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 II – The Protector
Harrison Black
27. Night Out
Season looked at me intently when I parked the car outside her house. Considering the way she had been observing me during the entire trip and our lack of conversation's topics, I thought I would see her jump out of the car as soon as we got there but she was in silence and didn't seem to be in a rush to move.
Maybe it's the comfortable car that is keeping her so quiet.
Edward's new car was indeed quite comfortable (despite the smell). However I had serious doubts that the comfortable Volvo was alone responsible for her reluctance in leaving the car.
Maybe it's… I stopped my train of thought. It couldn't be my presence to keep her still like that, could it?
I slowly turned to her.
"Are you scared about coming home? You were only out for a day…" I said, trying to make her feel at ease. "Are you in pain?"
"I'm fine." She said. "It's just that I… I'm not used to have someone taking care of me."
I felt a mixture of pity and happiness. Pity because it was obvious that Season was used to be the one who took care of others and not the other way around, and happiness because I would be able to provide her some sense of safety. At least that was what I hoped.
"My presence makes you feel uncomfortable." I deduced. Season blushed.
She's really cute when she blushes. I immediately regretted that thought. I wasn't there to be with Season that way. I was there in a mission: protect her against the evil bloodsuckers. That was all.
"A little bit, yes." She admitted. "I don't remember very well… about us… our relationship. So it's a little… weird for me." Her eyes flew to her lap as she nervously played with her hands.
"That's fair enough." I said. "But I've told you how we met, how we began dating, how you made me feel a complete idiot when you rejected going out with me the first few times I asked you out… and I promised you I wouldn't put any pressure on you while I'm around, didn't I? So you don't need to feel like that."
"You told me I asked you not to tell anyone about us."
I nodded. That was the only way to explain why her family and friends had never heard of me.
"If that's true why did you come to see my cousin Hannah?"
"I didn't have a choice. I had to meet her and make sure you'd be in good hands." I really hoped she believed me. "I know that maybe it's too soon to meet each other's families but… I want to be able to come and see if you're okay or if you need something. That's why I came."
Season blushed again.
The good-boyfriend card was always useful. Especially when all I had told her before leaving Alice's house about our relationship was a lie. Alice had made me memorize word by word what I would have to tell Season to get her to believe we were actually a couple.
Since she had access to Season's records, Alice knew almost everything about her childhood, youth and the latest details of her life so it was easy to make up a convincing story.
According to that story Season and I had started a relationship about three months ago. We had met at her workplace. She had only agreed on a date after a great deal of persuasion and for the time being she had convinced me to keep our relationship a secret.
"You haven't told anyone but Hannah, right?"
"Yes. She's the only one I spoke with."
"Okay… So… Can I ask you something?"
"Sure."
"Don't tell anyone else. No even my brother and sister."
I felt suddenly disappointed though I had no idea why because I had never like Alice's plan to begin with. I mean it was also better for me to keep this a secret.
"And what will you tell them when they ask you who I am?"
"Well, we can be just friends… right?"
"I guess it's better than nothing." I tried to joke but she didn't laugh.
"I'm sorry."
"It's okay. It's not your fault." I smiled. "I'll be whatever you want me to be. For now we'll be friends. When you regain your memory, we can go back to be… a couple, like we were before the accident."
That would never happen, of course. Season would never remember something that never happened.
"About the accident…" She finally turned to me. "Was I alone that night?"
"Yes. I didn't see anyone else when I found you. Why?"
"I don't know… I remember feeling really cold and I have the impression that someone was whispering in my ear that I was going to have a new life."
Gustaf… that motherfucker. I clenched my fists. It had been his plan from the beginning to change his third victim so we would hunt her down and kill her knowing that she was just an innocent girl caught in the crossfire.
"You hit your head pretty hard, you know?" I pointed out.
Actually she hadn't hit her head at all but she truly believed she had been in a car accident which was a lot easier to explain than a vampire attack.
"Yes, the doctor told me that."
"Don't think about that too much. Your memory loss is temporary, so we'll just have to wait. Be patient." I held her hand and she flinched for a second. "Now let's go see your family."
Hannah had prepared a small party to welcome Season. She had told the children about the car accident so Ryan and Varona rushed to Season's arms as soon as she went through the door. It was easy to see how much they cared about their older sister.
I was introduced to the family as Season's friend. Since they were children no one asked any questions about where I was from or how we had met. They were obviously impressed with my height and Ryan wanted to know if the car parked outside was mine but their curiosity didn't go beyond that.
In the table there was food and drinks, mostly for the kids, who attacked the chocolate cake almost immediately.
While Hannah was trying to get some cake to her sick children, Maisy, her youngest grabbed my leg forcing me to picked her up and play with her for a while. She was a little sad because her sisters Tamsyn and Nyla were with the flu and couldn't play with her.
When they noticed I was busy playing with Maisy, Season and Hannah discreetly excused themselves into the house's only bedroom to talk privately, unaware that my super hearing power would make sure I'd know everything they were talking about.
"Are you telling me you know nothing about him?" Hannah asked. They were talking about me.
"Didn't he tell you I have memory lapses?"
"Yes, but come on Season… He says he's your boyfriend… that's a big deal." Hannah said. "And he's not the type of guy you forget just like that, is he?"
"What do you mean?"
"He's… really hot, Season. There's no other way to put it. The guy is freaking hot! And those muscles…"
"Hannah…" Season whined. "Please."
"Don't you dare to deny. You're blushing."
I couldn't help a smirk.
"Look…" Season sighed before speaking again. "I don't know exactly what's going on between us, but it has to end."
Hannah was quiet for a couple of seconds and I wondered if Season had been able to read through my lies. I thought I had been convincing enough but apparently she hadn't believed me.
"I know… But, if you can keep this a secret, maybe you can… keep seeing him. He does seem to be a nice guy and you've been alone for so long…"
"We can lose everything if we don't break up and I don't remember him that much…" She said. "I have his phone number on my cell phone, I have text messages we exchanged in the last weeks too so I guess he's not lying or anything but…"
That was, of course, Alice's doing. While Season was recovering she had access to her cell phone and was able to create fake messages to avoid suspicions.
"Maybe you should tell him…"
"No. I can't. We'll solve things out with Tom."
"I don't think we can."
"Why not?"
"I couldn't pay him this month."
"What?"
"Tamsyn and Nyla are sick. They needed medication and… I spent the money. I'm sorry."
"Has he come by to collect?"
"Not yet. But he will."
"What are we going to do?"
"I'll speak to Peter. There's a small chance that he'll be able to convince Tom to let us stay."
"At what expense? More money? What if he…"
"I'll try to leave you out of it, alright?"
"We have to pay him. He won't leave us alone until he gets his money."
"It's not money he wants… he knows that sooner or later we won't be able to keep paying him and then we'll charge us in other ways."
"You have to get Peter on our side. He's his nephew… he's our last chance."
"Alright, don't worry Season. Leave everything up to me. Just make sure you have some rest, okay? You look tired."
A few seconds later Hannah left the bedroom and came to meet me.
"Season is resting. You can come over later, if you like… or maybe tomorrow."
I had to fight the urge to question Hannah about the conversation she had just had with her cousin behind closed doors. It was obvious they were having financial problems that involved someone else. A guy named Tom who was getting money at their expenses.
"Tell her I'll be here tomorrow morning, okay?"
"Sure. Thanks for watching over the kids."
I nodded and left. I didn't know if pretending to be Season's boyfriend was such a good idea. But now it was too late to go back. Even if I was her fake boyfriend it wouldn't be easy to gain Season's trust and that would make my mission of protecting her extremely hard. I texted Alice to let her know how things had worked out and wasn't surprised with her answer.
'You have to try harder, Harry. Be more convincing.' She wrote. There was a P.S. note below: 'Next time you're with her, just kiss her senseless. That will work.'
Sometimes I really hated Alice Cullen.
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After returning the Volvo to Edward I went home only to find my bags at the door. I scrunched my forehead and frowned wondering what the hell was happening. Was my mother throwing me out? Were we moving to another place?
"What the hell did you do now, Will?" I asked as I met my brother near the staircase carrying his own bag.
"Why do you always assume it's my fault?" He retorted clearly in a bad mood.
"I didn't do anything wrong, so it must've been you." I explained.
"Well, I'm innocent this time."
"In that case, what's this all about?" I pointed to the bags on the floor outside.
"We're going on a trip together." Dad said enthusiastically placing himself between us and hugging us at the same time.
William groaned and I raised my eyebrows again.
"Is this for real?" I asked.
"Of course it's for real." Dad replied with a grin. "We're having a night out. A boys-only night."
"What the hell have you been smoking, dad?"
Dad frowned.
"What's wrong about wanting to spend some quality time with my sons?"
"We're not kids anymore, dad." William complained.
"Well, either you come with me and with Isaac, or you'll have to stay here and help your mother to deal with Sarah. And trust me… it won't be pretty. Jay came here earlier and kept his part of our deal. He told her to forget about him and handed her his wedding band. Sarah's throwing a tantrum right now and I think she's going to keep this up for hours."
"A night out it is!" Will and I said at the same time.
"So… what's the plan?" I asked watching Isaac coming down the stairs carrying his bag and a backpack that probably contained books.
Did he actually think he'd have time to read? It was a night out not a school trip.
"We're going camping." Dad answered. "Your brother has already prepared your bag, Harry."
"Great." I said sarcastically. The last time we had camped, I had woken up with ants all over me. William's courtesy of course.
"Come on, let's go!" Dad called us. We left the house after dad without saying goodbye to mum, who opened the window and shouted "Cowards" at the top of her lungs right before we entered in the woods.
"You told mum about this, didn't you?" I asked.
"Sort of." He admitted. "She won't mind!" He added probably trying to convince himself more than to convince us.
We travelled on foot because we didn't want to take the risk of being seem by campers or hikers. That was the high season for tourists, the dauntless ones, of course. The rest would only venture themselves on those paths during the summer.
We kept walking higher and higher until we reached the perfect place to camp. The rocky hillside protected us from the wind and there were a few trees under which we could build our tents. We had enough water with us so we didn't need to search for a stream.
"Isn't this the place where Uncle Seth and Edward faced that red-haired leech and the other guy that tried to kill Bella?" William asked.
"Yeah… How do you know that?" Dad was surprised.
"Uncle Seth thinks about it often."
"I guess that makes sense. That battle was his crown of glory. He was the youngest wolf fighting and he killed Riley practically on his own. I was supposed to stay here protecting Bella with Edward but I decided to go into the heat of the battle down in the clearing because I thought it would be pretty boring up here."
"Do you regret it?" Isaac asked dad with curiosity.
"No. Seth did become a bit annoying after that but I'm glad I made him replace me because that way I was able to save your mother."
"Why did you have to save mum?"
"I'll tell you the whole story after we settle down."
Isaac nodded and built his tent in less than ten minutes. I took a little more time and Will gave up after a half an hour. Frustrated, he basically destroyed all of his gear and decided his sleeping bag would be enough.
We spent a rather pleasant afternoon. We took some food and water and went down the hill side into a small stream where we caught some fish. Dad taught Isaac a few tricks about fishing and following animal tracks that he had already taught us many years ago.
We talked mostly about the pack because Isaac wanted to know details about hunting parties, battles and patrols. Dad encouraged us to speak about those times so we could help Isaac to feel more assimilated into the pack. Isaac learned about all the big battles the pack had faced over the years. He asked questions and we answered the best way we could.
I knew what dad was doing, he wanted us to work together, the three of us as a team, and he wanted us to guide Isaac because he was the youngest. However I didn't understand why we were doing that now. I too agreed that Isaac needed guidance just like we had needed when we were young wolves but there was plenty of time to do that. Isaac would only leave in six months and Will and I were staying in the Reservation until the end of the next month.
So my guts were telling me that this night out had some ulterior motive.
We were having dinner around a small fire when I decided to question dad about the real reason why he had taken us for a night out.
"You cook fish better than mum." Isaac said before I could even open my mouth. Will nodded agreeing with him.
"Don't you ever tell her that!" Dad warned. "She'll kill us all."
"Do you remember when I said Esme's lasagna was better than hers?" Will asked.
"Yep. You almost caused World War III." Dad laughed.
I remembered it also. We were sixteen and stupid. We ended up with no dessert for three months. Will had been the one who had put his foot in his mouth but I ended up being punished as well. It was like that ever since we were children.
"So, what's going on dad?" I blurted before any of them could initiate another topic. "I'm pretty sure you didn't bring the three of us here just for a night out or to escape Sarah's tantrums."
Dad smirked.
"I was wondering which one of you would realize that first." He took a deep breath and then continued. "I need to evaluate you and make sure you know what's at stake when you're a wolf."
"Evaluation? We're not kids anymore dad! And we know what's at stake." William refuted.
"You're quitting." I said.
Dad was silent for a while. His hesitation was practically a confirmation of my statement. William and Isaac watched him intently, waiting for his answer.
"Your mother and I have been talking and we decided that we should stop phasing… Not right now but in soon."
"Why?" Isaac asked.
"Because… it's time. All of the others are trying to stop too and we want to resume our life normally… we want to get old and see you and your children growing up. We want to spend more time together and stop running around chasing leeches. We're tired of living this life. Plus… we need to start aging. Looking younger than you really are can be quite fun in the beginning but when people notice that something is wrong, it gets complicated."
"So, your idea is to evaluate us and then what? Choose the new alpha?" Will asked.
"You're all going to be alphas." He said.
"How?" I questioned. "One pack can't have more than one alpha."
"In that case, we just need to be sure that there will be more than one pack."
"More than one pack? Here?" Will asked astonished. We all knew that too many alphas in one place could originate constant arguments and fights.
Wolves were territorial animals by nature and we were no exception. During the years that my father and Sam had both been alphas of different packs, dad confessed they used to argue a lot about almost everything. He first assumed that Sam's hostile attitude towards him was mostly caused by jealousy of dad's strongest claim to the pack's leadership and his marriage with mum, who had dated Sam when they were teenagers.
But years later, they realized it wasn't just that. Being hostile towards each other was something that they couldn't control. Their wolves were always battling, always competing, always restless when they were near each other because that was the alpha's true nature.
That was proved when Lance's pack came around and when Jack threatened to claim my mother. My parents didn't like to go into the details of that particular event but we all knew how dad had claimed mum because his wolf went completely crazy when Jack took her.
"No, not here." Dad announced. "In six months Isaac will be in Astoria."
"So we've heard…" Will commented. "So what?"
"He'll be there for a while. Callie doesn't know when the attack will happen and that means Isaac can run his own pack outside La Push."
"What pack?" Isaac questioned.
"I'm sending Jay with you." Dad explained. "He's not happy here. He doesn't want to stay with his father and he agreed to go with you. You're basically an alpha already since you can block us all out of your mind, so when you and Jay settle down in Astoria with Callie and her family, it will be easy to break the bonds to my pack and form your own."
"A pack of two." I stated. "At least you won't have to listen to the thoughts of a crowd."
"I was once the leader of a pack of two and it was actually awesome." Dad confessed. "We were supposed to be three but your mother fled so it was just me and Seth."
"What about Harry and Will?" Isaac wondered.
"I'm going to send Harry on a mission too. Actually he's already on a mission. The girl he saved needs protection as well, so he's going to move to the Makah Reservation when he feels comfortable enough to do it."
Even though my mission was not news anymore, the fact that dad was sending me to another reservation was kind of awkward.
"And who are you going to send with Harry?" Will wanted to know.
"Actually, Harry is going there to help a new wolf."
The three of us looked at our father surprised. We knew nothing about a new wolf.
"What new wolf?" I finally asked.
"We don't know who he is but he lives in the Makah Reservation for sure."
"How do you know?" I insisted.
"Ella called Sam yesterday morning." Dad informed. "Several people saw a huge wolf in the woods in the past few days. I've sent Denis there to investigate this morning and he saw the footprints of a wolf and when the trail disappeared, human footprints followed the same direction."
"So there's a wolf like us in the Makah Reservation?" Isaac was surprised.
"Probably." Dad noted. "It's not that surprising since both Embry and Josh have or had family there, but I confess we were not expecting this."
"Can he be an Uley too?" William ventured.
"What do you mean?" Isaac questioned. No one in the Reservation except for the pack knew about Embry and Josh's parentage. Isaac was no exception. But now it wouldn't matter that he'd find out. He would know the truth sooner or later anyways.
"Joshua Uley is Embry and Josh's father." Dad explained him. "No one knows and they want to keep it that way, so keep your mouth shut."
"Are you telling me that Sam, Uncle Embry and Josh are brothers?"
"Yes."
"I would've never guessed."
"You think this wolf is Joshua Uley's son?" I repeated William's question.
"There's a small possibility but I don't think that's the case. Joshua has disappeared. Sam believes his father is dead because no one heard of him for years. For this person to be Joshua's son he would have to be over thirty years old and I believe he's much younger." Dad said. "That's why I need you to be in the Makah Reservation for a while and find out his identity. We need to know who he is and to tell him what he is."
"Do I really have to move?" I asked.
"Temporarily."
"Where am I going to live?"
Was he expecting me to live with Season and her family? Because that was out of the question. Despite all of my and Alice's efforts, she was still suspicions and there was a chance that she'd never really trust me. I couldn't impose on the girl and on her family like that.
"I've spoken to Sam and Emily and they've spoken to Ella… you're staying with her and her grandparents."
"But Ella's afraid of us… She barely speaks to me."
"She agreed to let you stay for a while. You can't refuse the hospitality… besides Sam is counting on you to convince her we're not the monsters she always believed we are."
"So let me get this straight: I'm going to live in the Makah Reservation for an uncertain period of time to protect a girl from the Volturi while trying to find out who the new wolf is. That's it, right?"
Dad nodded.
"And you're supposed to be the alpha of a new pack." He added.
"You want me to be the alpha of a two-man pack when I don't even know the other guy?"
"Yep. You're a natural born leader, Harry. You'll have no trouble assuming the leadership and it's pretty useless to bring the boy here to meet us when we're all going to stop phasing soon."
"If you're all going to stop phasing who will I lead?" William asked.
I felt the air tensing up when dad and Will looked at each other. If Isaac was going to run a pack in Astoria, and I would run a pack in the Makah Reservation, then William would have to stay here and take dad's position. The thing was dad was probably still not convinced he should give the alpha role to William.
"You won't lead just yet." Dad explained. "I'm going to work with you and get you to understand how you should act so you can be a good leader in the future."
"Meaning, while my two brothers will have packs of their own, I'll be under your fucking orders."
Will was not happy with dad's plan. Isaac and I exchanged a concerned look when Will began to shake slightly.
"I'll give you the alpha's position as soon as you're ready, but not before."
"You don't trust me." Will accused.
"Why don't you give me reasons to trust you instead of complaining about every little thing I do and everything I plan?"
"Because all you want to do is to get rid of me!"
I had the feeling they would end up arguing.
"I'm giving you the opportunity to prove me wrong, Will. Stay here, learn what I have to teach you and if you do that, you'll have your own pack in a blink of an eye."
William motioned to get up but then he thought better and remained in his place. He controlled his tremors and exhaled a deep breath and finally he agreed with dad.
"Alright. I'll make you apologize to me when I prove I can be just as good as you, Harry or Isaac leading a pack."
I saw dad's expression turn from anxious to relaxed but for some reason I didn't feel that way. I knew William better than this. He had accepted dad's proposal too fast. Actually the real William would never accept being put behind me and Isaac like that. My brother was up to something, I just hoped he wouldn't do anything stupid.
"Now boys… I think it's time to do some field work." Dad announced. He placed his plastic plate in the garbage bag and got up. "The first to catch me can eat my desserts for the next week."
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When we returned to the camp it was past three in the morning. We were completely exhausted. Dad had pushed us to the limit. He had explored and exposed our weaknesses like never before.
There were, of course, some things we still lacked even after ten years of patrols, hunting parties and fights against vampires. Will was easily distracted by random stuff. Dad pointed out he had to focus more on what he was doing and less on what was happening around him.
Dad was also keen on observing that Will was easily distracted by thoughts as well. When he was supposed to be covering my left flank, Dad started thinking about food and a nice and comfortable bed, and William was beaten without problems leaving me vulnerable on that side. My brother had also a few problems on taking orders and his hot temper usually made him take unnecessary risks.
Despite being younger, it was a lot harder to fool and mislead Isaac. He lacked our strength and our muscles but he was definitely faster than any of us because he was lighter and smaller. He was good at finding solutions and making out strategies but dad pointed out that he always hesitated when giving orders. His lack of maturity and experience was evident when he was working with older wolves, he probably felt some pressure.
As for me dad saw less vulnerabilities but he was aware that my greatest weakness was not easily overcome because curiously, he shared that same weakness.
Being a protector meant we were ready to give our lives to save innocent people from danger. Being an alpha meant we carried the responsibility of keeping everyone safe, including our pack. Being both meant we could never have our guard down or the people we most cared about could die.
And just like dad I carried that fear with me all the time. Over the years I had learned to trust in my pack mates' abilities to protect their own lives when we were facing the enemy, but when William and now Isaac were also in the field, things were different. I could not ignore the fact that one mistake could cost their lives.
Dad felt the same. He felt particularly worried whenever mum, Will and I were fighting. He knew well enough that we were strong and he trusted our skills but he could never turn off that fear, that small impression inside his stomach that told him time after time, that he could lose one of us at any moment.
As we reached our camp Isaac and Will fell over their sleeping bags immediately and dozed off. I saw dad lighting the fire as I slumped down on my sleeping bag. I was about to fall asleep when I felt dad touching my shoulder and whispering "I should be telling you to stop being worried about your brothers so you can overcome your weakness, but… I won't tell you that because… that is what makes you a real protector. You're going to be a one hell of an alpha, Harry. I'm really proud of you son."
I think I smiled right before falling asleep.
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And on the next morning I woke up with ants all over me… again.
This time I'm really going to kill you, William. I thought as I opened my eyes.
Thanks for the reviews: Guest(s), CentaurPrincess, brankel1, MelkiSihou, Island Mama, Weave the Magic, Kary G, almondbutter, rocklesson86, TheSlytherinQueenbee, nikkie owens, nene82743, Deadman'sGun, bonzgirl, Jazzmatazz30, sia-gomo01, FangsandDaggers, Sagal Farah.
I'd also like to thank all the followers of this story and all the readers who added it to their favourites list. Thank you.
Sia-gomo01 - Hi! Thanks for the review. I feel really motivated when I get reviews like yours. You bet there's going to be arguments between Harry and Will. William is a hot head while Harry is more responsible so they're going to have diferente opinions on how to handle things. I'm still not sure if this baby will exist but I still have a few chapters to work on that. Have a nive weekend. Take care.
FangsandDaggers - Hi. I'm glad you enjoyed the last chapter. Season will need a lot more protection than what Harry and the Cullens were expecting. Have a nice weekend. Take care.
Kari