"Do you think he'll agree?"
"I'm sure he-" The pain got worse.
"Um, I don't know, he's the Alpha it's his call."
"Jake, what's the matter with you? Normally you would do what you want without consulting anyone," Bella asked.
"Things are different now, Bells. I can't go against Jared at all. Not in any way. His word is the law."
"Oh, okay. So then you'll ask Jared and get back to me?" Bella asked.
"No, Jared probably will."
"Why not you?"
"As I said, it's his call, Bella. And things are a little more strict now."
"Okay, then I'll wait for Jared's call, bye, Jake."
"Bye, Bells."
Bella came downstairs and walked into the living room where everyone was waiting, "So, what did Jacob say? Are they going to help," Edward asked.
"I don't know; he's going to ask Jared, and Jared will decide. It's not Jake's call."
"It's never been Jake's call," Leah said, "Sam was too lenient with him. Jake's got us involved in stuff that's none of our business."
"I thought you protected humans!" Edward screamed.
"We do, though I'm sorry to say this, the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few, Edward. Common military knowledge. Isn't that right, Major?" Selene asked.
"She's right, Edward. An army can't focus all their resources on only a few people or, in this case, two," Jasper affirmed.
"So Jared would let Bella and Charlie die, what kind of leader is that?!"
"A practical one, I'm sorry, Bella."
"No, I understand, Selene."
"You're only saying that because you don't like Bella!"
"You're right, I don't like Bella, but it doesn't make what I said any less true, does it, Jasper?"
"No, it doesn't."
"You don't like me?" Bella asked in a hurt voice.
"Not you per se, but your actions. And the effect it has had on other people around you. If the pack hadn't been so busy protecting you, they wouldn't have been exposed, and my dad wouldn't have been in the woods when that psycho was there. You don't seem to understand that everything you do affects other people. Look at the stupid stunt you pulled jumping off the cliff. Edward almost died because of it. You don't think things through, and honestly, you're selfish." Selene told Bella.
"I'm sorry."
"Don't be sorry, change your ways," Leah added.
"How dare you speak to Bella like that!" Edward said, getting in Selene's face.
"What are you going to do about it, Pretty Boy?"
"Plenty, Mutt."
At the same time, Emmett snarled and got to his feet. The whole house shook. The vampires stumble, but Selene and Leah didn't, "What was that?" Alice asked.
Selene smirked, "I'd say the Earth shook."
"An Earthquake?" Carlisle asked.
"Okay, let's call it that," Leah said with a laugh and walked upstairs.
The vampires looked at each other confused, "What does Leah mean by that?" Emmett asked.
"Nothing, she's a dork."
"I HEARD THAT, DORY!"
"YOU WERE MEANT TO, BEETHOVEN!"
"What's with the weird nicknames?" Alice asked.
"It's our thing."
Back in La Push, Jake met up with Jared and told him everything that Bella had told him. Jared listened patiently to everything that Jacob told him, "Do you think the pack can help protect Bella and Charlie?"
Jared thought for a moment, "The pack, no. But I will spare two members, and that's it."
Jacob started shaking in anger, "Only two! We're supposed to protect humans!"
"Jake, stop," Jared said calmly.
Jake immediately cowed in front of Jared.
"Look I get you want to protect Bella and Charlie, I do too. But we can't leave the reservation unprotected either. There are more lives at stake than just those two. There are innocent women and children here that know nothing about vampires. Would you leave them to be slaughtered?"
Jake looked down, "No."
"Okay, then, I can only spare two."
"I'll go!"
"No"
"But-"
"I said no. You have an attitude when it comes to Edward and Emmett. Though I don't care about Edward, I do care about Emmett. And you have an obsession with Bella, that makes you a liability. If you want us to help, it will be my way, or not at all."
"Fine!"
"What?"
"Whatever you say, Jared."
"I'm sending Quil and Embry."
Jake brightens at hearing that it was his best friends going to guard Bella, "Do you want me to call Bella and tell her?"
"No, I'll do it. Give me Bella's number."
Jake wrote down Bella's number and gave it to Jared. Jared pulls out his cellphone and dials Bella's number, "Hello?"
"Bella?"
"Yes, who's this?"
"This is Jared."
"Oh, hi Jared, what's up?"
"Jake told me what's going on and that you and the Cullens need help guarding you and Charlie."
"Yeah we do, will the pack be able to help?"
"No, but I will send Quil and Embry."
"Why not, Jake?"
"I have my reasons, Bella. It's either Quil and Embry or no one."
Bella looked at Carlisle, who was listening. He nodded, "Okay, Jared, we accept."
"Good. Now, Quil and Embry need to go to your house to get the scent of the vampire, so they know who to look out for."
"Okay, Edward and I will meet them at my house tomorrow."
"That's fine, Bella. I'll talk to you later." With that, Jared hung up.
"So, the pack isn't going to help, huh?" Edward asked.
"No, only two wolves."
"Makes sense. Jared can't spare the entire pack and leave the reservation unguarded for two people," Selene said, Jasper nodded from the sofa.
Edward glared at Selene, "Sam would have used the pack."
"Yeah, well, Sam's an idiot," Leah yelled from upstairs.
"Okay, so how are we going to do this," Emmett asked.
"After Quil and Embry get the scent, we'll take shifts guarding Bella and her father. When it's time for us to hunt, we'll have Selene, Leah, Quil, and Embry take our place. Is that fair?" Carlisle asked.
Emmett looked at his mate, disappointed. Emmett didn't like the thought of being away from Selene for any length of time. But it did make sense since he didn't need sleep, and Selene did, "For tonight, Esme and I will watch outside the Swan house, and Edward will be with Bella," Carlisle said.
Everyone nodded and went about their business while Bella and Edward left. Selene yawned and decided it was time for bed, she said goodnight to everyone, and Emmett picked her up and carried her to their room. When they got there, Selene changed into one of Emmett's shirts and got into bed. Emmett changed into a pair of sweats and took off his shirt and slid into bed with Selene.
Selene turned around and kissed her imprint, "Goodnight, Teddy Bear,"
"Goodnight, babe," Emmett wrapped his arms around Selene, she let out a sigh and snuggled back into him and fell asleep.
The next morning after Charlie went to work, Quil and Embry showed up at Bella's house to get the scent of the vampire. They asked Edward to wait outside so that they wouldn't mix up the two scents. The boys went upstairs to pick up the scent then came out a few minutes later.
"Okay, we have the scent, it should be pretty easy to find that vampire if we come across the scent again."
Right when Edward was going to respond, Selene's Range Rover pulled up with Emmett, Selene, and Leah in it. They got out, and Edward scowled while Quil and Embry smiled brightly, "What are you doing here?"
"Good morning to you too, Edward, we're fine, thank you," Selene said sarcastically.
"We need the scent as well, idiot," Leah said, "Unless you don't want our help, which is fine with us, right, Sel?"
"Right, Leah, say do you want to go shopping Seattle, we can go for the weekend?"
"That sounds like fun, Sister dear," Leah answered.
"Alright, you made your point," Edward said. Emmett stood there, chuckling.
"And?"
"And I'm sorry,"
"See, Sel, I told you vampires could be trained."
"I guess there's hope for Emmett after all,"
"Hey!" Emmett cried indignantly.
Selene looked at Emmett and blew him a kiss, making him smile.
"Okay, if you and Emmett are finished with your weird flirting, we need to get that scent," Leah said as she went into Bella's house.
Selene laughed and followed after her sister. They went upstairs following the scent and looked into Bella's room, "Wow, this chick really likes purple," Leah said, Selene only nods.
They walked into Bella's bedroom and looked around. Leah picked up the dream catcher that Jake got Bella for her birthday and shook her head, "Man, Jake is so pathetic."
"What?"
"He dragged me with him everywhere, looking for the perfect gift for Bella for her eighteenth birthday, and this is what he got her?"
"Well, he's only sixteen, I'm sure that's all he could think of getting her. Do you have the scent?"
"Yeah, you?"
"Yeah. Let's get out of here and take the boys out for breakfast and get the gossip on the rez," Selene said.
"Okay."
Selene and Leah made their way downstairs and left the house, "We have the scent, there won't be a problem picking it up if we come across it." Leah said.
"Why couldn't you use the pack link, instead of getting the scent of yourselves?"
Selene rolled her eyes, "What part of banished don't you get? The pack link was severed when Sam kicked me out."
"So was mine when I left," Leah said.
Selene turned to Quil and Embry, "Hey guys, we were going to get some breakfast, do you want to come along?"
The boys looked at each other, "We need to ask Jared first, hold on,"
Embry pulled out his phone and called Jared. He told Jared that Selene and Leah were there and if he and Quil could have breakfast with them. Embry nodded then hung up, "Jared said it was okay."
"Great, let's go."
They all got into Selene's Range Rover and drove to the diner. When they got there, everyone orders large breakfasts except for Selene and Emmett. Selene knew she'd have to eat Emmett's, so there was no point in ordering a lot of food. As they waited for their breakfast, Selene and Leah asked Quil and Embry what had been going on.
"You heard that Sam was stripped of being Alpha, right?" Quil asked
The girls nod.
"Well, the Elders punished Sam and Paul by reliving over and over the death of their imprints for twenty, four hours," Embry said.
"Wow. Wait, Paul has an imprint?"
"No, he never saw her face; it was worse for him because he never got to know her," Embry answered.
"How did the Elders get the guys to have these visions," Emmett asked.
"My grandpa said he talked to our ancestors, and the gods gave them the power to punish them," Quil said.
Leah pushed Selene's leg with her own, and Selene did the same. They knew that it was Poseidon and Morpheus who punished Sam and Paul. Selene wouldn't be surprised if Hades were involved as well.
Quil and Embry went on to tell the others what changes had happened since Jared took over, "Jared is more strict. But his Alpha voice is easier to obey than Sam's. You know how Sam had to use intimidation? Well, Jared's isn't like that, his alpha voice is calm and powerful; you want to obey," Quil explained.
"Are you guys going to come back to the pack," Embry asked.
"I'm not if Leah wants to, that's up to her," Selene told them.
"Nope, I'm not either. I don't think either of ever really belonged with the pack," Leah observed.
"So you're happy living with the Cullens," Quil asked.
"Yes," The sister said at the same time.
There was a long pause when the food was brought, and everyone started eating. Between bites, Embry looked up at Selene, "Sam and Paul want to apologize to you, Sel, especially Paul."
"You can tell them that I don't want to talk them right now. Maybe later but it's too soon,"
"That's what Jared thought too. That was the other reason he asked us to do this mission." Quil said.
"How's Seth? Our mom said he'd been a little moody."
"It's more than that, Seth is very resentful towards Sam and Paul. He blames them for losing both of his sisters. And Seth has a lot of anger because of it," Embry said.
"So, he's been phasing more often. Because of that, Jared is letting him go out on patrol with him or one of us. Jared is training him to fight as well."
"Isn't he a little young," Emmett asked as he nudged some of his food onto Selene's plate.
Yeah, he is, but Jared said he needs to get out his anger and energy. A good run helps him."
"We need to ask Carlisle if we can invite Seth over so that we can spend some time with him, Sel," Leah tells her older sister.
"I think you're right, Leah. Em, do you think Carlisle will mind?"
"No, I don't think so," Emmett said.
"We should ask him anyway," Selene mused.
"And ask Mom, and Jared," Leah added.
"We can ask Jared for you if you want?"
"Yeah, would you?"
"Sure, no problem."
After they had breakfast, Emmett drove the boys to La Push and dropped them off at the treaty line. He could have taken them home, but Emmett didn't want to run the risk his mate running into Sam or Paul. Quil and Embry understood and agreed to be dropped off at the treaty line. They said goodbye to everyone and went into the forest to phase.
When Quil and Embry got back to Emily's house, Kim was helping Emily make breakfast for the pack; they sat down to wait for Jared, who had gone home to take a shower to tell him how things went with Selene and Leah. When Jared finally showed up, the boys told him exactly what happened.
Jared sighed, "I didn't think they would come back. Sam and Paul burned that bridge with Selene, and Leah's not going to come back without her sister."
"There's something else; the girls want to know if Seth can go over and spend time with them. We told them we'd ask you."
"It's fine with me, but it's really up to Sue."
"Up to Sue about what," Jake asked when he came into the house.
"Whether or not Seth can go to the Cullen house," Quil said.
His head snapped to Jared, "Tell me you're not going to let him go."
"I don't see why not, his sisters are there."
"They're bloodsuckers!"
"No, I wasn't aware of that, Jake. Seth will be fine, Selene, Leah, and Emmett are going to be there."
"But-"
"Don't Jacob, it's none of your business," Jared said a more harshly than usual.
Jacob's head started pounding, his stomach started cramping, he started sweating, and his hands started trembling, but no as though he was going to phase, but as the beginnings of a seizure. Realizing it was his punishment acting up, Jacob immediately apologized to Jared.
"I'm sorry, Jared. I shouldn't have questioned you."
"It's alright, Jacob, you're only concerned, but I know what I'm doing," Jared said.
The minute Jared forgave him, the tremors stopped. Jacob sighed in relief. A little while later the rest of the pack showed up and the discussion of Seth was dropped. Jared would go talk with Sue later and let her know that if she wanted to let Seth go it was fine with him.