Disclaimer: Twilight belongs to Stephenie Meyer not me.
Author/Note 1: This story is the sequel of Our Dawn 5. For the ones who don't know anything about Our Dawn Series, you can always read Our Dawn 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5, and Our Dawn Series Specials but if you don't want to bother I have a resume on my profile page. As it would be expected this is a next generation story and as such, it's focused on Jake and Leah's children.
A/Note 2: A huge thank you for everyone who reviewed Our Dawn Series so far.
A/Note 3: I'm not a native English speaker so I'm sorry for my grammar and spelling. Thank you for reading.
Alpha
Book I – The Third
Interlude
Jacob Black
15. Spirits' girl – part 2
I only realized I was standing there, completely immobilized when I felt Leah's hand gripping my wrist so hard that my fingers were turning blue. A 'The Exorcist'-like scene was unfolding before us, too grotesque for us to act upon it. We were standing in front of a blind girl who was sitting on a chair, tossing and turning uncontrollably as if she was trying to stop something from taking her body.
And then suddenly, Dana stopped moving. Her head fell back and we approached her slowly.
"Do you think she's alive?" I asked in a whisper. Leah said nothing.
We shouldn't be scared of stuff like that. After all we were wolves, protectors of La Push. We faced vampires and werewolves for crying out loud. Too many times we had looked death in the eye and survived to tell the story. To say that we were used to deal with the supernatural was an understatement but somehow this felt different.
I had never seen a girl moving like that. She hadn't made a sound but the way her body had been twisted and bent would give me endless nightmares even more than watching Rosalie dancing the 'lambada'.
Now Dana wasn't moving anymore. Actually she seemed dead.
"What are we going to do?" I asked.
Leah took another step forward and then, suddenly, the girl put her head up and stared at us.
"Dana?" Leah said softly.
"Clearwater and Black." She said.
At least she was alive and speaking. That was a relief.
"Are you alright?" Leah insisted and raised a hand to Dana's shoulder. The girl instinctively flinched before Leah could touch her and that was when I realized she could see.
Her eyes were now black when just a few seconds ago they were white. Could we have witnessed a miracle?
"Can you see us?" Leah asked noticing the same thing.
"Yes." She answered in a strange voice.
"How is that possible?"
It was a deep laugh that came through Dana's lips. Her voice was definitely not the same either.
"Were you expecting a sixteen-year old girl to have all the answers you came to find?"
Leah backed off and came to stand beside me.
"I knew you would come." She added. "It's almost time."
"What the hell are you talking about Dana?" Leah asked.
"Try again." She replied with a grin. "Didn't I tell you she would recover?" The girl turned her black eyes to me. I knew those small black orbs.
"Odessa?" I whispered, feeling a chill all over my body.
"Who were you expecting? Mother Theresa?"
"Is it really you?"
"You wanted answers. I can give you some."
"What about the girl?"
"My great-granddaughter is fine. She's still in this body but she's letting me use it for now. In case you didn't notice, Dana can not only speak to spirits, she's also a vessel that spirits can use. So far I'm the only one she allowed to use her body but when she's older and stronger, things will be different."
"Are we really speaking to a dead woman?" Leah asked me in a very low voice.
I nodded. That was, after all, the only explanation.
"I know you want me to return the fifty dollars I charged but I'm not going to do that. I was right, wasn't I?" Odessa crossed her arms and turned her face to Leah.
"About what?" Leah asked defensively.
Odessa sighed and got up.
"I guess your stubbornness is one of the things that made you so perfect for the alpha female position."
"We shouldn't be wasting our time like this..." I pointed out. "We have to go back to La Push as soon as possible."
"Fine." Leah consented. "You were right. I had twins. Happy now?"
"Not in the least." Odessa confessed. "Like I said... your twin boys are special in many ways but when they were born, they drastically altered the pack's dynamic."
"If you're trying to tell me that I shouldn't have let Carlisle save William by performing a C-section, you're even more twisted than I initially thought you were when we first met!"
"Easy girl." Odessa spat. "I'm not saying that. I'm glad your boys both survived. We need them both alive. They are the twins that Neeve and Martha saw in their visions of the future. They will save all of us one day. But unfortunately, their existence puts everything in danger."
"Why?" I demanded.
"I told you why, Jacob."
"You told me they would fight for the alpha position and that one would emerge as the victor of that fight. Those were the words you used." Odessa nodded. "You also told me that if I wanted both of them to live, I would have to conceive another alpha. And I did. Leah got pregnant again and Isaac was born so..."
"I said one alpha. You conceived not one but three more potential alphas." She said. "So that changed everything and now we're back at square one."
"Sarah and JJ are not wolves yet. And they might never be wolves. Besides Sarah's a girl."
"Are you delusional or just stupid?" She asked scornfully. "Do you honestly believe a child conceived by the alpha pair won't turn into a wolf?"
"It's something extremely rare. There are only two women who became wolves, me and Gwen." Leah tried to help me.
"That you know of." Odessa commented.
"There were more?" Leah asked.
"I didn't know any of them personally, but yes... there were more, many years ago when the tribes in the west coast were together, when the white men were trying to kill the native tribes..."
"You can't possibly know that. It's been centuries..." Leah noted.
"Listen to me." Odessa said in a firm voice now. "When the first Cold One came to this land, the first wolf phased. He fought the Cold One and killed him, but over the years more vampires came and the first pack was forged. Initially the packs were small; their numbers were between two and five. But when there was a pack formed by more than five wolves, a woman would be chosen to join them."
"So, there was an alpha pair before us? What happened?" Leah asked. Her curiosity taking the best of her.
"Now it's not the time to talk about that."
"Odessa's right. We were talking about the twins." I recalled.
"When your third child was born I thought everything would be alright however my optimism was short-lived. For us to have a chance the twins must live but because you had more children after your third, things got more complicated."
"I will make sure Isaac is trained properly to assume my position when the time comes. That way, Harry and Will won't need to fight each other."
"That idea is no longer valid. Your third son can no longer save his brothers. His life serves another purpose now."
"So what are we going to do?" I asked. "I won't let my children kill each other!"
"There's another option." She said. "An option that will not please you at all but will assure that your children will survive."
"How?" Leah and I asked at the same time.
"Right now you have three potential alphas in your pack, so you need three packs. One pack for each alpha and things will work out just fine. At least until the time comes for the packs to reunite once again under the leadership of the best wolf in the future."
"Three packs?" I inquired a bit unsure. During a small period of time, there had been two packs in La Push. I was the leader of one pack and Sam was the leader of the other. But it never felt right. Everything worked better when we were all in the same pack, all connected, and all as one.
To divide the pack now would certainly lead to arguments and many wolves would not agree to do it. This would weaken us. Our strength was in the numbers.
United we stand, divided we fall. That was the saying and I didn't really want to risk it.
"Is this the only way?" I asked. "Split up the pack will make us weaker. And three different alphas in the same territory will lead to chaos besides I'm not sure my pack brothers will submit to another alpha just like that."
"Not just any other alpha. They are your children. Your blood is their veins. Your pack brothers will accept them just like they accepted you." Odessa explained. "If you do this, the twins will be safe. And we need them both alive or the world as we know it will definitely end."
"What do you mean?" Leah questioned nervously.
"I'll answer that one later. In the meantime you have to promise me something."
"What?"
"Protect Dana."
"Isn't she safe here?" What could possibly happen to the girl? She was home and had a family. She didn't seem to be in any mortal danger.
"She won't be safe forever. Promise me you'll take good care of her."
"What about her family? Can't they protect her?" Leah asked. Odessa ignored her question.
"Don't forget that without Dana I won't be able to help you when the time comes."
That said Dana's body fell limp on the wooden floor. Leah rushed to her side and picked the girl up in her arms.
"She's breathing." She informed me. "So… what are we going to do now?"
That was a question I didn't know the answer for.
We ended up taking the unconscious girl to Ella, who despite the initial reluctance, took her in and promised to take care of her until she woke up.
Leah and I went home but we decided to make a stop in a small diner in Forks. We chose a seat in the back, ordered some food and waited in silence.
"Should we assume we spoke to a dead person?" Leah finally asked after finishing her second burger.
"How could Dana know all of that?" I inquired.
"Odessa is dead for five years!"
"I know."
"How the hell is this even possible?"
I knew it was a rhetorical question. Leah was trying to rationalize what had just happened although I had the slight impression that we would never understand. Actually we didn't understand a lot of stuff that had happened today but I guess that talking to someone who was already dead was not weirder than reading minds or phasing into a giant wolf.
"Assuming we did speak to Odessa… what do you think about what she said?"
Three alphas, three packs. One pack for each alpha. That was Odessa's solution, but in my opinion, it was not the best thing to do. Especially now.
"To divide the pack now is tricky." I began. "Isaac is not ready to be an alpha. He has no training, no clue of what to be a wolf really means. And the twins… they are strong warriors but they still lack maturity."
"I know what you mean but… I think that we need to do something even if it's splitting us into three packs. I don't care if Harry and Will are the twins from that prophecy. All I want is to make sure they won't kill each other."
"So you want me to split the pack?"
"If that's what it takes to keep both our children alive… yes."
"And how do you suggest I do that?"
To split and rejoin a pack was not something new for us but when it happened in the past, it had always happened naturally. When Bella was turned Sam decided to step down as alpha and gave me the position that had always belonged to me, and all I had to do was accept it. No one challenged me, I just took what was mine by birthright and the pack accepted it as naturally as I did.
Then when I went to live with the Cullens I convinced Sam to take my place again and the pack split. It had not been my intention to form a separate pack but for a while, there were two packs. Things got tense when I came home because Leah and I became the alpha pair and Sam turned into a jealous asshole.
We combined the packs again when Joham took Leah and Kim. It happened naturally because under those circumstances, everyone realized we would be stronger together and Sam stepped down again into his rightful position as my beta.
From then on, we had been together as a family and I was positive that to split the pack intentionally was not something that could be done so easily.
"Should I tell Harry, Will and Isaac to choose a few wolves to form their own packs? Or should I do it like a teacher choosing teams to play a football match? I don't think things work that way, Leah." I said. "And what about us? Should we step down as the alpha pair so that the three packs can be formed? I mean… what will happen to me? I'm an alpha as well."
Leah looked at me and just like I expected she had no answer.
"What a mess…" She complained and unwrapped another cheeseburger. "What's next on our agenda?"
"We should talk to your friend Callie." I suggested. "She's probably still at Sue's waiting for us to show up."
"And what are you going to tell her?"
"I'm going to propose a deal. Isaac can go live with her, if he wants to of course, but only after a few months of training."
Leah smiled, happy with my decision. I had been harsh on Callie, and I had probably given her the idea that I wasn't giving a damn to the fact that she could be killed by a vampire in a near future, but that wasn't true. One way or another, I would figure out a way to help her.
The conversation with Callie had to wait because the moment we left the diner, my cell phone started to vibrate. I frowned when I read 'Jason' on the screen. I automatically knew that something was wrong.
"Jason needs us." I told Leah after reading his text message.
"Is it Jay?" Leah arched a brow.
"Yep."
Jay Mitchell Morris had once been said to be my son. Those were times I'd rather not remember since Leah and I almost break up but it was impossible to forget because we all played an important part on Jay's life.
When he moved to La Push he was a shy and quiet kid who had just lost his adoptive parents in a brutal car crash. A misunderstanding led people to believe he was my son but thanks to Alice, I was proved to be innocent of all charges and we found out he was Jason's.
From that moment on Jay's life changed drastically. Jason was not ready to assume his role as a father and Jay was brought up by his grandparents and the families of a few members of our pack. He used to spend most of his free time with Jerry, David, EJ, Harry and Will. We all saw him growing up without a mother or the support of a father figure.
Despite Jason's efforts in recent years, father and son did not manage to fix their relationship. Apparently there were too many unfixable things: Jason's negligence, his refusal on telling Jay who was his biological mother, his marriage to Drew, his stepchildren Charlene and Preston who were now living with them.
And now there was one more thing to add to that list: his shape-shifting ability. Which was the business that took Leah and I to Jason's house.
"There's no point knocking right?" I asked turning to Leah. They were arguing. They were shouting so loud I believed the whole Reservation could hear them.
"I guess not." Leah shrugged.
They were standing face-to-face in the kitchen, Jay was now two or three inches taller than his father and I had never seen him this angry, not even when Jason announced Charlene and Preston were moving to La Push.
"Can you both shut up?" I raised my voice so I could be heard. Jason and Jay looked at me at the same time. They shared the same eye and hair colour.
"You called them?" Jay asked his father accusingly. "You can't solve anything by yourself, can you? You couldn't even take care of your own son."
"Jay…"
"Although you seemed quite willing to take care of some other guy's children, right?" He asked sarcastically. "Now give me the fucking car keys so I can leave!"
"You can't leave like this! You have to calm down!" Said Jason.
He was right. Jay was already shaking.
"Give. Me. The. Keys! NOW!"
Jason threw him the keys he was holding and Jay left, carrying a small bag with him.
"Jay! Wait!" Leah went after the boy.
"What the hell Jason! You can't let him go!" I said.
"The battery is dead. He isn't going anywhere." Jason shrugged and we both followed Leah and Jay outside.
"What the hell happened?" I questioned.
"I told him what it's like to be a wolf… he didn't like it." Jason shrugged. "I guess things kind of loose the magic when you're not a teenager."
"You can't give up on him. He'll need your help sooner or later."
"I don't think he wants my help Jake. You've seen him in there."
Right now Jay didn't want anyone's help and I understood his point of view. After what Jason had told him he must've felt deceived and alone. In that moment he was taking out his frustration on the non-moving car parked outside his house.
"You! Stop doing that!" I yelled at him. It wasn't an alpha command but it was close enough and Jay froze, letting his leg fall before hitting the car's tire again. "Since you don't listen to your father, you'll listen to me!"
"Why should I listen to liars?"
"Well first because what I'm going to tell you might actually help, second because I'm in charge, and third because you really don't want to see me angry." I paused for a few seconds to see his reaction. He was not breathing so heavily now and his initial anger had faded a little. "Believe it or not, we never meant this to happen. None of us wants to see more of La Push's young men phasing, especially our own children. Maybe we should've told you sooner about the wolf gene, maybe we should've prepared you for what was coming but we hoped it wouldn't come to this."
Jay crossed his arms and focused on me. He was letting my words sink in but I had to do better than that to convince him to embrace his fate.
"What happened to you isn't necessarily a bad thing…"
"Are you kidding?" He cut me off.
"Let me finish." I raised my voice again and he nodded. "When the shock of knowing the truth finally dissipates, you'll be able to understand that being a wolf is actually a good thing."
There was a time in my life I would've never thought about saying those words. Even after being told that our mission was to save people and even though that was quite gratifying, I never felt blessed for turning into a wolf because I had lost too many things in the process.
It was only when Leah entered my life that I allowed myself to accept that maybe being a wolf wasn't that bad. If I hadn't phased, Sam would've probably be the alpha of the pack and he would have Leah for his mate. So in a way, I was glad I had phased. Despite my lost youth, despite losing a chance to be normal, despite having to deal with dangerous situations and despite having to make really tough decisions, I had gained something better from all of this: an amazing woman, five kids and loyal friends.
"We get to save people from blood sucking monsters that threaten our existence. Every life we save is a victory, and you'll be a part of something really important. You'll have a family to support and protect you…"
"Really?" Jay asked sarcastically. "And who's part of that family?"
"You'll know them all soon enough." Leah promised.
"I'm not interested. I want my life back. I don't need a family… the one I have right now is useless so I doubt the new one will be any better."
"That's unfair." Jason whispered.
"Unfair? You want to talk about fairness, dad? How about not telling me my biological mother lived only a few states south of here? Was that fair? How about when you told me I was the worst mistake of your entire life? Was that fair?"
"Don't play the victim, Jay!" Jason yelled back at his son. "You never tried to understand!"
"Understand what?"
"What it was like for me! Do you think it's easy to be a single parent?"
"You always blamed me for everything!"
"That's not true. I tried my best."
"Your best? I was raised by your parents! You pretty much ignored me!"
"I was too young to be a father!"
"You weren't too young when you volunteered to take care of Charlene and Preston, were you? If their father didn't win their custody, you would've welcomed them in your house, you would've become their father, while you never even bothered to live with me!"
"Because your grandparents wanted you to stay with them! And I always helped with money!"
"SHUT UP!" Jay shouted all of a sudden, looking around for something that seemed to be invisible.
"Don't tell me to shut up. I'm still your father!"
This time Jay didn't reply. "Do you hear that?" He asked us. "Can you hear that sound? It looks like…"
A howl.
"Quil." I identified immediately and in that precise moment Leah received a text message from Seth. "What's wrong?"
"We have to go to Forks High School. Seth said it's urgent."
"You'll stay here…" I looked at Jay and Jason.
"No! Take me with you." Jay asked. "I want to see what's so special about this life you praise so much."
I had a feeling he just didn't want to stay with his father.
"Okay. Let's go then." I agreed. "I can't wait for this day to be over." I added in a whisper.
Since Forks had a considerable amount of population that was not used to see mythical creatures running around, we decided to pick up our car.
"Whatever happens, do not dare to phase inside my car." I warned Jay who was in the back seat. He simply nodded.
"I was wondering… You're a wolf too, right?" Jay asked Leah.
"Yes."
"Are there… more? I mean… more girls?"
"Gwen was a wolf once." Leah said. "But she doesn't phase anymore. She hasn't phased for the last ten years."
"So we can really stop." He concluded.
"Yes."
Jay seemed to relax a bit after that.
Behind Forks High School there was a small park where students used to go to make out or smoke some weed. Fortunately it was empty at this hour in the afternoon. That was where we found Seth, Will, Harry, Edward, Bella and three of the Volturi.
"We're wasting time here!" Alec was saying. He was not pleased.
I could feel Jay tensing up while we walked towards the group. Leah placed one hand over his shoulder so he would calm down.
"He's right. We should be helping out." Will agreed.
"You've done enough." Seth said. "Just shut up for now."
"What's going on?" I demanded watching the twins closely. "You were supposed to meet the leeches in an hour. What the hell happened? Why is everyone here?"
"Why does everyone think this is our fault?" Will complained.
"Because you brought your brother and threw him into this!" Seth raised his voice. "Isaac is unprepared for battle!"
"He seemed fully prepared to me!" Will retorted.
"Explain now!" I shouted at both of them. This time my voice was laced with an alpha command. Over the years I had always felt guilty whenever I used alpha orders on my own children but sometimes it was the only way to get them to cooperate. Like now.
"We found Gustaf by chance. He was hiding near the old gas station… We warned Alec but we didn't know Isaac was following us. When he saw Gustaf he phased and attacked him. We were unable to reach his thoughts or even stop him. He dismembered Gustaf and when he finally calmed down, Alec showed up." Harry paused exchanging a look with his twin brother.
"We had to help Alec because Isaac was completely out of control and we figured that if he killed one of the Volturi there would be a war." William explained.
"He almost ripped my arm off! That stupid dog!" Alec spat furiously.
"You didn't use your powers?" I asked surprised. Alec was one of the most powerful vampires in the world. One wolf was hardly an opponent for him.
"Of course I did!" He said exasperated. "It didn't work. He's immune to my powers." He growled.
I couldn't help but smile. I knew how Alec and his twin sister hated when someone was able to overcome their powers. Isaac was now part of a very restricted group of people who weren't affected by the twins from Hell's abilities.
"While we were helping Alec, Gustaf was able to re-attach his members and ran away. Isaac was after him in a flash and when we were about to follow him, Uncle Seth arrived and we joined everyone here." Will finished.
"Can you give me a report on Isaac's situation?" I asked Seth.
"I've sent Quil, Paul and Sam after him. Their orders are to bring Isaac back in one piece and destroy all of the vampires that stand in their way. The rest of the pack is forming a security perimeter around Forks in case Gustaf returns to finish his ritual. Esme, Carlisle and Alice are securing their lands, Rosalie, Emmett and Jasper went to join Sam and the others."
"Did anyone manage to communicate with Isaac?" I asked.
"No. His mind is completely blocked." Seth replied.
"Where's the other leech of your group?" I turned to Alec.
"Chelsea's after Gustaf. She's not allowed to hurt wolves but if your puppy tries to kill Gustaf, she will not hesitate." Alec grinned.
"If my son gets hurt by any of you, I'll personally kill you." I said in a whisper. Alec just glared at me.
"You know that I can call Aro and say our agreement was broken, right? Your puppy attacked me and broke one of our rules… so I would think better before making empty threats to me or my friends."
"You're in my lands, leech… Don't forget that."
"Jake, what are we going to do?" Leah asked.
"We're going to get our son home."
"How? We can't even communicate with him."
We couldn't but someone could.
"Jay!" I called the boy who was behind me. "It's your turn now."
xxxxxxxxxx
The full moon was high in the night sky when we reached La Push. It was near one in the morning and I was walking ahead of a small group formed by Leah, Sam, Seth, Quil, Paul, Harry and Will. I was carrying an unconscious Isaac in my arms. Despite the stains of blood on his clothes that indicated several wounds, he was perfectly fine. His body recovered at an amazing rate so his broken arm and sprained ankle were already healed but he was exhausted.
I had never seen a young wolf so resilient in a hunt. Isaac had led the pursuit for hours alone. Initially no one was able to communicate with him through the mind link. but then he lowered his mental barriers and we were able to talk freely. He clearly lacked the strength and experience of both his brothers and the older wolves but he made it up in strategic planning and a natural intuition to find vampires. And he was fast. In a few months Isaac would probably be faster than any wolf I knew.
Unfortunately, he had blacked out from exhaustion before catching the cunning leech who, in the meantime had found refuge in the surrounding forest of the Makah Reservation.
It was only a matter of time until Gustaf was caught. He was probably waiting for the pack to retreat out of tiredness early in the night but we had other plans. The initial hunting group had been replaced by Embry, Jared, Brady, Collin and Denis an hour ago. This way we could go home and have a little rest but the hunt wouldn't stop.
The Cullens and the Volturi were still able to go on because their bodies weren't affected by exhaustion, and on the northern border of the Makah Reservation we had the White Pack on alert, so there was no possible escape for him.
Before we could all go home we agreed on a place and time to meet in the break of dawn to go back to the Makah Reservation in order to replace the other wolves in case the hunt wasn't over yet.
"We're going to stay with Granddad tonight, if that's okay with you." William said as we were heading home.
"Sure." I said. "But make sure you get a good rest, alright?"
They both nodded in silence.
"You did well tonight." I added. "I'm proud of the way you focused on the task you had."
The twins smiled and took another road that would take them to my father's house. Despite their lack of judgment earlier allowing their brother to follow them, Harrison and William had done extremely well during the pursuit. They never left their positions, they covered more ground than the rest of the pack members and they tried to stay close to Isaac the entire time.
It had been William to notice his brother's fatigue and when Isaac passed out he hurried to reach his location and didn't leave his side until we were all replaced by the second hunting group.
The empty house welcomed us with a screeching sound coming from the door. Leah was complaining about that door for the past two weeks and I was supposed to have fixed it by now but I hadn't had the time yet.
Sarah was staying at Sue's tonight. After spending the afternoon with Callie and Sophia, the two girls had become friends. At least that was what Sue had told Leah on the phone a few minutes ago. Sue had offered Bella's old bedroom so Callie and her daughter could spend the night in but Callie insisted on going to a small guest house that was located at the end of the street. Since Bella's room was vacant, Sarah asked her Grandmother to spend the night there.
As for JJ, he was spending another night at Seth and Gwen's.
"We'll have to stay with Junior, Lilly and Susie for a month to make up for all the nights JJ is spending at Seth's place." Leah said when I left Isaac's bedroom.
"Yeah… I know."
Leah and I were in the kitchen while she was cooking a light meal. I knew she was tired and worried about the rest of the pack. While I waited for the food to be ready I took a cup coffee. Unfortunately one of us would have to stay awake because with half of pack mobilized in the north and the other half resting, there was no one patrolling La Push. And we couldn't afford that.
"I'll go speak to Jason to tell him about Jay and then I'm going to patrol."
"You should rest too. I can cover for you in two hours." She offered.
"I'm fine. I'll rest when this is over."
"Do you think that's possible?"
"It's only one leech, and he's trapped. Sooner or later they'll catch him."
"I'm not talking about that Jacob."
I knew that. I just didn't want to talk about it in that moment.
"It's happening Jacob… We should've left La Push when I got pregnant. Now we're all stuck here and our kids are going to live the life I never meant them to live." Leah was close to tears and I had no idea what to do. Whatever I told her wouldn't make any difference because she was right.
"They'll be fine." I tried.
"Really? What about those stupid prophecies?"
"We have time to think about prophecies and visions from the future. Right now I'm more worried about Alec and the other Volturi being here."
"It was bad enough having the twins involved in the pack so soon and now…"
I diverted my eyes from her. I guess now I knew how my father felt when he discovered I was a wolf. He had confessed a couple of times that he always felt useless and worried when I was out patrolling or fighting vampires with the pack.
You'll understand when you have your own children. He had told me then and I had foolishly ignored his words. I thought he was overreacting but he was right. It's different when it's your children risking their lives; it's different because part of you wants to protect them all the time while the other part tells you to stay back and let them fight their own battles; it's different because the love of a parent for his children is something you can't explain and the mere thought of losing a child is unbearable.
"Go to sleep and we'll talk in the morning. I've got to go."
I exited the house before she could protest. Just like Leah, I needed to clear my mind and right now I owed Jason a visit to tell him about Jay.
He offered me a bottle of beer when I joined him on his porch. It was obvious he had been drinking and hadn't slept at all.
"Is he okay?" He asked handing me a beer which I refused. I wanted to have a clear mind while patrolling.
"He's fine."
"Is he at your place? Did he refuse to come home?"
"No… he's staying at a friend's house in the Makah Reservation for tonight. He'll be back in the morning when everyone else returns."
"Is he hurt?" Jason asked suspiciously.
"No." I assured him. "Jay did a great job today. He helped us to find Isaac and the leech he was hunting down. You should be proud of him."
Initially, Isaac had shut us down from his thoughts and only Jay was able to communicate with him. Edward was then able to read Jay's mind and locate Isaac and Gustaf. The information Edward was able to pick up from Jay took us to the Makah Reservation's surrounding area where we found Sam's group and then Chelsea. Isaac was a few minutes ahead of us, trying to catch up with Gustaf who, unfortunately, was able to escape every time we came close to his location. Being a tracker gave him an advantage that he wisely used against us.
The hunt went on for a few hours before Isaac started to show he was mentally and physically inapt to continue the pursuit. That's when he let his mental barriers down and we could finally communicate with him.
Isaac was not the only one to fall from exhaustion though. Jay had made a tremendous effort to keep us all in contact with my son and when Isaac allowed himself to succumb to the fatigue, Jay did the same. Since we couldn't just leave him in the woods unprotected I had ordered Leah to take him to the nearest house she could find and that happened to be Dana's small cottage next to the cemetery.
Leah found the girl alone and despite a brief moment of hesitation, she accepted to help us and allowed Jay to stay in her house until we could take him home with us.
"You know… I was a kid when I first phased… and I was a kid when I slept with Milena…" He stopped to drink the rest of the bottle and get another one. I wondered how many he had already drank because usually Jason was a quiet guy and now he was talking about things he never did. "Things were simpler when we were young and when Jay showed up in here I was about to start a new chapter in my life. My girlfriend had just left me for a white boy from Sequim and I wanted to leave La Push for a while… and then he showed up out of the blue. Can you imagine what it was like for me?"
Yes, I could.
"And as if it wasn't bad enough postponing all of my plans to leave La Push because I had found out I was a father, I had to connect with a twelve-year old kid whom I knew nothing about." Jason kept going. "There were times I wished he didn't exist, other times I wished Milena had come to me when she was pregnant… Raising a baby is different from raising a teenager… and I had no idea how to deal with him. That's why I left him with my parents."
I knew the rest of the story. Jason had stayed in La Push for a year before leaving to Alaska to work in an oil platform. Although he convinced himself he was doing that to help his parents and Jay, he was just running away from his responsibilities as a father.
In Alaska he met Drew and helped her escaping an abusive husband. He stayed there until Drew was able to get the divorce and during the custody battle for her two children. He came home four years later bringing Drew along. Jay was seventeen and they were still strangers to each other. Things had calmed down when Jordan was born, three years ago, but not enough to allow a full forgiveness from Jay. In his point of view, Jason had deliberately abandoned him when he most needed.
"What do I do now Jake? How can I make things right?"
"I don't know Jason but… I think you should forget about the past and focus on the future. You have to be here for Jay when he comes to you."
"That's the thing Jake… Will he come to me?"
Jay was proud and stubborn so right now he probably wouldn't ask his father for help. But things could change.
"One day he will." I offered.
"Thanks… for taking care of him." Jason whispered as I was standing to leave.
I nodded and went straight to the forest. It was time to patrol and learn what was happening in the Makah Reservation. When I phased I felt the typical buzz of having my thoughts joined with so many people's. To be in someone's head was not as easy or comfortable as it looked.
Sam found out how hard and confusing that could turn when Paul joined the pack. Before Paul there were only two wolves. Sam and Jared learned how to deal with the mind link on their own and even found it quite useful at first but with more than two wolves phased at the same time things got a bit chaotic.
Most of us found a way to read everyone's thoughts naturally. It was something that our wolves were trained to do but whenever we'd lose our focus, a tornado of words, sounds and visions could make us pass out or lose track of what was happening. It was a matter of mental training. Most of the wolves learned how to focus on reading only one mind at a time within the first three weeks after phasing for the first time. The trick was blocking away all the others unless it was absolutely vital to have our minds all combined.
It was much more difficult to learn how to read several minds at the same time without feeling distressed. But I had mastered it now, as well as Leah, Sam and Seth. That's how in that precise moment I knew what every member of my pack was doing. I could see through their eyes, smell through their noses and feel through their thoughts.
Edward was shouting out orders to Embry. They couldn't leave the east side unprotected so Embry ordered Brady to leave Collin and occupy that position. Jared was on the north with Rosalie and Emmett securing that area. Collin was the one who had just smelled a fresh track. He was running along a secondary road, with Bella right on his tail.
Denis was protecting the shoreline with Alice, Esme and Carlisle.
'Embry?' I called. I wanted an update.
'Jake… we got him surrounded. Col is going to try and get him to leave his hideout. When that happens, we will get him and then Chelsea will do the rest.'
Chelsea was the vampire that had the most important role to play in that hunt. She would be the one to make sure Gustaf would go with them to Italy willingly.
'We're narrowing down the perimeter. I can feel him really close now.' Collin thought. 'Embry, I need backups!'
'We need to wait until we can see him.' Embry recalled.
Edward's strategy was proving to be a success. The concept was quite simple. Gustaf had an ability that allowed him to know all of his pursuers' location and escape in the last minute but there was a way to annul that advantage: Edward's mind-reading power.
If he could read Gustaf's mind, Edward would be one step ahead of him and learn the direction he would run making sure he'd be caught. Only for that Gustaf had to be close to Edward or he wouldn't have access to his thoughts.
That was why the first stage of the plan was to narrow down the perimeter around Gustaf and get close to him as much as he could. After that it was only a matter of following Edward's instructions.
I could feel my pack brothers' frustration whenever Gustaf was able to elude them as well as the adrenaline charging their bodies as the hunt proceeded in such a high speed that it would make the most fearless NASCAR pilot faint.
But Gustaf's luck was running out.
'He changed his direction.' Collin warned. 'He's heading to the shoreline, like Edward predicted.'
Gustaf wanted to end the pursuit and probably thought his best chance was to run away by sea. Usually that was the best way to get rid of wolves but this time it wouldn't work. At the beach, Jasper, Cory and Felix had joined Alice, Esme and Carlisle, and soon more backups would arrive.
Now that he could read Gustaf's mind perfectly, Edward was organising the pack, giving them instructions through Embry.
'It's going to get interesting now.' Embry thought when he left the forest and entered the sandy beach. Gustaf was surrounded at last. A light rain was now falling as the pack, the Volturi and the Cullens were closing in on the vampire that had given us so many problems to catch.
"We just need to make sure he doesn't run away until Chelsea and Alec arrive." I heard Bella say through Collin's thoughts.
In that moment, Gustaf was facing Edward who was standing right in front of him. It was the first time we were actually looking at Gustaf since his presence had been known in La Push. He was no taller than Jasper and his curly blondish hair made him look quite feminine. He was wearing black jeans, a dark-blue shirt and a black leather jacket. If it weren't for his eyes and pale skin, he could pass for a human.
"Call off your dogs and maybe we can make a deal." He said but everyone remained in silence.
Except for the trashing waves and the growl of five wolves, no sound could be heard until the arrival of Alec and Chelsea.
"You're their leader?" Gustaf asked Alec when he entered the circle that was caging the enemy.
"No… I'm your new friend Gustaf." Alec smiled.
"You're not my friend… I don't even know you… I never… saw…" Gustaf's words died as Chelsea worked her magic on him.
Her ability was similar to Jasper's. She could manipulate feelings and emotions and her goal was to make Gustaf believe they were friends so he would trust them and go to Volterra to be a part of their coven.
"We're not enemies Gustaf… we've been looking for you for quite a long time. Our master is eager to meet you." Alec said sounding as friendly as he could.
"Why?"
"Because you're one of us and we want you to join our clan."
"I've been doing great by myself so far."
"But I'm sure you've missed talking to someone… being a part of a family…" Chelsea whispered. "Come with us and you'll never feel lonely again."
Gustaf hesitated. The control Chelsea had cast over him was slowly changing his mind.
"But I don't know who you are." He said unsure but he wasn't making objections anymore.
"We're the Volturi and you're one of us now." Chelsea repeated.
"I am?"
"You're one of us." She said one last time and holding his hand, she pulled him out of the circle and walked away into the forest. "Alec, Cory, Felix… come one let's go." She called. Gustaf was finally under control and wasn't a danger anymore. Chelsea's power was quite effective.
"I'm sure Aro will be pleased to hear that you've assisted us tonight." Alec waved at the Cullens. "And you… tell your boss to keep his puppies on a leash or next time he'll have one less son to worry about."
I growled at the threat but I'd make sure there wouldn't be a next time.
'Jake… we're coming home.' Embry announced. 'Go back to your place and have some rest. Everything's fine now.'
'Roger that. Make sure you bring Jay.' I told Embry before they could all go back into their human forms.
I run a few more miles to make sure La Push was vampire-free and ten minutes later I decided to call in for the night. It was around two a.m. when I finally went to bed.
Leah was sleeping soundly when I sneaked myself under the sheets. I placed one arm around her waist and brought our bodies closer together. I kissed her naked shoulder and buried my nose in her hair. I felt I could finally have some rest.
"Hey… Did something happen?" She asked drowsily.
"It's over. The vampires are leaving." I replied quietly. "Let's have some sleep, okay?"
"Okay…" Leah yawned. Then she entwined our fingers together and we quickly dozed off.
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