Chapter 3
Rosalie rolled her eyes at her husband as she lithely glided back and forth on a branch in the forest nearby Leah and Jacob's house. She was speaking on the phone to Emmett about the situation and he was not being very helpful.
"That's tough. Wait, would that make him zero and three or one and three? I mean he did marry Leah and got a kid out of it, so that has to count for something, right?"
"Emmett, this is not the time and you are not helping! What should I say to him?"
"Nothing, you and Jake are cool and all, but wolves are temperamental. If this is anything like the last time he thought he might lose the woman he loved to someone else, I don't want you anywhere near him."
"You know I can handle myself," she reminded.
"Yea and he knows I would murder him. Damn, this one really sucks. Jake is my friend and this is going to really mess Josh up. That kid is like one of ours, you know?"
"I know, Em, which is why we have to help as much as we can without crossing any lines. You two hang out all the time. What would you say to him?" Emmett chuckled.
"I would totally tell a joke that would end in him phasing and trying to attack me. It's a good thing you are there, babe," he assured and she rolled her eyes.
"Always so helpful," she grumbled.
"You've got this. Just be you…well, a little less you when it comes to Jake," he teased.
"Wish me luck," she muttered before hanging up and taking a deep breath. She leapt out of the tree and headed toward Leah and Jacob's house. She could sense that Josh and Natalie were not inside and made her way toward the front door. Her finger lingered over the doorbell and she hesitated before finally pressing it. She could hear him approach and he sighed when he opened the door to see her standing there. He looked exhausted and emotionally drained, but she was surprised to not see the furious, rage-filled man she expected. Instead, he looked somber and defeated.
"Leah isn't here," he said and before he could shut the door in her face, she grabbed it.
"Actually, I am here to see you." He smirked as she followed him inside.
"Well that's a first," he mumbled.
"Where are Josh and Natalie?"
"Roaming, why," he answered as he plopped back down on the couch.
"Because we still don't know enough about Alice's vision to have the two of them wandering off."
"Well, you are free to go find them if you like, but I am really not in the mood for a house call right now, Rosalie, so please leave me alone." She looked down and nodded.
"I know, but I figured I am one of the best people to tell you this, so just listen for a moment. I promise to let you get back to your brooding after," she assured. He gave a curt nod as she slowly sat down beside him.
"I will not pretend to understand what you are going through, but I want you to know that Leah isn't just going to give up on the two of you and you shouldn't either. Jacob, I have watched you grow into a good man. You are an amazing father and adoring husband. I couldn't ask for a better person for my best friend. Things are complicated right now, but don't think for one second that everything you two have means nothing. I am sure it is quite hard, but please have faith in her," she advised. The two of them sat in silence for a moment and she was surprised when he quickly wiped a tear from his cheek.
"I can't lose her, Rose," he whispered and she sighed as she pulled him in for a hug. The two had not always seen eye to eye over the years, but she cared about his happiness, just like she cared about Leah's.
Natalie watched her mate as he paced back and forth on the shore of the beach at Cape Flattery. He had not spoken a word since they arrived and looked down at his watch again.
"Are you sure you did it right," he questioned.
"Yes, but Josh, I think we need to talk about this. I don't know if this is a good idea," she warned.
"Alice can't see us at all, right? You are sure," he asked and she slowly nodded.
"Yes, my power can work in different ways. I know Alice's power as well and cloaked us from her. If she checks her visions based on my decisions, it will look like we chose to have a quiet night at your parents' house. I still don't think we should do this though. That vision she had…"
"Who cares about that stupid vision? Nat, you saw my dad. You saw how broken he looked and all because of this stupid wolfy gene that tells us what, we have to love someone? We have to give up everything we have for them? That's insanity!"
"Well, that insanity brought me my mate, so I can't hate it too much. Without it, I don't know if I ever would've made it out of those catacombs," she admitted. He pulled her into his arms and cupped her cheek.
"Hey, you and I would've happened regardless. You are a vampire and I am your mate. This guy is a different story, Nat, and we are going to do everything we can to make sure he stays away from my mom."
"Even if that means manipulating Alice's visions," she questioned and he gave a determined nod.
"Desperate times and all that. Speaking of which, where the hell are they? We should be going after this guy already. Maybe it was a mistake involving them. The more people you have to cloak, the more complicated this is. Let's just go," he grumbled, but before he could turn to leave, Zach and Allie emerged from the water. They wrung the salty water from their clothes as they approached.
"What is going on and where do you think you are going? I am pretty sure wherever it is will cause way more trouble than it is worth," said Zach.
"And probably what Alice was worried about in the first place," added Allie. Josh rolled his eyes and waved them off.
"Yea, bringing you two was a mistake. Go home. Nat and I will deal with it," he said and Zach frowned.
"Okay, what are we missing? You just randomly hopped back online and told us not to tell anyone where we were going. We had to cliff dive off the side of the island to get here and we did all that even though we knew it would royally piss off our parents and the entire family all because you told us you needed us. Well, here we are. I think we deserve an answer," argued Zach.
"You don't deserve anything, Z," shouted Josh and Zach was surprised by his outburst.
"Josh," warned Natalie, but Josh shook his head.
"You don't deserve your perfect life with your perfect parents and your perfect powers given to you by some perfect being. You don't deserve to be a vampire who can just see their mate and their mate sees them and that's all it takes. Meanwhile, I am cursed to be a wolf who has two parents who love each other, but for what? What was all this for, huh? You know what, maybe we should ask that Asa lady. She seems to be playing with the universe and moving us around like pawns, so why this time, huh? Why my parents," shouted Josh as he looked up at the sky and Zach grabbed him by the shoulders.
"J, what are you talking about? What happened to your parents? What's going on," he asked. Natalie pulled Josh into her arms as tears filled his eyes and he shook with sobs.
"My parents are over, Z," he cried and Allie's eyes widened.
"Wait, Leah and Jacob are getting a divorce," she questioned, but Natalie shook her head.
"She imprinted," she whispered to the two of them. Zach shook his head profusely.
"No, that's not possible," said Zach and Josh laughed bitterly.
"Yea, Z, it is. A part of me always knew the wolfy gene would mess up my life. I just never thought it would be like this. I guess that was just wishful thinking though. My dad and I both imprinted, the members of the pack that haven't are just hoping and waiting. I should've known better," said Josh.
"Who is it," asked Allie and Josh shrugged.
"I'm not completely sure. I'm not even supposed to know. They thought Nat and I were gone, but we were on our way back when my mom told my dad. I am going to find this guy though and make sure whoever it is stays away from my mom." Zach rubbed the back of his neck nervously.
"Look, I get it. Trust me, your mom is like a mom to me too. She's always been there for me and I love her and your dad, but..."
"There shouldn't be a but, Z," argued Josh and Zach groaned.
"But it isn't a good idea for us to go off on our own right now. We may have been able to sneak off of the island because of Natalie's power, but you can't really expect for us to be able to stay off of Aunt Alice's radar for long. Natalie's power can't be that strong, especially with her sifting through her visions so much," said Zach and Natalie smirked as she crossed her arms.
"Actually, it is that strong," assured Natalie.
"Eleazar once told me that every power has a flaw and I am pretty sure a future seeing, angry aunt searching her nephew's paths and ready to tell his parents the moment something goes wrong would be a formidable opponent to search out that flaw," exclaimed Zach.
"True, if Allie hadn't helped me figure out and overcome mine in regards to Alice," revealed Natalie and Allie groaned as Zach looked at her in utter shock.
"Allie," he yelled and Allie rolled her eyes at Natalie.
"Well, I didn't know she was going to actually use her power for evil. I did it for her and Josh. She was on the fence about things still and part of the reason was because she didn't like how easily Alice could manipulate their paths and see their choices, so I analyzed her power and helped her get over her fears, so she would commit to Josh," explained Allie.
"So you made her power invincible, the one who has stolen nuclear codes? You are supposed to be the smart one," he accused.
"Hey," grumbled Allie and Natalie scoffed.
"I did that once and with good intentions," she defended.
"History repeatedly shows that nukes and good intentions never go together," he exclaimed. Before Zach, Natalie, and Allie could continue bickering, Josh loudly whistled to interrupt them.
"Enough, we don't have time for this. Z, you are my best friend and I get what you are saying, but I am going after this guy whether you want me to or not. You and Allie don't have to come. Really, I won't hold it against you. This is about my family, not yours, so I get it, but we are going. Come on, Nat," he said before turning to leave again. Zach let out a whine.
"Wait, you know we are going with you. Besides, if we went back now, the others would figure out what was going on and while I do not condone this and am pretty sure this is a very bad idea that may land us in a lot of trouble with a whole bunch of people, I'm not letting you go alone. You are my best bro and my family, so are Leah and Jake. We will help you find this guy. Natalie, are you sure you can hide us from Alice?"
"Yes, but for the record, I am not invincible. I just know how Alice's power works and what she is looking for. She expects to see you two in your cottage and the two of us in La Push, so that's what I will choose to show her," explained Natalie.
"It's a little more complicated than that, but Natalie is right. Getting around Alice will not be the issue," added Allie.
"You know you are both sacrificing any peace and quiet you thought you would have in this existence right? Once this is all over and Aunt Alice finds out what you did, you will never hear the end of it," warned Zach and Natalie kissed Josh's cheek.
"He is worth it. I like Alice, but my loyalty is to my mate and right now, he needs us," said Natalie.
"So then where do we even start? I can't exactly help out in this case. We don't even know where to look or have any clue what we are searching for," said Allie, but Josh shook his head.
"Not true, I talked to Gavin. I remembered that he was online before when Z and I were playing. Natalie snuck back into the house and grabbed my stuff so I could contact him. You know Gavin is the best at what he does. He tracked the guy in seconds. His name is Carter Jones and he just so happened to catch a flight to Cancun not too long ago from Port Angeles. If we take the stealth jet, I think we will be able to intercept him," explained Josh and Zach's pinched the bridge of his nose in frustration.
"If we take the what where to do what," he asked and Josh groaned.
"Z, come on, we have to," he defended.
"Are you insane? How are we going to get the stealth jet off the island without anyone noticing," exclaimed Zach and Natalie shrugged.
"I've broken into the most secure government buildings in the world. I'll go get it," said Natalie.
"Plus, Z, it is a stealth jet. It can be stealthy," added Josh and Zach placed his face in his hands.
"I'm never going to get to drive that jet ever again if we make it out of this alive," he wailed, but Josh shook his shoulders.
"Hey, focus, save my parents' marriage now, worry about the consequences later. I know you think I am crazy, but these are my parents we are talking about. I don't have it all worked out yet, but I have to talk to this guy. If it was your mom, you would want to do the same. Please, for me," said Josh.
"Fine, but for the record, this is a very, very bad idea," he conceded.
For the plan to work, Natalie had to retrieve the stealth jet on her own, which left a very nervous and worried Josh, Zach, and Allie back at the shore waiting for her. She had been gone for over an hour and Josh was starting to get worried as he glanced down at his watch.
"Don't worry, J. The worst that can happen if she gets caught is we are all grounded and can never drive the stealth jet again, right," comforted Zach, but Allie smirked.
"That's assuming she gets by Jasper's security system. He just updated it last month and the specs made even Gavin impressed," said Allie and Zach nudged her.
"Not helping, nayeli," he whispered. They all sighed in relief when the stealth jet appeared above them and slowly landed onto the shore. They raced over to the door of the jet and waited impatiently for Natalie to open it for them. The moment she did, she collapsed into Josh's arms.
"Nat," he exclaimed and she winced as she held her throat.
"I need to hunt, now," she rasped out and Josh nodded.
"Z, a little help please," said Josh.
"I'm on it," assured Zach before darting into the forest and away from the shore. Josh held Natalie close as Allie inspected her friend.
"What's wrong with her," asked Josh.
"I think she's just fatigued and exhausted. She's using a lot of energy by tapping into her powers so much. She will be better once she hunts," said Allie. Zach raced back over to them with an elk in hand and placed it beside Natalie. She immediately sank her teeth into it and sighed in relief as the warm fluid pooled into her mouth. It quenched her thirst and soothed her burning throat. She drained the animal of its blood and slowly stood up.
"Thanks, I didn't expect to get that fried that fast. I didn't think I was doing that much," said Natalie and Allie scoffed.
"Yea, you're just actively blocking one of the most powerful vampires in the world from seeing our escape, snuck onto an island full of powerful vampires who could sense you if not careful, got around a customized, state-of-the-art security system, and did so to steal a stealth jet while still actively using your power against all said vampires," reminded Allie and Natalie slowly nodded.
"Well when you put it that way," teased Natalie and Josh kissed her forehead.
"Are you okay? If you aren't up for it, we can stop. I want to keep this guy from my mom, but not if it hurts you in the process," said Josh and she winked at him.
"I'm okay and already feeling better. We need to go though. I won't be able to keep this up much longer," warned Natalie and Josh quickly nodded.
"Next stop, Cancun," he announced as he got into the jet and Zach sighed.
"Yay," Zach said unenthusiastically as they filed into the jet.
