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
Harrison Black
20. Sweet Seventeen
When Sarah was born we were eight years old and Isaac was only ten months. Just like all the other children, we were jealous of our younger siblings at the time. We were used to have the all attention on us and then, all of a sudden there were two new babies in the family. However, as we grew up things changed. Besides, when your mission is to protect people and when you enroll in that mission for this long, you can no longer stop being a protector. It's who you are and what you do, and you'll keep doing it no matter what.
To be an older brother is practically the same and Sarah was the one who, in our point of view needed more protection because she's a girl. So when I caught Kevin Sunders kissing Sarah when they were both twelve in the Halloween school party, I reserved myself the right to have a private little talk with the kid. I probably overreacted, but even though it was just an innocent kiss, at the time, I felt it was the right thing to do. Needless to say that Kevin didn't go anywhere near Sarah ever again.
So it was a bit uncomfortable and frustrating for me and Will to learn that our kid sister, whom we had tried to protect from all kind of boys for years, was now dating without anyone's knowledge. Not only she was dating, but the guy she was dating was much older. And if that wasn't enough, he was someone we had once trusted almost like a brother. Actually, he had just become our pack brother which made things even weirder. Now it was time to protect our sister again but we had to play clean or we could be in trouble.
"You'll stay in the car." I warned William as I parked outside Newton's Olympic Outfitters.
The shop was located in Forks, four blocks down from the Police Station and it had once belonged to a guy named Mick Newton who was Bella's old schoolmate or something like that. Dad had mentioned him a few times over the years. He used to say that Mick was a pansy who was afraid of his own shadow. Apparently the three of them had watched a horror movie together when they were teenagers and all human, and Mick had thrown up afterwards.
Nowadays the store belonged to Mick's daughter Laura and her husband. Six years ago they had expanded and remodeled the whole place and had to hire more employees. The area occupied by the store was now equivalent to ten or eleven houses. Newton's Olympic Outfitters was one of the most successful stores in Forks and employed sixty-three people, ten of which were from La Push, including Jerry Cameron, Jay's best friend.
"No, I'm going with you." William opposed vehemently. He was pissed beyond belief about Jay dating Sarah. And a pissed off William was dangerous.
Isaac and I exchanged a worried look. Ten minutes ago we had been forced to restrain Will otherwise he would've phased to track down and kill Jay Morris. Isaac had told us that despite Jay's audacity on dating the daughter of the next chief of La Push, he hadn't touched Sarah yet but Will wasn't so easily convinced so his plan was to find Jay, beat him to a pulp or kill him. Right now he more inclined to the latter.
"Will… We're only a few miles from the Police Station and we need to remain calm." I told him.
"Please… I'm perfectly calm." He said confidently. And in fact, for the moment he was calm but I couldn't be sure if he would remain calm in the next few minutes. My twin brother was unpredictable and we really needed Jerry's help. And to be able to help us Jerry would have to be able to talk and that meant he had to stay conscious.
Which will probably not happen if Will comes with us. I thought.
"We need Jerry. We can't walk in there and beat him up until he passes out."
"Who says I'm thinking about beating up Jerry?" William faked being hurt with my comment but I knew him better than that. I knew that was precisely what he was thinking.
"Jerry is Jay's best friend. If there's someone who can tell us where Jay is, that person is certainly Jerry."
Jerry and Jay were in the same class back when we were kids. During their teenage years, they were always together. Jerry was shy and quiet while Jay was the opposite. In school, Jay protected Jerry from the older students while Jerry provided Jay the friendship and family environment Jay had never met in his own place.
"We're just going to talk to Jerry. Nothing else. No trashing down the place or fighting. Okay?"
"Yes, boss." William rolled his eyes at me.
When did our personalities reversed? I wondered. Probably when I realized I would be responsible for my brother's telekinetic ability and had to control him.
When we were ready to leave the car, we noticed that Isaac was already gone and entering the store without us.
"The little shit didn't wait for us." Will cursed and hurried after him. I followed closely behind. "You know… there's nothing wrong with ruffling someone up a little bit." He added while going through the door. "If Jerry doesn't tell us where they are willingly, I'm going to make him talk the hard way."
Will was always up for a fight. I used to be the one who always messed up and now William was the one with the hot and impulsive temper. Maybe if I had stayed like that Rhea would've loved me instead of falling for Will.
Isaac was already at the counter where a young girl, about seventeen years old, was trying not to blush every time he asked her a question.
"I haven't seen Jerry yet. My shift just started." The girl said, her eyes glued to the register machine.
"It's really important for us to see Jerry. It's a family business." Isaac insisted. "Please… uh…"
"Rosie." The girl said with embarrassment.
"Rosie." He repeated after her. "Can you please try to locate our friend? My name is Isaac by the way and these are my brothers Harry and Will."
"Okay... I can try."
Rosie worked on the computer for about ten seconds. Then she came over to the counter again and smiled at us even though her eyes were on Isaac the whole time.
"It seems that Jerry is in the storage room, B section, row 12."
"Can you call him here?" I asked politely.
"Sorry but I can't do that without my supervisor's permission."
William huffed impatiently.
"Where's the storage room?" He asked.
"In the back." Rosie pointed to a corridor on the right that led to the warehouse on the back of the store.
William passed through a large door on his right ignoring Rosie's protests about him not being allowed to enter that area. Isaac and I exchanged a look and decided to follow him since there was no one around and Rosie hadn't threatened to call security yet.
"Wait!" Rosie called after us. "You'll get me into trouble."
"It will only take a minute. We'll be right back." Isaac promised and she sighed in resignation, giving up.
"Take my card then. Otherwise you won't pass the next couple of doors and the security will kick you out." Rosie held up her employee card to Isaac who grabbed it and muttered a 'thanks'. The girl blushed heavily and I couldn't help a small smile.
"She likes you." I said when Rosie returned to the counter and we were running to catch up with Will.
"What?" Isaac asked surprised.
"She wouldn't have given us her card if she didn't like you."
"We just met." Isaac had stopped running and was trying to pull William back. My twin brother was on the verge of kicking down the red door in front of him because it wouldn't open. Since he wasn't listening to anything Isaac and I were saying, Isaac passed the card through the machine on our left and a green light appeared giving us permission to go inside.
"You have to use this." Isaac told Will handing him Rosie's card.
"Right. I guess you can be useful sometimes, Boo." He mocked.
"Don't. Call. Me. Boo."
We walked side by side in the large and dark corridor. There were lockers alongside the wall to our right and glass doors every ten feet on our left. Behind those doors a few employees were packing costumers' orders to take to the trucks outside. A young boy, probably no older than sixteen walked past us with a bag with mail. Despite giving us a suspicious look, he didn't mutter a word and followed through a small set of stairs that would lead him to the offices' area.
The second door was green and there was a huge sign that read 'Authorized Personnel Only' above. This time, instead of kicking the door, William used Rosie's card to unlock it and we found ourselves in a huge compartment where we could only see shelves and sports equipment.
"B section, row 12." Isaac muttered and we followed him when he turned left. We found Jerry on the top of a ladder organizing camping gear. The dim light cast dark shadows on the floor and when Jerry noticed us he almost fell down but was able to grab the ladder in the last minute.
"Hey guys… what are you all doing here?" He asked. The way his eyes looked up for an escape route to the nearest exit led me to believe he knew very well what we were doing there.
"We need to know where Jay and Sarah are." Isaac said. Jerry hesitated briefly before replying with a shrug.
"I don't know."
"I didn't see your car outside." I advanced. "Which means someone took it. And right now the only people missing are Jay and Sarah."
"I didn't bring my car today." His voice faltered because he was lying. That was plain obvious.
"So you walked here all the way from La Push?" Isaac enquired suspiciously.
"Look, Isaac asked nicely the first time and I'm going to ask nicely too. But if you don't get me a straight answer, I will leave the questioning up to William and he won't be so nice." I warned him. "Where are they?"
He gulped, his pupils dilated and his heart beats increased. Isaac and William noticed his nervousness as well.
"Where did that son of a bitch take our sister?" Will roared deciding to take the case into his own hands already.
"He mentioned something about Neah Bay and a chapel."
"What!?" My brothers and I exclaimed.
"That creep is forcing our sister to marry him?" Will grabbed Jerry's collarbone and threw him against the shelves.
"She wasn't being forced." He managed to explain. "She looked quite thrilled about it actually."
"We need to stop this nonsense." I said facing Isaac who nodded back.
It might be too late already. I thought worriedly. Having my sister marrying at the age of seventeen was bad, having her marrying at the age of seventeen with a wolf was worse. Jay had no idea what he was putting himself into. If my father knew about this he was as good as dead.
"Our sister is only seventeen. It's illegal to get married at her age." Isaac announced.
"Not in this chapel. It belongs to some guy who had a wedding chapel in Las Vegas. He still performs weddings without all the papers required in the civil office." Jerry said trying to break loose from Will's grip unsuccessfully.
"Sarah is going to be so grounded on the day of her sweet seventeen." William noted. "What's the name of the chapel?" He put Jerry back on the floor and fixed his shirt.
"I don't know. All he told me was that the chapel is near Cape Flattery Road."
"I hope you're telling the truth because if you're not we're going to come back here and you're going to suffer… a lot." Will threatened.
"I'm telling the truth." Jerry swore. "Can I please go back to work?"
"Sure." Isaac said. "But I need you to give me your mobile phone."
"What? Why?"
Isaac didn't answer him. He just took Jerry's brand new phone from his hands and headed to the exit door. William and I followed him closely ignoring Jerry's protests about his new iphone.
"He almost pissed his pants." Will smiled proudly and I simply rolled my eyes at him.
We walked to the counter where Rosie was with a client. The woman was blonde and her black and white dress was fancy enough to have cost a small fortune. Behind her, with a sulky face, a fat man dressed in an expensive suit was waiting, carrying four huge bags.
"I've heard your mother-in-law is sick. How's Mrs. Clark?" Rosie was asking while the woman searched for the credit card inside her purse.
"Oh, she's fine. You know Lauren… there's yet an illness to come to make her actually sick." The woman said dismissively. "She probably just bit her own tongue and got poisoned."
"Don't say that honey." The man looked a bit hurt. "Mommy isn't feeling well lately. It's been two years since Roger died."
"She threw a party last year to celebrate the anniversary of Roger's death, honey. She doesn't give a damn for Roger's death, and she's not sick, she's worried because Roger's children are going to win the lawsuit against her."
"You're being unfair and very inconvenient. My mother's life shouldn't be discussed in public."
"Everyone in this town knows everything about your mother, Brayden. Everyone knows she went to California to become a model and came home three years later with little money and a baby in her arms. Everyone knows she refused to tell who your father is and later on she married a rich business man twenty years older than her. And now that he's dead, she's trying to keep Roger's inheritance from his children because that's how dear Lauren Mallory-Clark works."
"How can you say that? My mother has always been good to you!"
"Shut up and take those to the car! Mel and Jackson are waiting. They came a long way to be with us this weekend." The woman ordered.
Discreetly, Isaac placed Rosie's card on the counter, muttered a thanks, and we were out of the door leaving behind the arguing couple and a very disappointed young girl. It was obvious Rosie had liked Isaac and wanted to speak to him one more time.
"That girl really liked you." William teased him.
Isaac didn't respond.
"She's going to have wet dreams about you tonight baby brother." He kept going. William could push someone's patience to the limits.
"Why do you have to be so damn improper all the time?" Isaac sounded irritated now.
"I don't have to be but I like it." Will confessed. I decided it was time to stop this from going any further otherwise they'd end up having a major argument like the couple inside the store we'd just left or phasing.
"Isaac, you'll take the car and go straight to Cape Flattery Road. Will and I are going to phase and we'll meet you there." I told my younger brother.
"Why can't I phase too?"
"Because someone will have to drive Sarah back home." I explained. "And we'll probably need the clothes inside the car."
Isaac pondered for a few seconds but he finally accepted the plan.
"Fine. I'll be right behind you."
"Drive fast but safe. Remember that if something happens to the car, Dad will kill us all." I warned handing him the keys.
He nodded and drove away while Will and I circled the store and went into the woods.
'I can't believe she confided in Isaac and not us. We're older and more experienced with girls than him.' William whined.
'Sarah's a girl, Will. She couldn't confide in us.'
'But she told Isaac.'
'They're close. You know that. Sarah used to protect Isaac in school and Isaac used to do homework for her, remember?'
'You're protecting him.' Will accused.
'It's not that I'm protecting him. I can understand why he never told us anything. He didn't want to lose Sarah's trust.'
'I'm not talking about that. He could've come with us in wolf form. Jay is driving Jerry's car and we don't need those clothes that much, it's not the first time we'll be butt naked in front of strangers.'
Unfortunately that was true. To be in a pack meant to kiss our privacy goodbye, and it was not just mentally. Physically there were hardly any secrets in the pack either. We had gotten used to share those awkward moments with the pack, the problem was when we had to share it with other people. Collin for example had been caught naked by his mother-in-law after a patrol. And Uncle Paul's children had seen him naked so many times that EJ actually thought Paul had converted himself to naturism.
'Well I would rather not be naked in front of them.'
'You're still protecting him.' I realized he was not going to let it go. And he was right, of course. I was trying to keep Isaac safe.
Despite his good performance as a fighter, it was clear Isaac didn't master the wolf inside of him yet plus we weren't sure that we were able to communicate with him through the mind link so it was better if he didn't phase at all.
'You protected him when he was attacked by that werewolf. I just thought it was my turn to keep him away from trouble at least once.'
'I figured it was something like that.' I could feel how proud he was for having figured it out. 'So… what are we going to do when we find them?' William asked me after a few minutes in silence.
'We'll listen to what they have to say for themselves and then we decide what to do.'
'Don't you feel your blood boiling when you think Jay can be sleeping with our sister right now?'
'I try not to think about it. I believe Sarah is smarter than that. I trust her judgement and I trust Jay hasn't lost his common sense.'
'That's why you'll never be alpha.'
The wolf inside me stirred a little, unhappy with the comment.
'You're too righteous. You should snap once in a while, you know?'
'Don't test me Will.'
My brother showed me a wolfish grin before sprinting.
'Why are you so damn competitive?' I lamented trying to keep up with him.
'One of us has to be, otherwise Dad will be our boss forever.'
My brother resented being bossed around by our father ever since he had phased ten years ago. His dominant personality was always in direct conflict with our father. Ever since we had officially joined the pack, Will had always mentioned he would take our father's place one day. But back then, he only had me to compete with. Now there was Isaac too and one day, JJ would be a wolf and a potential alpha as well.
We ran near the roads for the rest of the way so we could see every car that crossed paths with us. None was Jerry's car though, so we kept going until we reached a small set of houses in the edge of the road. There was a huge black cross made of metal on the top of the largest building.
We stopped before we could be seen by the people who were talking right outside the church.
'Can you see Jerry's car?' I asked my brother.
'No. Can you?'
'No. And I can't feel Sarah's presence here either.'
'Maybe we're not in the right place. I mean Jerry spoke of a chapel and this is a church.'
'Is there a difference?'
'I guess…'
'We have to make sure she's not here.'
'There's a house attached to the church on the west side. I'm sure there are some clothes in there. Call me if you need help.'
Of course he'd leave the hard tasks to me but this was probably better. Alone I'd have more chances of not being seen. While Will was slowly retreating to the dense bushes behind us, I phased back to human and circled the church silently. I slipped through an open window and found some clothes that fitted me. Then I left to find the person in charge.
Special thanks to rocklesson86, brankel1 and almondbutter who managed to bright my day with their reviews on the last two chapters. Thanks