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
Interlude
Leah Clearwater
29. Going Territorial – part 1
"Leah, wake up."
I heard Jacob's voice and then I slowly opened my eyes. I couldn't believe it was morning already. I didn't remember having a good night sleep ever since old Quil had died.
Thanks to our strong metabolism, sleep deprivation wasn't such a big problem at least in physical aspects. I mean physically I felt fine. Mentally however… I was drained.
So much had happened in the last week. Isaac and Jay had phased, Callie wanted to take my son away so he could be her bodyguard, Odessa Clearview's spirit had warned us about an epic battle between our twin boys to take the alpha's position, a Makah girl had been attacked by a leech and had almost died, my seventeen-year old daughter had secretly and illegally married a wolf, and in the meantime we were going to split the pack in three.
"Five more minutes, please." I groaned. "I'm tired and I need sleep."
"Tired? Oh please, Leah… I did all the hard work."
"You try coming home from work and putting up with Sarah's tantrum all night. Then we'll see if you're up for more than two rounds of sex." I said sitting down and pulling the white sheet to cover myself properly.
"I wasn't talking about that, babe. I was talking about taking the boys out and telling them our plans." He said innocently.
"Of course you were…" I scoffed. "As if you were talking about that."
Jacob put the tray he was carrying on my lap and kissed my forehead before taking his cup of coffee and leaning against the windowsill to watch the sun rising.
"Did you tell them?" I asked.
"Yes."
"Are they ready?"
"Harry was born ready." He said proudly. "He is strong, confident, and a true leader. His wolf is aware that the alpha position should be his however his human part is not comfortable assuming this role because he knows Will has the same rights."
"And the others?"
"Isaac is a little green… he has all the qualities to be a good alpha and he's quite capable as a warrior but he hesitates too much and is always afraid of messing up." He paused before speaking about Will and I immediately knew what he was going to say. "William isn't ready at all. The boy has your temper, sometimes I think he doesn't even listen to what I'm saying."
"I always listen to what you say." I refuted.
He looked at me intensively.
"Okay… maybe not always…" I admitted. "How did they react?"
"Exactly as I expected them to. Will didn't appreciate when I told him he won't take the alpha's position just yet. And I'm not quite sure I should give him my…"
"You have to, Jacob." I told him. "Three alphas, three packs. We can't risk them fighting to the death."
From the moment Jacob had told me about Odessa's premonition I had this cold feeling at the pit of my stomach. I knew we had to do something to make sure both our sons would stay alive. And if that meant to separate them and divide the pack, then that was a risk I was willing to take.
If there's something a parent can't cope with is the death of a child. And I would not stay put watching my children bout until one of them was dead. I needed both of them alive. A mother can't love one child more than the others. I loved all of my children equally and I would do the same for any of them.
"I know…" Jacob said with a resigned sigh. "But I wish Isaac could stay here. I want to make up to him for all that happened… for all the time I neglected him because I was too ashamed of myself for not being able to protect him when he most needed me."
"I'm sure he'll understand. And if we're lucky in a year he'll be back home for good."
"But still..." Jacob made a sad face which made him look like a child pouting. "I feel like now I can finally be his dad. I thought he'd hate me for this. I mean for the wolf gene, for the attack, for being forced to leave the University now that he was about to finish his thesis, but he's actually taking everything so well that it makes me feel even worse."
Jacob had felt really guilty after the attack of that werewolf ten years ago. He thought if Isaac found out the truth he would never forgive him but to his surprise, Isaac didn't hold any resentment against him or his brothers.
"He's a reasonable kid." I agreed. "I wish he could stay too. I don't like that fact that he'll be miles away from home either but like I said… it won't be forever."
"Are we really doing the right thing, Leah? I mean… separating the kids and having three packs…"
"It's either that or facing a possible fight-to-the-death between Harry and Will." I recalled. "I don't want that to happen. I won't let one of them kill the other."
Jacob didn't want that either. That was the reason why he had agreed with my idea to separate our three boys and give them the opportunity to form their own packs following Odessa's instructions.
"For your information, William's not ready to take such a responsibility and I don't know how long will take for him to mature."
"He'll learn, Jacob. He's your son, and no matter how long it takes, he'll be a good leader just like you are."
"He's so immature, Leah." Jacob whined. "And he never agrees with me in anything."
"Neither did I and I still married you." I joked and Jacob rolled his eyes.
"He keeps challenging me, testing my patience and…" He hesitated.
"And…" I pressed.
"He says I'm whipped." Jacob confessed. "And I'm not! I'm the alpha of this pack. I've been an alpha since I was seventeen years old and I'm not going to have my own kid overrule my decisions when he feels like it just because he thinks I'm whipped."
I laughed. Besides me, only William would be bold enough to say that to Jacob's face. Maybe Paul too.
"The kid is brave." I pointed out proudly.
"The kid is wrong." Jacob announced confidently. "Anyways, I have to go. The boys will start to wonder where I am."
"I thought we were going to shower together." I said pushing off the tray from my lap after finishing my breakfast.
"I can't, I'm already late."
I got up from the bed leaving the sheets behind. There was nothing covering my body at that moment. I walked passed him aware that he was following me with his eyes.
"Are you coming or what?" I taunted when I reached the bathroom's door.
He sighed deeply but the next minute I heard him taking off his shirt and I smiled victoriously. He knew better than to ignore an invitation like that.
"You're so whipped, Jacob." I whispered when he joined me under the hot water.
"I guess I'll have to prove you otherwise, won't I?" He whispered back molding his body into mine. His hands found my waist and for the next hour he tried to convince me that he was the one in charge.
I could've told him I was convinced when he pushed me into the most amazing state of passion, or when he simply kissed me passionately while we were still relinquishing in the aftermath of our recent climax, but I decided not to.
Jacob's ego was big enough without him knowing he could make me surrender with one kiss.
"Are you convinced?" He asked with a smug on his features.
"Not quite."
"Are you playing hard to get, babe?" He grinned.
"You need to be more persuasive."
"So, do I get one more try?" He asked kissing down my neck.
"Maybe later…" I said between moans.
Jacob brought his lips to mine. "Are you sure?"
"You have to get back to see the boys and I have to take our daughter shopping. I've just realized you got the easier part of the job. Talking to the boys is like a walk on the park compared to Sarah's crying sessions."
He smiled knowing I was right.
"You said you'd take care of her."
"And I did. But I don't think she listened to me." I said grabbing the shampoo bottle.
"She's just like Will." Jacob highlighted. And he was right. Both had a rebellious side, both were explosive when provoked and both had a special taste for breaking the rules. That was what Jacob and I hated the most because that meant we were not able to control our children.
"Is she ever going to forgive me for breaking up her relationship with Jay?"
"It will take time."
"She's so young… I can't believe she went to a church and got married without our permission."
"Well… we were seventeen once too and we did pretty stupid stuff when we were her age."
"But we didn't run off to get married without our parents' permission."
"No, we didn't. But we had children before getting married. We lied, we made some bad decisions but in the end everything worked out." I recalled. "We need to be patient with her too. Right now she feels like everyone is against her, she thinks we're forcing her and Jay apart because of their age gap, she thinks we're the enemy. But in the end she will understand."
Jacob nodded and stepped out of the shower, grabbing a towel and placing it around his waist.
"I hope so…" He said before leaving the bathroom. "Because six months from now… things will change and I want Sarah safe and sound. And unmarried."
Jacob left to the forest shortly after, leaving me alone to deal with my thoughts. The decision of breaking up our family had been my idea and even though I was reluctant in letting my kids go, I knew that this was the only way we could ensure that the twins wouldn't kill each other in the future.
In six months Isaac would go to Astoria to protect Callie from a vampire and he would stay there for a whole year. So six months was the time limit our family had to be together. I wanted to make sure that until then we'd spend some quality time as a family.
That, of course, would be hard to achieve if my daughter kept acting like a spoiled little girl. Ever since Jay had come to our house to return his wedding band to Sarah and tell her that they were over, she had been acting like a seven-year old brat.
Last night she had cried her eyes out and refused to eat and drink. She had thrown objects out of her window and even smashed a few things into the wall. The calm and nice girl had suddenly turned into a completely different person. Right before bedtime she told me she would never forgive Jacob and I, and called us tyrants.
Today she had opted for the silent treatment. I was getting only one-syllable answers from her since breakfast and that was driving me insane, especially because we were supposed to go shopping with my mother.
"You know, you're not the first girl that's going through a breakup." I said when I parked the car outside Charlie's house. He waved from the front door.
"Whatever." She replied.
"Sarah!" I forced her to look at me.
"What?" She almost yelled.
"Stop acting like if this is the end of the world! It's not!"
"You'll never understand."
"Try me."
She took a deep breath before speaking again. "We had plans, mum. We wanted to get married, find a job, and have children… We wanted to be happy and now you ruined it."
"You're seventeen, Sarah. You have plenty of time to fall in love and think about getting married."
"I'm already in love." She rebut stubbornly.
"Well, lesson number one: sometimes your first love isn't the person you should end up with."
Sarah's eyes caught mine and I saw a glimpse of doubt.
"What's that supposed to mean?" She asked.
"It means that your first love might not be the right man for you." I realized then she needed some insight on that matter. "I know this because the same thing happened to me."
Sarah's hard expression softened immediately.
"Really? So dad wasn't your… first love?"
"No, he wasn't. But he was the best thing that happened to me." I told her. "When I was your age, I was just like you. Carefree and cheerful, and completely in love with my boyfriend but then he left me for some other girl and I felt like dying. I was left heartbroken and alone and I thought I would never love again but I was wrong. Things happen for a reason, Sarah. Even if you can't see it now."
I was hoping that by sharing some of my past experience, Sarah could somehow understand that being dumped by a boy doesn't necessarily mean the end of the world.
"I'm sorry mum, but it's not the same." She said. "You were dumped by your boyfriend but in my case Jay was forced to leave me. You and dad forced us apart."
"Honey…"
"It's the truth! Dad brainwashed him and now Jay wants to annul our wedding and he says he doesn't want to see me again. I never thought daddy would do something like this to me! I thought he loved me!"
"Dad loves you Sarah. That's why he's doing this."
It's better now than later when Jay imprints. I thought to myself. Even though I didn't resent Sam or Emily for the past anymore, I wouldn't wish the same to happen to anyone I knew. Not even my worst enemy and much less my own daughter.
"Dad's a liar!" She got out of the car, slammed the door and went to call her grandmother.
A few hours later and after a horrifying trip to Fork's largest shopping mall, we were back at Charlie's house. Sarah had behaved well enough around her grandmother but her sadness and anger was easily perceptible. When she'd gone to pick up some new clothes I told everything to my mother who simply listened and nodded.
"Do you think I should be worried about her doing something stupid?" I asked my mother. I was washing some dishes while watching Sarah who was sitting outside on the swing.
"Like what? Trying to take out a new-born vampire by herself?"
I rolled my eyes. Of course she would remember that. I remembered too. After taking home a badly-injured Jacob that evening, my mother had lectured me for hours. She seemed unable to believe my side of the story when I told her that my real purpose was to show everyone that I was as capable as any of my pack mates who were all convinced I was useless as I fighter due to my smaller size. She preferred to believe in Sam who told her I had tried to commit suicide by throwing myself willingly against a vampire.
There was a point during my confrontation with the creature I thought that if I lost that battle, then at least I would have an honorable death. I never meant to kill myself, I didn't face that leech to get killed but everyone thought otherwise.
"If you had died back then… look what you would've missed." My mother added. "Jacob… your kids… none of this would happen."
"Mum, for the last time, I did not try to kill myself. But even if I had… my situation was completely different from Sarah's. I had been dumped, my ex-boyfriend was engaged to my cousin, daddy was dead, I was forced to be a part of a freak show and I had no expectations for the future."
"I know Leah… and that's why I think you and Jake should talk to your daughter and tell her the truth about the pack."
"What?"
"You told the twins when they were ten."
"Because Harry phased." I recalled. "Sarah still has a chance to live a normal life."
"She's not a child anymore. She'll understand and at least that way you'll be able to explain to her properly why you're forcing her to stay away from Jay."
My mother was right but I still had some doubts. People weren't always ready to learn the truth about this. Some took it pretty well, others took a while to adjust to the new reality, some others tried to ignore and forget about it and a few others found it so difficult to accept that they had actually lost their lives.
Two people had died after learning the truth. They were so shocked that couldn't stand to live after that. Melissa Freeman was one of them. She was one of Brady's ex-girlfriends and later became one of his lovers. Brady was married but when things were tense between him and Madeleine, we all knew he'd run off to find comfort in someone else's arms. Melissa was probably his favorite mistress out of a group of three or four other girls. Madeleine knew but she always took him back.
When Madeleine and Brady had a huge argument a year after their first child, Elijah was born, he moved in with Melissa for a while but as always, Madeleine forgave him and he went back home. When Melissa announced she was pregnant, Brady was forced to make a decision. He chose Madeleine and Elijah but promised to financially help Melissa. When she announced she was leaving La Push, Brady did the only thing he could do to force the girl and his unborn child to stay: he told her the truth.
Unlike Madeleine, Melissa freaked out and almost lost the child. Showing her his wolf form to try to prove we were not dangerous beasts, freaked her out even more. The pack, the imprints, the Council, all tried to make Melissa see that things weren't as bad as she thought but nothing worked. She was so scared about birthing a monster that when she was about to give birth she took a heavy dose of sleeping pills. The doctors were able to save the baby boy but Melissa died.
Because of that incident, no one else in the pack told the truth to their parents, siblings, girlfriends, wives or children ever since and in the meanwhile the Council had decreed again that it was forbidden to tell the truth to anyone outside the pack.
Because there was a high possibility of Sarah and JJ to phase one day, Jacob and I could choose to tell our children the truth at any time but I was still apprehensive about it. Sarah was unstable right now.
"I think we should wait." I finally said.
"She's not an idiot, Leah. In a few months she will realize something's wrong."
"I know but after Holly and Melissa..."
"Those were accidents, Leah. Shane and Brady should have prepared them for what they were about to tell them first."
"I still need to talk to Jacob before making a decision."
"Of course."
I watched Sarah through the window again. She did look miserable but would she feel better knowing the truth?
For some reason I knew she wouldn't.
xxxxxxxxxx
The word dumbstruck couldn't possibly describe my state of mind in that moment but it was close enough. Fifteen minutes ago I had left Sarah with my mother and Charlie in Forks and drove back to La Push after receiving a text message from William saying that Harry was in jail.
"Elaborate William. I want to know more." I told my son when I got home.
"I don't know anything more, mum." He confessed. "Harry called, he said he found the wolf that lives in the Makah Reservation and that he's an Uley. And right before hanging up he said I could talk to Alice for more details." He paused, drying his hair with a towel. "So I called Alice and she told me that Harry was at the Makah Reservation's police station and that Rosalie and Edward were taking care of the problem."
"Why didn't he call me?"
"Would you call your parents if you got arrested?"
"Okay… maybe not." I admitted. "What was he arrested for?"
"Alice didn't say."
"Give me your car keys."
"My car was very expensive, mum. Count G only congratulates his best employees with cars. I need to be careful with her. She's very precious to me."
"Cut with crap, William. Your boss can afford more cars but in any case, I'm not going to destroy your precious vehicle."
"In that case take dad's car."
"Yours is faster."
"Fine." My son said exasperated. "But I'm driving." He threw away the towel and we walked to the brand new Mustang parked in front of our house.
"You said Rose and Edward were solving the problem, right?"
"Yes." He said starting the car.
"That means they're on their way to the Makah Reservation already."
William shrugged.
"Do you need me to show you how to drive the 'fast-and-furious way'?" I asked him.
"No, mam. Just hold on to your seat." He warned.
William stepped on the pedal and when I saw he was driving almost at 230km per hour I knew we were going to reach the Makah Reservation in a record time.
"Isn't it funny that between us, perfect and righteous Harry was the one that got arrested?" He grinned and looked at me for a brief second.
I rolled my eyes.
"Yes, William… It's really funny. I'm laughing my ass off because your brother is in jail." I said and he noted the sarcasm in my voice though it only made him grin wider.
"What are you going to do? Are you going to make a scene? Are you going to ground him? Because I'd love to see you do that."
"Shut up and drive."
Sometimes it was weird to be surrounded by people that could read me like a book. I really was planning on lecturing Harry and maybe ground him too. Some people thought that you can't ground your kids after they turn eighteen but I wasn't buying that one. They were still my children, I was still in charge, period.
I still remembered well enough where the Makah's Police Station was. In the past I had visited the Makah Reservation almost once every month to visit family members. Until my father had a disagreement with Emily's uncle that is. Emily's parents lived two streets south of the Police Station which had been obviously remodeled over the years.
When we arrived I noticed Rosalie's red Jaguar parked outside and a few Makah people, mostly teenagers, were admiring the vehicle closely. They studied us carefully, shifting their attention to Will's Mustang as we stepped out of the car.
Inside the Police Station there was a human young woman with fair breasts and Rosalie Hale filling in some paperwork while Edward was asking the woman in the reception about Harry's situation.
"After we speak to our client, you have to call the witnesses here so we can hear their side of the story." He said.
"I can't do anything, Mr. Cullen. I'm not a police officer, only a receptionist." She explained all flushed. Edward's success with women was legendary. Apparently there wasn't a woman in the world able to resist his charm.
"Call your boss." Rosalie shot handing the paper sheets back to the woman.
"Hi, there." I greeted and the three of them looked at us.
"Mrs. Black, we're very close to getting your son free so please go back to your car." Rosalie said.
She was out of her mind, of course.
"I'm not going anywhere. Where's the idiot who runs this place?"
"No one's here." The receptionist said.
"Why?" I asked. It was not common for a police station to have only a receptionist working there. There should be police officers walking around, leaving to patrol, or having some doughnuts and coffee.
"There's a ceremony going on." Edward explained.
"In that case I want to see my son." I demanded.
"I'm sorry but Harrison Black can't see anyone until the officer in charge is back."
"Where's the ceremony taking place?"
"She's not at the ceremony… Actually I don't know exactly where she is." The woman admitted and Edward nodded, confirming that she was telling the truth.
"I need to talk to my son." I insisted.
"You do realize you have no authority to forbid my client's mother from seeing him, right?" Rosalie stated aggressively. "You're just a receptionist. You can't enforce the law and I wasn't given any documentation about my client's file yet. As far as I know he's arrested without a cause and by law that's illegal, so either you open that door so we can see him or your boss is going to get a very detailed complaint about you when he gets here."
By watching Edward's smile I knew Rosalie had succeeded in her mission. The woman behind the counter handed her a key and watched silently as we went to see Harry.
Edward remained outside since he would be able to hear everything we were saying and thinking. The first thing I did was scan my son for minor injuries. No matter what mess he was in, my priority was his well-being and safety.
He didn't look particularly happy to see me and even glared at his twin brother a couple of times before greeting us.
"Mum…" He said lowering his eyes to the floor.
"Harrison." I copied. "Do you care to explain what's happening?"
"I'm innocent."
"Of what exactly?"
"I didn't hit the guy. I swear."
"What guy?" I asked.
"Tom Harding." Rosalie answered for him. "The local top-asshole." She added.
"He was blackmailing Season and her family and he threatened to… do things to her… So I threatened him back but I swear I never touched him. That medical report it's a scam. He must've asked someone to hit him so he could blame me." He defended himself.
"What's up with you and threatening people? Are you trying to pull a William on us or are you just trying to impress someone?"
He didn't answer. For his credit he looked quite remorseful.
"Thank you very much mum." William pretended to be hurt by my assumptions. "You're making me look like a damn criminal."
"I'm sorry." Harry muttered meeting my eyes again. "I'm really sorry."
He has his father's eyes. And he knows very well I can't resist those puppy-eyes.
"Are you going to keep lecturing the boy or can I start giving him some real and important advice?" Rosalie asked crossing her arms over her chest.
"He's my son, Rosalie. So butt off."
Rosalie huffed impatiently.
"We'll have a word with the police officer responsible for your case but I don't know if we can get you out today." Rosalie said. "Anyways, whatever happens, you can never confess that you threatened or physically hurt Tom Harding or any of his employees. Alright?"
Harry nodded.
"Try to behave and don't threat anyone else." I warned him. "I'm going to try and find someone from the police to solve this mess."
"Mum, wait." He stopped me from leaving. "He's over there." Harry pointed to the last cell. "The other wolf."
I almost forgot about him. The new wolf. It had been a shock when Sam called to tell us about the presence of a wolf in the Makah Reservation. We were aware that in La Push there could be more young men phasing, especially now that Isaac and Jay had morphed but we were not expecting the same to happen in another reservation.
Had Joshua Uley fathered more children than we didn't know of? Was this wolf his son like Embry and Josh? Or was he the son of another Quileute?
Soon I'd be able to answer all of these questions. As I walked towards the last cell I heard Rosalie talking to Harry about his situation and about what he would have to say to the police once they were back.
Inside the cell a young man was sitting down on the floor with his back against the cement wall. He was wearing black cargo shorts and a white t-shirt. His eyes were closed but I knew he wasn't sleeping.
"Hi. I'm Leah. Is everything alright in there?" I introduced myself.
"Everything's just fine ma'am." He answered without opening his eyes.
"What's your name?"
"My mother told me not to talk to strangers."
I frowned. I guess I wasn't going to get all the answers I wanted so easily.
"She's a wise lady." I smiled trying to get him to collaborate. He was having none of it though because he remained on the floor and his eyes didn't open.
I was considering asking the receptionist the key of his cell to slap the shit of that insolent boy when he finally decided to make a move. As agile as any of us, he came near the metal bars and sniffed the air.
"Who are you?" He asked. His eyes were the same color and shape as Sam's.
Definitely an Uley. I confirmed.
"I told you my name already. I'm Leah."
"Look, lady, no offense but I don't know any Leah."
"Well if my name doesn't help you maybe you should reformulate the question." I suggested. "Maybe you don't need to know who I am…"
The boy in front of me backed up a few steps and looked at me completely dumbfounded when he realized what I meant. And then he reformulated the question just like I had suggested.
"What… are you?" He whispered finally.
"I'll tell all you need to know kid. But first I need you to answer a question for me, okay?"
He nodded slowly.
"Do you believe in monsters?"
xxxxxxxxxx
I didn't get to tell the boy what was going on because Sergeant Anderson chose that precise moment to come to the police station searching for his lost tie. Apparently whoever dared to go to the ceremony that was taking place somewhere else without a tie, would risk a severe reprimand by their superior officer.
His exact words when he came in were "I'm going to take my tie and shove it up Collins' ass! I swear to God I'm going to do it!"
And that was the moment he noticed Edward. He coughed, a bit embarrassed that a stranger had heard his outburst but he recovered quickly and the he demanded to know who we were and what we were doing so he summoned us to his office and once we started talking, Sergeant Anderson forgot all about his tie and Collins' ass.
He accepted our presence well enough and wasn't too upset when he learned we were visiting Harry without permission mainly because Rosalie worked her spell on him quite effortlessly. That was, after all, how vampires lured their preys and despite feeding solely on animals didn't mean the Cullens had lost the touch on the art of casting spells on humans.
It was then easy for us to convince the Sergeant to analyze the evidences he had against Harry a second time.
Rosalie and Edward managed to prove, even without an alibi, that Harry could not have hit Tom Harding and his men because he didn't have marks in his hands or other injuries that proved he had been in a fight with four people.
Sergeant Anderson still needed proof that Tom Harding had lied to the police when he had filed the complaint against my son, but thanks to Rosalie's persuasion he signed Harry's release right before asking her out.
Rosalie smiled sweetly at him and declined politely showing Sergeant Anderson her wedding ring.
We still had to find a way to get the new wolf out of there too but there were a few things we needed to know about him first.
As we were stepping outside the station, a honey-colored hair girl was waiting for us and when she saw William she approached him timidly and then hugged him tightly.
"Harry… I was so scared that they'd lock you up forever in there." She whispered into my son's shirt.
Will and I realized immediately that this was the girl that Harry had saved and that he was supposed to be protecting.
Harry who had stayed behind because he wanted to have a word with the big-breasted receptionist, arrived in that moment and frowned watching his brother hugging the petite girl back.
"Having fun?" He asked walking in Will's direction. William grinned but was smart enough to push the girl slightly away from him.
She was confused upon seeing two identical boys in front of her.
"Harry?" She inquired looking from one to the other.
"Season, this is my brother William." Harry said pulling the girl softly by her hand and away from his brother. "Will, this is my girlfriend Season."
Harry was clearly marking his territory. From the way he was standing there, tense and serious, to the way he was glaring at Will while touching the small of Season's back, indicated that he would not allow his brother to be anywhere near that girl again.
William's grin grew wider. He also knew what Harry was consciously or subconsciously doing, and for some reason, he was amused by that reaction.
The territorial crap. I thought to myself. Years ago I had been the reason why Jacob had so many confrontations with Sam. Wolves are territorial animals. They fight over food, territory and mates.
Food was not an issue for us because we all hated to feed as wolves. Eating raw meat after hunting down a poor animal was definitely not our favorite activity. Besides we would rather hunt our enemies instead of innocent animals.
Territory was important though especially when we lived in an area inhabited by a vampire coven (even though said coven was not dangerous). And if sharing our lands with vampires wasn't enough, there was a time when two different packs had to share it too. And two packs meant two alpha males with two very different ideologies and tempers.
And for a long time, I had been the only and unclaimed female wolf in the area. Put two and two together and we have a situation that calls for disaster. Before officially claiming me as his mate Jacob had to face the constant challenge from Sam, Jack's death threats and Josh's alleged imprint on me.
Even though Season was just a plain human girl I could confirm that Harry was acting exactly like his father had done whenever he had to prove I was his.
"I thought she was fat, had greasy hair and braces…" William whispered to Harry.
"I thought you're interested in someone else." Harry whispered back spiking my curiosity.
"I thought you were just her fake boyfriend." Will kept going.
"Harrison, maybe you should take your girlfriend home. We'll meet at Ella's in ten minutes." I suggested putting a stop in their argument. Fortunately Season was completely oblivious to the words that had been exchanged between them.
Harry nodded and left immediately, pulling his girlfriend with him. The girl waved timidly before turning her back on us.
"He likes her." William said surprised. "I don't recall him being so protective with a girl… not even with Gen."
"Who's Gen?" I tried.
"Don't pull a dad on me, mum. Gen was a girl and that's all you need to know."
"Are you going to visit family?" Rosalie asked me walking to her car followed closely by Edward.
"Yes. I need to sort this new wolf thing as soon as possible and I think Ella can help."
"We're going back to Alice's house. We need to start building up a case against Tom Harding because I have the feeling he's not going to stop here." She announced.
Rosalie couldn't possibly know that then, but her sixth sense was actually right.
But if Tom Harding thought he could mess around with my son and stay unpunished he was sadly mistaken, because alpha females are more than territorial when it comes to protect their offspring. And that was a lesson he was about to learn.
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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.
A/Note 4: The delay on this chapter happened because my aunt, who I dearly loved, lost the battle against cancer and passed away a few days ago. I've been unable to write since then. I've managed to complete this chapter a week ago but with all the events I've been away from the computer. I'm posting this now because a lot of you asked me to post a chapter before Christmas. And here it is. I'll try to start chapter 30 as soon as I can.
Thank you all again. Kari