Before Grace went to Sam's house the next afternoon she swung by to check on Bella. Her life felt like a revolving door of crises: pack, Bella, imprint, injury, pack again, Jacob, unborn mutant vampire baby.

She was pleasantly surprised then to see Bella up and walking around on her own, albeit with Rosalie close by, in what Bella cheerfully referred to as 'nesting'.

"I feel like there's just so much to do now and I'm so ready for him," Bella said, folding Chanel baby blankets ordered by Alice.

"Seems like you're feeling better then?" Grace let out a tentative sigh and tried to avoid looking at the styrofoam cup that was filled with O negative.

"Yeah, I mean it comes and goes in waves, but it seems to be helping and for now he's happy so...Grace," Bella stopped for a moment and looked at her seriously. There were still dark circles running rings around her eyes and her cheeks had not completely plumped back up, but the obvious gauntness had receded. But she was there. "This can really work."

Grace nodded slowly and put a hand on Bella's back. Where had she heard that before, she wondered?

Now, as Grace ascended the uneven porch steps to Sam's front door, Grace tried to catch her breath. She wouldn't be able to deny that the baby Bella was carrying was not a normal baby now that the blood was clearly working. Sam would not be happy at this revelation, so Grace decided to keep that knowledge in her back pocket for as long as she was able. Maybe not even tell him at all.

She tentatively knocked on the ajar door and let herself in, already feeling awkward.

"Hello?" she called out calmly. The house was eerily quiet, even Emily was absent from the common gathering space in the open kitchen. "Hello?" she called out again. Was this some sort of trick? Grace felt a sickening pang in her stomach. But just as she was about to reach for her phone, Sam came stomping down the hall from the back room where he had used their back door.

He stopped abruptly when he saw Grace and looked around the wide room quickly, "What are you doing here? Where's Emily?!"

"What? I don't know, she wasn't here when I got here," Grace said affronted.

"Paul said—" Sam grumbled and looked to the side. Ah, so an ambush was necessary. The meeting was not a mutual agreement as Grace had hoped and Sam had to be tricked into coming here. He turned as if to leave.

"Sam…" Grace said softly. He paused, his shoulders already heaving under his heavy breaths. "I need to talk to you… about what happened."

"What happened exactly Grace?" He was definitely still angry.

"Sam, this isn't something we should fight through. What happened, happened. Jake became alpha to his own pack and some members have decided to join him. It's not the end of the world. The burden is less when we all share it. So let's share it," Grace said gently. Sam was still rippling with anger, but when he turned to look at her, she could see his face was twisted in pain, his eyes alight with something Grace couldn't place.

"Do you know what it's like to lose members of your pack so quickly? To watch them leave and look at you like you're the crazy one?" Sam's voice was thick and Grace took a step toward him. A warning growl in the back of her head sounded, telling her to stay put. She listened for now.

"I know what it's like to be cast out of my pack," she returned.

"I didn't—" Sam stammered then, a little bit of the fight draining out of him, "You left me with no choice. You were choosing those bloodsuckers over our family. I had to protect them Grace and you were walking into the line of fire over and over again. That doesn't just affect you, you know? We all get to feel it, the pain and stress of it." Sam pushed his shoulders back and stood straighter, "You became the threat and so I felt I did what was necessary. My brothers are my responsibility. Jake will soon learn what the weight of that feels like."

"Sam, we can still do this together. Just because Jake is alpha doesn't mean I don't protect your pack anymore. I'm still here, even when you push me out," Grace took another step toward him, the rippling had ceased momentarily but the voice in her mind watched warily. "I'm sorry for any stress I caused on the pack mind when I did what I did. That wasn't fair and I didn't realize...I didn't know that," she concluded.

"Well, now you do. But we can't join you in this Grace. We don't know what that thing is and if they bite Bella, we are required by the treaty to take care of it." Sam said. So bound by rules.

"I won't let you kill your brothers and kill Bella too," Grace definitively. At this, Sam was lost to anger once more.

"You're the one that will kill them!" he shouted now, accused. "You refuse to work with me, to protect these...these kids! They're kids, Grace and I'm responsible for telling them to ignore the treaty, to ignore their instincts, to not do what's right—"

"No Sam, to do what you think is right. I'm not going to let anyone get hurt because you're on a rampage."

"Your judgement is clouded, Grace."

"And you're blinded by a treaty that doesn't even apply in this situation, Sam!" She gulped, "And what if it was me? You'd kill me then too?" Grace was grasping at straws here. Sam wasn't going to see it her way and the likelihood that there would be a fight loomed more obvious than ever. Sam steeled himself against her and said through gritted teeth, quite plainly:

"Yes." Grace's eyes went wide and the voice in her head was snapping its teeth in obvious aggression. "If it meant keeping them safe, I would."

"Oh, like you kept Embry safe?" Grace laid too much bare, her resolve weakening as she tried to make Sam see what he was doing. What he was going to do.

Sam was all teeth at this point, his face gritted and his heart hammering in his chest. The voice was clear now:

Time to go, Grace.

"Embry disobeyed an alpha order and was interfering." Sam was seething now. Grace could understand how that wasn't his finest moment.

"You could have killed him. And for what? You're going to kill the others too if you fight against them, you know that. I'm asking you again, please Sam, put down this ridiculous alpha pride."

"Enough!" he shouted. "You've made your decision to defend those demons against your own flesh and blood."

"My flesh and blood is in there with them! You idiot!" Grace really didn't mean to resort to name calling at this point in the argument, but she said what she undoubtedly triggered Sam as he now started to shake violently.

What about the girl standing in front of him felt threatening? Was it the fact that she refused to stand down or that she was able to deflect his alpha orders? Grace wasn't even sure she could deflect Jake's alpha orders yet because he hadn't really given her one as alpha.

She could see what was about to happen now as he looked at her, his eyes glassy. He had the self control of Paul at this point. "Sam, Sam, Sam, SAM, DON'T!" Before Grace could even turn to bolt out of the house, he had exploded in front of her. His giant wolf frame smashed a couple of dining room chairs and cracked the countertop of the kitchen island as his body bucked against it. The force of his phase had rocked her back onto the ground where she now looked up at the towering, black wolf. He growled above her and Grace narrowed her eyes. She knew Sam, he wouldn't take a cheap shot like this.

She stood up and faced him, her voice even and clear, "We're not going to fight you. Don't start a war, Sam. You won't like how it ends," Grace gave him one final look and turned to walk out the door. She heard the sound of Sam unphasing back in the house but she quickly recast without a second glance back to the edge of the treeline facing the Cullen's property.

Leah was there first, "How did it go?" she crossed her arms and gave her a bemused smile.

"Oh great! He totally understood and said he had overreacted and was willing to work together on a new treaty that includes protection for my sister and her unborn baby," Grace gave a wide smile. Leah faltered for a minute and then kept her face hard as stone. Seth crashed into the clearing.

"Wait really!?" he said.

"No," Grace deflated, "He was a total dick, lost in throes of alpha rage, okay?" Grace let out a groan and stomped her foot in the clearing. "What do I do?" she said annoyed.

"Maybe we ask Ti'Hal or the elders what to do about Sam. He's clearly out of control," Leah said matter-of-factly. Grace considered this and then said:

"I need to wait until he actually does something that puts every member of the pack in danger. Unfortunately the thing with Embry was a side effect of disobeying alpha orders and he defected to Jake's pack, so I'm not sure how sympathetic or alarmed they'd be, no matter how bad that wound was…..No, he's gotta declare war. And even then, he might be within his grounds to do so if the Cullen's end up biting Bella. We're going to have to see this one through without intervention." Leah watched her for a second, the emotions changing on her face rapidly and then gave one hard nod before phasing into the trees. Seth hung around and gave her a worried look.

"What do we do when they attack us?" Seth said sadly.

"I won't let them." Grace didn't know how, but she wasn't going to let this come to blows.

Later that night, Grace climbed into bed, completely exhausted. Jacob had the pack running rounds around the Cullen place after the Sam debacle. Grace tried to reassure him that she didn't think Sam would do anything until the treaty was officially broken, but Jake wasn't taking any chances. She checked her phone—nothing from Bella— before crawling under the sheets wearing a discarded hoodie Jacob had left behind and some underwear.

Grace was awoken in the middle of the night to a wash of heat rolling over her body. Instinctively, she curled into it and was relieved to feel a large warm arm wrap around her torso and a soft pair of lips brushing across her forehead. After a treasured moment or two with this being she knew all to well without having to open her eyes, she straightened her body and pressed it to his.

Jacob gave a soft growl and pulled her half on top of him as he rolled onto his back.

"How was rounds?" Grace mumbled sleepily into his chest. Jacob let out a low yawn before he responded.

"Fine, no activity." Jacob had ferreted his hand under the hoodie and placed it flat on her back.

"What are we going to do Jacob? How am I going to stop Sam?" Grace let out a sigh and pressed a kiss into his collarbone absentmindedly.

"Mmmm," he replied to her lips touching his skin, "We'll do what we have to. But ultimately, Sam has a choice. We all do. And we'll make that choice when it comes." Grace considered this for a minute and as she drifted off to sleep her mind told her to ask something else.

"Jacob?" she felt the soft rise and fall of his chest indicating sleep, "Are you...are you my boyfriend?" she whispered, shyly. Grace didn't hear an answer and she was pretty sure Jacob hadn't heard the question either before drifting off.

The next morning as Grace was washing off some fresh fruit to cut up for their breakfast, she had a revelation.

Sam has a choice. We all do.

Jacob had said that last night and Grace hadn't really let it click until now. As she started chopping the fruit draping it over bowls of oatmeal, she paused. Somehow, Grace was able to disobey Sam's alpha orders. She thought that it only happened because a member of the pack had been in danger, but as she thought about it...she wondered if there was something else to it.

She had made a choice to let go of the alpha order many times without realizing it, or found a way to circumvent it altogether. She wondered if she could resist an alpha order from Jacob and if it felt the same.

As Jacob clattered down the steps, freshly showered in a white t-shirt and jeans, he leaned over to kiss her temple.

"Looks great, thank you. Can I take these to the table for us?" he said a hand resting on her lower back. Grace nodded absently and watched him as he went to sit at the table.

"Hey Jake?" she said suddenly. His mouth was full of oatmeal as he looked at her. Mouth full he said,

"Yeah?" Grace almost laughed but she was too focused on trying this experiment she had running in her head.

"Would you do something for me?" Jacob watched her carefully and swallowed.

"Of course…"

"I need you to give me an alpha order." she said simply, looking at him in the eyes now. He watched her for a minute full of surprise before he said.

"What?" Grace came out from behind the counter and leaned her back against it with her arms crossed.

"You said something last night that got me thinking. We all have a choice. I think you're right."

"Ooookay," he said slowly, "But what does me giving you an alpha order have to do with it?"

She stood still for a moment, biting her lip before saying, "I want to see if I can choose not to obey it. I've done it before, but only in a serious situation. I want to see if I can do it without the push."

Jacob kept staring to make sure she was serious and then closed his eyes tightly while he rubbed his hand over them, "Are you sure about this? I mean, I don't even think I've ever given an alpha order."

"Yes you have," she corrected him quickly. He looked at her stunned.

"When?!"

"ANSWER ME GRACE ALO," she tried to imitate his gruff voice in that moment when Bella had come back from the honeymoon and she was too shell shocked to share she was pregnant.

"That came out as an alpha order?!" he said incredulous. "But I wasn't even alpha then!"

"Tell me about it. You did it when you left as well." Grace recalled that horrible day and then shook it away.

"Woah," Jake said, mind blown. "Okay, ummm." He stood up and rubbed his broad hands on his jeans. "Okay, I can try I guess." He cleared his throat and Grace let a small smile tug at her lips. She was itching to laugh at how ridiculously adorable he was being right now.

This giant man before her, true born alpha, 6'5" Adonis was trying to muster everything to give her an order she couldn't refuse and he had no idea how to do it.

"Make it good. Something I want to refuse," Grace said putting her hands on her hips now and steeling herself.

"Well that's no fun," Jacob said, "I'd never want to order you to do something you didn't want to do."

"Jake, come on," she whined. He looked at her and licked his lips almost imperceptibly, his mind wild with ideas.

"Okay, okay, ummmm," he stood directly in front of her now, fists clenched and said, "Come over here." He tried to sound stern but it only made Grace laugh. "Did it work?"

"Absolutely not, not even close, what was that?!" Grace let out a giant laugh and he watched her delightedly, so pleased that he could pull a sound like that from her.

"Okay, let me try again." He stared at her for a long time again and then said, "Grace, you...get over here right now!" Grace crumpled to the floor in laughter and he held his hands out, a smile beaming from his face as he chuckled with her, "Don't laugh! Hey! HEY! Don't you LAUGH!" He was volleying between laughter and trying to sound stern and she couldn't handle it. Tears were coming to her eyes now as her sides ached from laughter.

"Please stop, oh my god." She picked herself up off the floor and once she had calmed herself down, she said, "You really don't know how to tap into the alpha tone?" he shrugged.

"Maybe I can only do it if someone is in danger, or it's something I really really need or want to have them do?" He said inquisitively.

"Hmmm," Grace said, crossing her leg in front of the other. And then, another idea. "Okay…" she looked at him with a devilish grin and he perked up, "Tell me to take my top off." She said matter of factly.

"Wh-what?" he stammered. "Grace what do you—"

"Is that not something you want?" She said, trying to challenge him, tease him.

"I mean yeah, but I—"

"Then tell me to do it, as alpha. Tap into that feeling of want or need. See if you can pull the alpha voice from that," Grace said confidently. "Do it."

"I don't know," he said hesitantly, but then he looked her up and down, checked over his shoulder toward the front door and his excitement got the better of him. "Okay...here goes nothing."

Grace held that devilish smile on her face and waited. She saw Jacob concentrating very hard and wanted to laugh again but didn't and then:

"Grace. Take your shirt off." His tone was clear, definitive and everything in her body and mind told her to obey. She felt herself begin to shake. For a moment there she didn't think he'd be able to do it, but apparently, the want was greater than she anticipated. Her hands itched at her sides as they slowly came to rest on either side of her hips starting to lift the hem of her shirt. Jacob's eyes widened and he took a step toward her as if to stop her himself. But he didn't. Grace, not able to stop herself, lifted the shirt up over her head and tossed it aside. She let out a breath she had been holding once she was free of the shirt and looked at him. Jake watched her for direction.

"Give me another one," she said softly, her eyes glued to his. He swallowed hard and said after a minute.

"Take off your pants." Grace's hands shot to her waist and quickly unbuttoned her jeans, sliding them down around her ankles, "You're supposed to try and fight the alpha command." He said, still wide eyed.

"I know," she breathed, "Let me try again." The smile was back on his face as he said.

"Take off your bra." Grace raised an eyebrow at this and tried to hold her hand down at her side for as long as she could. The muscles in her arms started to ache and she knew where to find relief. A small groan escaped her lips and Jacob raised an eyebrow at her, tilting his head to the side. He was enjoying this, but only because he could see she was enjoying it too. "Grace. Take off your bra. Now." His voice shattered through her and her hand shot up to quickly unsnap the fastener in the back as she let it fall from her body, now exposed.

Her breathing quickened as she watched, elated, as his eyes dragged over her body, coming to rest on her face. She didn't know how someone could look at her like that and expect her not to do something. He took another few steps toward her and placed his hands gently on her sides, letting the fingertips of his right hand coast up and gently graze the bottom of her exposed breast. Grace gasped as she tilted her head up at him to see that his warm eyes were awash with desire. He leaned his head down to bring his forehead to hers and said softly.

"To answer your question, yes," he paused looking into her eyes. She was suddenly confused and then he said, "I am your boyfriend. If that's what you want." His lips softly grazed hers, teasing again. She pressed her chest to his clothed one and his other hand gripped her hip tightly.

"I would like that very much," she said. He gave her a small smile before dipping his head to bring his lips onto hers and then.

"OH JEEZ. OH FUCK! OH GOD SORRY SORRY SORRY. Occupado, got it!" Embry was covering his eyes and backing out of the door with his eyes covered. Jacob instinctively moved in front of Grace to cover her from view and turned to look at Embry.

"Dude! Can you KNOCK!?" He said, anger clear in his tone. One of his hands was behind him, resting on Grace's abdomen. She wrapped her hands around his arm and peeked around him.

"Hey Em!" she said, gleefully.

"Wha- Grace! No!" He said trying to block her.

"Oooh wait, no this might work, Em! Come back!" Grace said her eyes bright with mischief. Embry poked his head around the door one hand still covering his eyes.

"Everyone decent?" He called.

"Not in the slightest, get in here, I want to test something!" Grace said peering around Jake again.

"Are you crazy?!" Jacob whirled around on her trying to pick up her clothes in the process and push them on her body. "Put your clothes on!"

"Is that an order?" Grace lifted an eyebrow.

"Is this like some kinky sex shit I shouldn't know about until I'm older? Or?" Embry joked, standing fully in the door with a hand still over his eyes.

"Grace. I swear," Jacob was talking through gritted teeth now. This might be an easy way to pull an alpha order.

"Embry take your hand off of your eyes." Grace said, he did and Grace laughed, "I don't even need to be alpha to do that." she joked at Jacob. His hands were all over her now, trying to simultaneously cover her. "Better give me an alpha order or your best friend is about to see your girlfriend naked." She wagged her eyebrows suggestively as Jacob's face turned red.

"Awww, you guys are official? Congrats!" Embry said sweetly from the door frame.

"Grace this isn't funny. Put your clothes on," he said through gritted teeth.

"Not unless it's an order. Hey Em, you like boobs?" Grace said as she tried to duck to the side of Jacob. He caught her around the waist and pulled her back behind him.

"Grace!" He said, the fire in his eyes now. "This isn't funny. Put. Your. Clothes. On. Now." There it was. Full alpha. Her heart hammered in her chest and she immediately felt weak like her lungs would collapse if she didn't obey. The clothes lay at her feet and she knew where relief would be, but she tried to hold herself there. Her whole body started to ache as Jacob continued to level her with a stare. She squeezed her eyes shut as she felt sweat pool on her forehead. Her entire body felt ripe to burst apart and all she wanted was it to stop. She grimaced, held on for a few more seconds and then leaned down quickly, pulling on her jeans and her t-shirt, forgoing the bra.

"Fuuuuuuuuck," she said frustrated.

"Not gonna lie, that was kind of hot," Embry said leaning on the doorframe. Jacob's stare softened and he put his hand on her upper arms.

"His alpha has gotta be like a million times stronger than Sam's because that fucking hurt," Grace winced a little and doubled over.

"Yeah, it's not a fun time," Embry said pointing to his shoulder. "Anyway, Quil is here."

"WHAT?!" Jacob and Grace said in unison. Embry laughed and turned to walk back down the porch steps.

"What is he doing here?" Grace said as she strode toward the door.

"Better not be another pack defect, I'm already tired of handing out orders," he said as he playfully smacked her butt, jogging ahead of her and out the door.