Disclaimer: Twilight belongs to Stephenie Meyer, not me.

Author/Note 1: This story is the sequel of Alpha. As it would be expected this is a next-generation story and as such, it's focused on Jake and Leah's children.

Stories of the same collection:
Our Dawn 1
Our Dawn 2
Our Dawn 3
Our Dawn 4
Our Dawn 5
Our Dawn Series Specials
Alpha - divided into four parts: Book I (The Third - Isaac Black); Book II (The Protector - Harrison Black); Book III (The Challenger - William Black); Book IV (The Matriarch - Sarah Black).

A/Note 2: A huge thank you to everyone who reviewed Our Dawn Series and Alpha.

A/Note 3: I'm not a native English speaker so I'm sorry for my grammar and spelling. Thank you for reading.

Alpha: Next Generation

Book I - The Third

Isaac Black

The Armadillo Fort's Battle – part 1

The story about my death was not as exciting as everyone believes it was. People saw me as the victim and the hero of the Armadillo Fort's Battle but I was also the bad guy. I was young and eager to put a stop at the Romanian Coven's aspirations to rule the world and I thought my plan would work. I should've known better.

Every time I heard the story it was like reliving that day over and over. The memories flood my mind, transporting me to Italy one more time.

Ten years earlier

We had to cross Italy from coast to coast since the Armadillo Fort was located on the mountains behind the city of Imperia, on the country's west coast. Apparently, the majesty of the name of the city that means "Empire" had somehow attracted Jane when she was searching for a place to build the Volturi's safe hideout.

It took us almost three days to get there. We had arrived at dawn and because it was still dark, we decided to wait. Even if the Volturi had sentries, watching out the perimeter, we were out of their range, so we decided to wait until the sun was in the sky.

Out of the three of us, I was the only one who needed rest. Shannon and Sage were vampires, they never got tired. The plan only required Sage's presence but she had made clear that she wouldn't be going anywhere without Shannon.

At first, I didn't trust them. My natural distrust towards vampires, our sworn enemies, dictated that I should keep my senses alert to the fullest. Shannon and Sage were both American citizens, or at least they had been when they were human, so we could communicate in English, but they were still vampires who I had met only a few days ago.

Initially, Sage wanted nothing to do with her former Coven. I understood her position. Now that Chelsea's influence on her was fading, she was finally realizing that the Volturi had been using her all along. Besides neither she nor Shannon appreciated being left behind in Volterra while the rest of the Coven was safely hidden at a secret location.

I had to be very persuasive to convince both Sage and Shannon to join me and help me find their old Coven and assist them.

"They left us behind and we were captured, tortured, and stripped of our powers." Shannon had said when I convinced them to listen to me. "We're free now. The Romanians let us go, so we're planning on hiding somewhere safe and try to live our lives without anyone telling us what to do."

I explained to them the Romanians' plan. How they were going to divide the world into areas controlled by Elders, and how they were planning on getting rid of vampires who didn't want to be their followers. Eventually, Sage and Shannon would be caught and killed.

"What will we gain if we help you?" Sage has asked.

"A world where you can live in peace because if you help me, I won't tell anyone you survived. You'll be able to go wherever you want to and live the way you want to. And if you ever cross paths with one of the packs, you'll have immunity."

They accepted. We had been traveling together since that day. I woke up when Sage called me. There was a heavy mist in the forest that morning.

"How long have I slept?" I asked her.

"Two hours and forty-seven minutes." Accuracy was a characteristic of every vampire.

"Where's Shannon?" I walked around and notice he wasn't nearby.

"He'll be here in a few minutes, don't worry." She said quietly. "You were talking again… in your sleep."

The first night I had slept only about half an hour and I had had a weird dream with my younger brother. I remember telling him to tell our parents to come to Imperia at once.

"You mentioned your parents and someone named Carville?"

"It's Carlisle."

"The Cullen leader?"

"Yeah."

"Are you really their pets like Aro always said?"

"We're friends. As long as vampires don't kill people, we leave them alone. Carlisle and his family don't attack people to feed. They feed on animal blood so we get along just fine."

"I used to have friends too. Now it's just me and Shannon."

"The Volturi weren't your friends."

"Oh, I know that. I wasn't talking about them. I was talking about my human friends. Tamara, Louis, Peter. We were friends in college but then I decided I wanted to go to Rome in a student exchange program and I convinced Tamara to come with me."

"And where is she now?"

"Dead. Chelsea killed her and made me a vampire." She looked miserable when she said that. "I never felt guilty when Chelsea was around me but now… I keep thinking about Tammy. It was my idea to come to Italy; it was my idea to go to that party that night."

I felt something similar regarding Scarlett. If I hadn't come and forced her to accept following my plan, she would probably be going back to La Push at this moment. If something happened to her, Harry would hate me forever because this also affected Season and their unborn baby.

"It wasn't your fault," Shannon said joining us. I was expecting him to come all covered in blood after a killing but his eyes were still dark which meant he hadn't fed yet.

"Here!" He threw me some food. "You can't walk inside the Volturi's Fort on an empty stomach, and neither can we."

He gave Sage a bag that I knew contained blood. Human blood.

"I didn't kill anyone." He said watching my eyes following the bag. "I just borrowed a few units of blood from an ambulance that was going to a hospital."

They drank the blood and I ate what Shannon brought me which consisted of a couple of tuna sandwiches and a soda.

"How did you get this?" I held the soda.

"I didn't kill anyone to get that either."

I didn't know if I could trust him. He could have easily stolen that from a shop somewhere, killing all the people inside the store.

"Ambulances are equipped with medical stuff but also with food. It's protocol."

"How do you know that?"

"Believe it or not, I was going to start a paramedic training after my summer vacation in Napoli. Let's just say I never returned to the US. Heidi found me first."

Sage and Shannon had similar stories. They had been changed in Italy by members of the Volturi to add newborn vampires to their ranks to take them to battle against werewolves.

"What about your family?"

"My adoptive parents came to Italy for a while but after a month the search was called off. They were told that I drowned."

"I'm sorry."

"It's weird though... I feel different about things now." He confessed. "When I was told what I was and what I should do, I never questioned anything. But now... I keep wondering why I never left. I mean except for Heidi, nothing was tying me down to the Volturi."

"Actually, there was. You were being under Chelsea's power. You had no choice but to obey the Volturi's orders."

"So, that means they were keeping us there against our will, right?"

"It means they were making you believe that you wanted to be with them. The entire Coven was under Chelsea's influence. She's one of Aro's best assets. That's why I can't let Chelsea know that you're with me because she will use her power in you again and convince you to stay with the Volturi again."

"What's the plan then?" Sage asked.

It was a simple plan. I was going to be the bait and then it was up to Sage. Her only task was to find Priya.

"Your plan better work, dog," Shannon told me. "Because if anything happens to Sage, you're dead. Capisce?"

xxxxxxxxxx

When the mist was gone, Sage and I went separate ways. I was going to call the Volturi's attention and she would have to find a way to walk inside the Fort and reach Priya to enhance her powers. After that our agreement was over and she and Shannon were free to leave.

It wasn't hard to make myself noticed. I howled a couple of times and the next thing I knew two vampires were standing beside me, one on each side. I regained my human form and put my shorts on and then two vampires came and took me. One of them was Alec, the other one was probably Chelsea's mate, Afton.

The Fort looked like a medieval structure made of stone and iron. We walked around the wall and entered through a lateral door. Inside there were ruins of small houses, stables, and a chapel. The place looked completely inoffensive because it was just an old abandoned fortification. Nothing suggested that someone was staying there on the contrary it looked pretty much empty and untouched by human hand for ages.

Behind the chapel, there was a small cemetery and one of the tombs led us down into the ground to a great hall. The white marbled floor was shining and the walls were painted in a dark grey with the Volturi's coat of arms on the center of each of the four walls.

"Not very smart if you want to go by unannounced," I commented. Alec shrugged and the other vampire huffed impatiently.

"I should call Chelsea." He spoke. Alec shook his head disagreeing.

"Don't bother, Afton. Jane will be here any moment."

When the other vampire was about to argue, a brown wooden door opened on the wall in front of us. I was kind of expecting a creek-like noise when the door was opening but there was nothing except for the sound of Jane's steps.

She approached us with grace, calmly and in silence but with a small grin on her lips. She wore a green dress above her knees with red lace on the fists and collar. Her blonde hair was caught up in a braid. Jane's appearance was deceitful. She did look like an angel but in reality, there was nothing angelic about her.

Her red eyes shone with malice when she started circling us.

"Well, well, what do we have here?" She sang. "You can let him go, I'm here now."

Jane touched her brother's forearm and Alec released me. Afton waited a few more seconds but when he met Jane's hard glare, he let me go too.

Despite being a Coven, it was clear that Afton didn't appreciate being told what to do. Especially by Jane. However, he was scared of her. That was easy to see.

"How did you get here, dog? How did you find this place? Who told where to find us?"

Jane was still circling me. Her hateful eyes were fixed on me.

"Let me guess... Scarlett told you, didn't she?" She continued. "That traitor! I always knew she was envious of me, of my power..." She stopped in front of me. "What more did she tell you?"

"That you're a heartless evil bitch." I replied on instinct. I had never meant to say those words but Jane was taunting me. "But everyone knows that."

"Oh, I'm much more than that, puppy. I'm going to show you right here, right now the heartless evil bitch I really am... You see I've been curious about something my brother told me after meeting you. He told me you weren't affected by his powers so maybe it's time to see if you can resist mine too." She grinned with malice and took a step closer.

"Jane! Stop!" A voice echoed from behind me. Jane pouted immediately. She wanted to use her power in me and now she couldn't because Chelsea was here.

"We should always treat our guests with manners."

Chelsea came to join us and stood beside Jane, right in front of me. She was wearing black leather pants, high heel red boots, and a red satin blouse.

"Guests? He's not a guest, Chelsea. He is our enemy." Jane argued.

"Well, he's here for a reason."

"To kill us, of course!" Jane exclaimed. "That traitor told the pack where we are so they could come and finish us."

"That's not true," I spoke loud and clear. "If I had come here to kill you, I wouldn't be alone. I'm here to warn you not to destroy you."

"You're a liar! You're working with her!" Jane growled. "We should kill him right now, Chelsea!"

"You were there when we went to get Gustaf, weren't you?" Chelsea asked me, ignoring Jane who pouted.

"Yes, I was."

"What's your name?"

"Isaac."

"Well, Isaac… You said you came here to warn us, is that correct?"

"It is."

"In that case, we're listening."

At that moment I thought things were going to be alright.

I couldn't have been more wrong.

Thanks for the reviews: She-Wolf Heiress, MammaNita4, aljaira, Evangella Akriti, danidanifrancoaac21, brankel1, cyrilalbar06, rocklesson86.

Take care,

Karisan.