them. In fact, I know they will," Leah said, with hurt in her voice.

Sam's imprint story came to mind, and Raven knew Leah was thinking about him and Emily.

"Sometimes we know who it will be beforehand, only it's not time for the relationship to happen... and that's the way it is with Jacob and Rene... zoh... Oh, my god! Are you okay, Raven? Shit!"

Jacob took the phone, guarding his expression from Jared, unable to look him the eyes. "Who is this and what do you want?"

"Jacob, nice to..."

"I want my family back now!" He surged with rage, vibrating as he struggled to control his temper.

"Yes, my boy. No need to delay. Let's get right to the solution," the person on the other end said.

Jacob held a rigid grip on the hotel telephone, and little fissures began to surface from the extreme pressure he was trying not to exert. Trembles of anger rolled through him as he listened to the demands for the return of Rachel, Kim, and Brady.

"We'll think about it. I need to talk it over with my pack... in twenty-four hours... tomorrow, late afternoon... No! Here at the resort."

The bald man reached for the phone, and Jacob smacked his hand away, slamming it down.

Frantic, Jared stammered, "W-what did he say? What did he want? Who was it?"

The man interrupted, "Did he say anything about my money?"

Enraged, Jacob swatted the man across the room with one blow. He bounced off the wall and fell to the floor, stunned.

Sam grabbed the teary-eyed investigator by the shirt, lifting him from the floor. "Your work here is over. If you ever set foot anywhere near our lands again, my friend Paul will tear your heart out. You won't be able to hide from us..." Sam snarled, baring his teeth. "We can smell you."

The bald man grabbed his briefcase and car keys and scurried out the door in horror, leaving everything else behind.

Jacob picked up the hotel key and shoved it in his pocket. Sam and Jared followed him out the door. He gave the details of the conversation to everyone during the ride home. "All he wants is for us to fly to Italy a week from Monday with some of his other bloodsucking friends. Create a distraction, during some celebration. He said we don't even have to fight. We could run if we want and some of his more prestigious allies..." Jacob held his fingers like quotation marks up by his temples... "will handle the rest. He told me once we complete his request, we only need to return to the airport, and they will fly us home. When we're finally on the plane and are no longer a danger to him and his allies, they will let the girls and Brady go. He said they'll be home before our plane lands. He also stipulated we needed to take at least twenty wolves."

"You said twenty-four hours. You said we had to think about it. We're going! What's there to think about?" Jared shouted.

"Quiet, Jared! I need to concentrate." Jacob's head throbbed with frustration. "There's got to be a better way than this, a faster way."

"Jacob's right. Do we really want to rush into something we know nothing about? Those Italians will make some deadly enemies. Do you literally want to wait more than a whole week to get Kim back?" Sam said to Jared and turned to Paul. "Do you, Paul? Worse yet, what happens if none of us make it home from Italy?"

No one answered.

"Sorry, Jared. I only said twenty-four hours, because he suggested we take a few days to think about it. I got the impression he wanted more time to give us more reasons to join them, to get his hands on more of our family to bargain with," Jacob explained.

Jared held his angry scowl but nodded.

"Um... Sam... um," Embry cut in, "Quil said some of your guys heard Brady a few times today..."

As soon as they reached Sam's place, everyone but Jacob phased to hear about Brady.

Finally, some good news, Jacob thought, taking a seat on the porch to wait to talk to Sam, alone.

When Sam returned, he explained to Jacob that Brady came in and out of consciousness twice, both times feeling fuzzy and sick. He felt a mixture of fear and fury as he threw himself against a cage, attempting to escape. Then he felt the injections again and faded back to silence. "This means he's close by. At least within a 300-mile radius, we know for sure." Sam sounded hopeful.

"Sam, I needed to talk to you away from the other guys," Jacob said, ready to unburden himself. "I didn't let out everything I know. I'm having trouble facing Paul and Jared, and I don't even want to think about facing Billy, especially since I found out."

"Found out what?" Sam asked.

"Since I found out I'm responsible for this. I recognized his voice as soon as I heard it. He's a Romanian bloodsucker named Stefan, and I heard his partner Vladimir in the background.

"They took part in the conflict hoping the Cullens' and their friends would defeat the Volturi, and they could regain control of the vampire world. So, I guess since the Cullens didn't do it, they intend to end the Volturi's reign themselves. That's why they want our help.

"It turns out that an annual event is about to occur known as St. Marcus' Day. Apparently, they have this big blood-sucking feast every year. Stefan said several of his and Vladimir's allies with unique gifts have already received invitations to the event. The plan is that a group of bloodsuckers with the same goal as the Romanian's will stand with us outside the city. They just want to create enough of a threat to draw The Guard away from the masters. Then Stefan and Vladimir's 'prestigious allies' will attack the higher-ups from within. They believe once they take out the masters, The Guard will fall in line."

Sam looked deep in thought.

"I've got to accept the blame for this one, Sam." Jacob hung his head.

"I thought that's what you meant at the resort," Sam replied, showing sympathy. "I'll tell you what? You take the responsibility for your own exposure. I'll take it for exposing the rest of us."

His statement baffled Jacob. "What do you mean, Sam?"

"I made the choice to stand with you that day, and I gave the order to the rest of the pack. For all the Romanians knew, the Cullen's could have brought you, Leah, and Seth from clear over in Siberia. I revealed the pack in the clearing that day, so it was me who showed the Romanians what to look for. So, chin up, Jacob, because we need to put our heads together now and focus on how to get our family back safely."

Jacob felt some relief from Sam's understanding and a surge of new hope. "Let's go tell our packs everything we know then and go from there."

He and Sam bumped fists in a show of camaraderie and both phased, leaping off the porch.

Quil, Embry, and Seth knew everything Jacob knew within an instant. If we only knew where they were hiding them, we could just go get them. Embry mentally stated.

Maybe we could get a hold of Edward and the Cullens, Seth suggested.

No way, Seth! The thought of facing Bella and Nessie disturbed him. He wondered why, and his pack heard him.

We've got bigger things to worry about, Jake. Quil thought. That's some bullshit if you don't want the Cullen's help because of...

Jacob let go of a rowdy bark, cutting Quil's comment off. That's not it! He silenced his mind for a moment. That's a little of it, Quil. But it's not all of it. The main and most important thing is this: we need to keep vampires away from here or our tribal teens will continue to transform. It's what I promised Sam, an oath I gave him when the Cullens moved away. After the conflict ended, and they left, I swore I would never call or knowingly allow vampires into the area again. We'll always regret the rampant murdering we ignored outside the boundaries of Forks and La Push to protect Nessie. We agreed we would never let it happen again. Before the Cullen's came back here, everything was fine. We didn't even know bloodsuckers existed and now that they're gone; we want to keep them gone. If I need to leave... I mean, when it's time for me to leave, I'll go with them. Far away from here, but I will never bring them back.

Jacob, how much do the Romanians know about us? Sam mentally asked. Do they know how we think?

No, Sam. They don't know we can talk with our minds. Jacob could see where Sam was headed. Now, we're thinking. If we can get them to take one of us to Brady and the girls, we'll know exactly where they're hiding them.

After listening to Jacob's thoughts, Seth eagerly still felt so responsible for Brady's capture. It's the least I can do.

Jacob, we'll convince them one of our own must witness that Brady and the girls are safe and in good health before we agree, Sam thought.

Jacob thought back, if we can get the Romanians to agree, we'll be able to rescue them. If not, we must prepare to stand with the bloodsuckers, whether or not we like it, and pray we can trust them.

Everyone howled in agreement. There's nothing to do now but wait, Sam. Stefan will contact me tomorrow.

So, that's it for now. Everyone go home and protect your families, Sam commanded his pack. Try to get some rest, and we'll meet again after Jacob talks with the Romanians.