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

31. Going Territorial – part 3

I waited for Vanessa and Verena to leave the house because what I was about to do was not only forbidden but it also required no witnesses. If I'd be forced to use the plan B I would need the girl to be alone.

The White sisters had been trying to convince Rhea to go out with them for the last twenty-two minutes but the young girl was not feeling well and refused the invitation until her mother and aunt finally gave up and left. Apparently they were going to Forks to talk to a priest.

I hadn't told my plan to Jacob because I knew he wouldn't agree with it and because he thought that it was impossible for Rhea to reject a claim. I had other opinion though. A claim did seem as permanent as an imprint bond, but it was my belief that Rhea could resist the claim in a way that I could never do because Jacob and I were the same. A wolf's claim over his female wolf could not be reversed, but a wolf's claim over a human girl could be different.

There was a slight possibility that Rhea could still have some say in the matter, after all she had been living away from Will for the past years plus she was getting married soon. The connection she had with my son was nothing like my connection to Jacob. Maybe Jacob was right and there was something between them, a feeling of belonging or something like that, but maybe that bond could be broken.

She was surprised when she saw me at her doorstep. Our families didn't visit each other often. Actually I didn't remember having visited Verena White's house, ever. Although I had been in Hal and Rhonda's twice in the last ten years passing on some decisions from the Council regarding Hal's business.

After the initial shock of seeing me there, she invited me in and announced that her mother and aunt were out.

"It's okay. I'm here to speak to you Rhea." I said. I could swear I saw her flinching.

"Me? Is it about the invitation? I'll change the name in the envelope. I'm really sorry about the confusion… Do you want me to replace it with Clearwater-Black or just Black?"

"This is not about the invitation. I'm pretty sure your aunt is behind the surnames' mix up but it's okay. I'm here because I need to speak to you about my son."

Rhea froze and I finally took a good look at her features. She was lean and athletic but short and fragile. Her long hair was dark-brown and her eyes were grey. She looked just the average Native-American girl, actually except for the skin colour, she reminded me the human Bella Swan.

There was nothing special about her. She wasn't a beauty queen and didn't have much sex appeal; she was just a simple girl.

What did Will see in her, anyways? I asked myself recalling that my son had slept with this girl eight years ago. I should hate her because William deserved better than a White girl, but there was something in her that couldn't make me hate her. Maybe it was the claiming mark on her neck that proved she belonged to my son, or maybe it was the fact that I felt somehow related to her since we were the only women to have such a mark.

"Tell me Rhea, what are your plans to the future?"

Taken aback by my question, Rhea stood in utter silence.

"I'm sure you must have some plans… I mean you'll be married in a couple of months, right?"

She nodded.

"Who's the lucky guy?"

"Art. His name is Arthon Brenner."

"Weird name. I guess he's not a Quileute."

"He's from Seattle."

"Do you love him?"

"Yes… I do."

She hesitated which meant she wasn't sure about her feelings.

"And what are you and Art going to do after you get married? Are you going to live here?"

"Live here? No… of course not. We weren't even supposed to get married here but my family insisted and Art's parents gave in."

"I see…"

I wanted Rhea to leave La Push as soon as possible but her speech wasn't convincing enough for me. She didn't love her fiancé, her eyes didn't shine when she was speaking about him and her answers were vague and hollow.

"I'm sorry but I thought this was about your son…"

"I'm going to repeat my first question Rhea, and I'd like an honest answer. What are your plans for the future?"

"Why are you asking me that?"

"Because if you want a beautiful wedding, a loving husband, a house in the city, a good job and a couple of kids, I can assure you that you won't get all of that here in La Push, and definitely not with my son."

"I have nothing to do with William!" Rhea exclaimed and went straight to the kitchen and I followed her closely.

"I never said I was talking about William." I said grinning. She turned and blushed furiously. "Look, I'm just saying that my son isn't what you're looking for. Actually he's quite the opposite. He's a hothead, he's rarely listens to the voice of reason, he's impetuous and hates following the rules. He won't be able to give you what you really want. Financially he can make money, but he's not someone you can rely on because he's never around and he's definitely not the marrying-type or a father figure…"

I was obviously overreacting. Not everything I had just said about my son were real but I had to convince this girl that William was not worth her time.

"Please, stop." Rheas asked me. "I've told you I'm not interested in William."

"That's not what I've heard."

"I don't know what you've heard, but I assure you, I have nothing to do with him!"

"And yet you blush whenever you say his name."

"Do you know what your son did to me?"

I nodded negatively and waited for her to continue.

"He bullied me, he made my high school years a living hell and he humiliated me." She said.

I wanted to defend my son and refute those accusations but I knew Will enough to know what he was capable of.

"Do you really think I can be in love with someone like him?" She added.

That was a good question. But deep down, we both knew Rhea was lying to herself. William probably did mistreat her, and she could still resent him for that, but it was more than obvious that Rhea felt something for Will.

"Assuming the fact that you are telling the truth, I just want you to know that Will is as stubborn as a mule and usually gets what he wants… and for some reason I can't understand he wants you."

"And why do you think that?"

"Because that's what he's been doing with all the girls he's been dating." I pressed word 'girls' and used the plural on purpose. I wanted her to think that Will was a womanizer.

And by the angry look on Rhea's face I knew I didn't have to use the plan B after all. After that talk, that girl wouldn't let my son be anywhere near her ever again.

Mission accomplished.

xxxxxxxxxx

"Why are you so happy?" Jacob asked me when I was washing the dishes in Billy's house after we had dinner.

"Because I think Rhea White will never want to hear about William ever again."

During dinner I hadn't been able to speak to Jacob about my conversation with Rhea since Sarah and JJ were there. Will was supposed to have dinner with us too but he had called earlier to warn us that he was going to spend the night at Alice's mansion. So now that we Jacob and I were finally alone in the kitchen, I decided to tell him the news.

"You didn't show her we're wolves, did you? Because I told you specifically not to. If Hal finds out about our secret we're screwed!"

"Calm down, Jacob. I didn't have to show her anything."

"So how did you manage to convince the girl to reject Will's claim?"

"I just told her the truth about Will. I told her our son's not the kind of guy she's looking for and… I might have mentioned he has other girlfriends."

"You can be so cruel, babe."

"Cruel? Come on… Basically I only tried to help her to make up her mind about the wedding. I mean, why would she risk losing a decent young man for someone who morphs into a giant wolf and can't give her the life she deserves?"

"So you think Will is not man enough for her?"

"No, I think our son can do better than a White."

"You realize that there might be a reason why William's wolf chose her for his mate, right?"

"Yeah… and what reason might that be?"

"I don't know." He shrugged. "Maybe she's the right girl for him."

"No, no, no… The only possible reason fate decided to join Will and this White girl is to backstab me again! Because there's no way Vanessa's niece is the right girl for my boy!"

"You're overreacting and when Will finds out you told Rhea about his girlfriends, he's going to flip."

"If… he finds out." I said. Will didn't have to know about my encounter with Rhea. Jacob rolled his eyes at me when he realized what I was suggesting. "I can keep a secret. Can you do the same?"

"You know I can, but I simply don't believe she can reject William's claim. This bond is permanent, Leah. You know that better than anyone."

"Are you saying you want to be in-laws with the Whites?"

"No, I'm saying you need to accept that your plan might not work at all."

"It has to work or I'll go insane. We'll have Vanessa demanding things from us every freaking day and you know how nosy she is. She'll find out our secret in a week."

"I chose you as my mate for a reason, Leah. And Will did the same."

"Yeah… procreation." I spat recalling my last conversation with Odessa earlier on. "That's why alpha wolves need a mate. That's why they get crazy during mating season and that's why they claim female wolves. They want to make sure their genes are…"

"I didn't choose you to give birth to my children." I cut her off. "I thought… we thought you couldn't have children, remember?" He pointed out. "I chose you because you complete me. You're my other half, you're my rock, my safe haven. When you weren't around I feel misplaced, and I'm not talking about the wolf inside of me, I'm talking about me, my human part. I don't function without you… and maybe Will's the same. This girl might be his safe haven. His wolf might have chosen her, but you might consider that his human feelings about her can also have played a part in this."

"You're saying he's in love with Rhea White?" I asked shocked. I had discarded that possibility because I was almost one hundred per cent sure this was all about Will's wolf. I thought this was about the wolf's needs. Could Jacob be right?

It can't be true. She said William bullied her and humiliated her in the past. He can't love a girl he humiliated, right? I thought to myself. Then again I had mistreated Jacob. I had tried to boycott his decisions when he became alpha, I had humiliated him when he was moping for Bella, I argued with him all the time. I even told him I hated his guts once or twice, and in the end I did fall madly in love with him.

"To be in love is never a bad thing, Leah."

"She's a White…" I whined. "And since when you approve William's love life?"

"Since I realized he claimed a girl."

"What do you mean?"

"You know what it feels like to be claimed." He said and then hesitated for a while.

"Yes, I do. And?" I urged him to continue.

"But you have no idea what it feels like to claim someone. It's not just about possession and lust… it's about taking and giving, it's about a bond so powerful that you can't explain in words. There's only one other feeling that can triumph over the feeling of claiming our mate…"

"Imprinting?" I guessed.

"Imprinting doesn't even come close…" He smiled. "It's the feeling of knowing that you created another life. And I feel blessed because I felt like that five times. Every time you announced you were having my baby, I felt something so powerful that almost made me pass out." He leaned down and kissed my lips softly. "Well… the first time I find out you were pregnant I almost passed out because of the shock but it was still amazing." He confessed.

"So… you're saying I have to accept this bond between our boy and Rhea White?"

He nodded. "If William chose her, I mean his human part… then he deserves a chance to be with her without us interfering."

"Are you really okay with being in-laws with the Whites?"

"It could be worse."

"I don't see how." I said. "Are you really sure it's alright for us to be related to Vanessa?"

"Vanessa was never a problem, Leah. She's annoying and a gossiper but she's hardly a problem."

"Are you her fan now?" I teased him. "Why do I have the impression you're eager to be close to Vanessa?"

"I don't want to be close to Vanessa." He replied with a huge grin. "You know the only person I like to be close with is you. And I wouldn't mind if we could be a little bit closer right now. "

Jacob closed the gap between us and pushed me against the fridge.

"Jacob… What are you doing? We're at your father's house."

"This is me being closer to you, babe. And my is playing Pictionary with the kids." Jacob said, his hands travelling under my blouse.

"Isaac can hear us." I warned him.

"He'll get used to it."

"Hell no!" We both heard our son shouting from the living room.

"That's two words, Boo. And it doesn't even start with a 'C'!" Sarah fumed thinking Isaac was playing.

Jacob supressed a laugh due to our son's reaction and winked at me playfully.

"How about you lie down on the table and let me take care of the rest, babe?" He whispered in my ear knowing that Isaac was listening to us.

"You're such an idiot…" I whispered back removing his hands from my waist and picking up two cloths so we could start cleaning the dishes.

In that precise moment, Isaac barged into the kitchen, completely distressed just like Jacob was expecting.

"Do you really think this is the place to…" Isaac shut up when he realized we weren't doing anything inappropriate and Jacob burst out laughing.

"You should see your face!" He said to our son. Isaac crossed his arms and frowned.

"Very funny, dad…" He groaned.

"You need to relax, Isaac. You're all stressed out for nothing. You'll have plenty of time to be stressed out when go through your initiation ritual."

"What initiation ritual?" Isaac asked alarmed.

"It's a welcome-ritual that is organized by the wolf that joined the pack last. In your case it was Will."

"Great… that's exactly what I needed…" He whined. "What is he going to set up for me?"

We couldn't answer his question because in that moment we heard a howl coming from the forest.

"We're being summoned." Jacob said. "Stay here. We'll be right back."

"I want to go!" Isaac opposed. "Please…"

"You better stay here." I said.

"Come on… if you want me to be an alpha, you need to teach me how to be one and I can't do that by staying home."

He was right, of course, but neither Jacob nor I wanted to expose our son to a potentially dangerous situation.

"Okay, but if you go you have to follow my orders." Jacob announced.

"I know."

"I'm serious, Isaac. You're not an alpha yet and…"

"It's fine, dad. I'm not like William. I'll follow your lead. I promise."

Jacob nodded and we joined the others in the living room. JJ and Sarah were standing by the window trying to see the animal that had howl just now.

"I didn't know there were wolves in La Push." Sarah said looking through the glass.

"How big has to be a wolf to howl like that?" JJ asked Isaac.

"Very big." Was his answer.

"We're going out." I said. "We're going to get Will."

"Why? What happened?" Sarah asked.

"His car broke down." Jacob lied. I could see by the look on Sarah's face that she wasn't buying our story.

"Why is Isaac going too?"

"Because we say so." Jacob informed. Sarah went to sit on the couch and pouted. She was still mad at us for the whole Jay situation and I knew she wasn't going to forgive us anytime soon.

Maybe mum is right and I should tell her everything about the pack. I thought while watching my only daughter sulking. If we told her the truth she would stop acting like a spoiled child and would probably stop feeling so lonely and abandoned, after all Sarah used to count on Isaac for everything and now that he was part of the pack, he was forced to lie and hide things from her, leaving her aside.

"I'll talk to her properly when we come back." Jacob whispered to me as I sadly diverted my eyes from Sarah.

"Maybe this is why she wanted to leave the Reservation with Jay." I told him.

"What do you mean?"

"We lie to our kids too much for too long. If Harry hadn't phased when he was ten, we would have kept our secret from the twins for years."

"It was necessary, Leah. And we agreed we would not tell them unless he really had to."

All members of the pack who had children had agreed on that. Our children were to be kept away from the truth until it was strictly necessary to tell them.

Jacob approached Billy to exchange a few words and then we were off to the woods. Jacob and Isaac turned left to strip and phase while I turned right.

Jacob and I didn't need to hide our nakedness from each other when we phased but when we were with other wolves (even if said wolf was our son) we followed the usual procedure: men on one side, Leah Clearwater on the other. Ever since we were together Jacob had come to praise my privacy a lot more than he used to (there was a time he enjoyed watching me naked with the other boys but soon he began demanding exclusivity of that moment).

'Jake, you have to see this.' Collin's voice echoed in our heads as soon as we morphed.

'Location!' Jacob ordered.

'One mile to the north border on the east side.'

'Is that blood?' Isaac asked. Whatever Collin had found had left a pool of blood on the forest green carpet.

'Yes, it's blood.' He confirmed.

'Who's patrolling with you?' Jacob asked.

'Paul.' We felt Collin's distress when he mentioned Paul. His absence was an indicator that something had happened.

'Where is he?' Jacob demanded.

Collin flinched. He didn't want to get Paul into trouble but it was inevitable now.

'He saw EJ with his house mates and went after them.'

As much as we wanted Paul to do his job properly we couldn't blame him from going after his oldest son abandoning his partner in a middle of a patrol. EJ was a troublesome kid and his house mates were even worse. And, despite what he tried to show, Paul did worry about his son.

'Things seemed calm around here, so I told him I wouldn't mind to finish patrol on my own.' Collin defended his pack brother. Jacob decided not to press the subject. He would eventually speak to Paul about that.

'Have you inspected that area?' I asked Collin.

'Yes. Whoever was here is gone. There's no trace of anyone.'

'That's weird.' Jacob said. 'You definitely interrupted someone having a meal… so there should be some tracks for us to follow.'

'I've looked twice Jake. I have no idea how he vanished without a trace.'

'The most important question is: how was he able to enter our lands without us noticing?' I wondered.

'It happened before.' Collin recalled. 'Fred and Lisa were able to deceit us.'

'Fred and Lisa had a special ability and they are in Korea right now.' Jacob said. 'I'm quite sure it's not them.'

The Cullens had received a letter from the pair a week ago. Fred and Lisa had kept in touch. In the last ten years the Cullens had received one letter each year.

When we reached Collin we realized the pool of blood wasn't the only thing it had been left behind. There were three animal dead bodies on the floor and five more partially buried.

'It's a vegetarian vampire, right?' Isaac asked watching the drained body of a small coyote.

'Probably.' Jacob replied but, like me, he didn't know what to think of that. 'Let's phase back and wait for the others.'

The rest of the pack arrived in the next five minutes, except for Paul and Seth.

"Eight dead animals in the same place in different decomposing states suggest the vampire has been here for more than a day." I said.

"It can't be anyone from the Cullens. They never cross over the border to hunt so that leaves the other vegetarian coven we know." Sam said.

"You think it was one of the Denalis?" Brady asked. "We have an agreement with them too. They can't enter our lands without permission."

"There might be more vegetarian vampires out there." Quil suggested. But deep inside we knew there were small chances for that. If there were other vegetarian vampires the Cullens would know them for sure.

"We should talk to Carlisle about this." I said and everyone nodded.

"We have to protect our territory so I'm going to increase patrols. From now on I want four wolves every three hours." Jacob informed. "Let's go."

"The vampire that was here chose this spot for a reason." Isaac suddenly spoke.

"What do you mean?" Quil asked.

"Look." Isaac bent down and took a few tree branches aside. A few miles away there was a house. "Whoever was here has been watching that house."

We all exchanged a look.

"What does a vegetarian vampire possibly want with the Whites?" Sam asked raising his eyebrows.

That's when I realized I had been in that house today because that was actually Verena and Rhea's home.

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