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 III – The Challenger
William Black
35. Lex
Alexis Han was twenty-two years old and she had caught my attention not because she was pretty or looked like a model, she did it because she was one of the few girls I knew that was brave enough to drive a car during a competition without permission. Basically she reminded me of myself.
Harry and I entered the Hunter Motorsports around the same time Josiah started to take his only daughter to work. Alexis became fascinated by cars and expressed in many occasions the will to learn how to drive so she could become a backup driver for the team just like us.
Josiah allowed her only to drive during demonstrations and ordered that we could in no circumstances fuel the young girl's desire to become a professional pilot. He said at the time that she lacked maturity, experience and aptitudes for the job.
I didn't agree on the latter. Lex was until this moment the only pilot that had been able to master several techniques on her first attempt. A fair pilot would master those same techniques after four or five weeks but Lex could do it in only one day. She was gifted, that was obvious. However Josiah was overprotective and still hadn't acknowledged his daughter's talents.
That was why she was forced to compete by blackmailing and bribing other pilots, without her father's knowledge. Harry and I had helped Lex, a hand full of times to compete in less important races and she had won all of them. She wasn't as good as us or our team mate Jin Mei-Sung but she was better than all of the rookies Josiah had selected this year for our team.
My relationship with Lex started off as merely professional. She wanted to learn stuff and asked my help but four months ago she had a minor accident at the tracks. Whenever Lex could, she worked in the pitch with Josiah and other mechanics, and during a training session one of the rookies lost control of his car and smashed against the wall. Lex was nearby and was hit by one of the tyres that got loose. I was the first one to get to her.
She became quite attached to me after that and one evening we kissed after a ride in the tracks. The following days we did more than kissing and we decided to start dating. The fact that our relationship had to be a secret was challenging and Lex vaguely reminded me of Rhea, so I went along. I thought that maybe one day I could forget about Rhea and during those four months I almost succeeded.
Now everything was different. I still cared for Lex and I still found her beautiful and attractive but I knew I couldn't be her boyfriend anymore. I had texted her after seeing Rhea at old Quil's funeral and I had explained Lex why we couldn't be together but apparently she hadn't read the messages or she had simply ignored them.
And now here she was: long raven silky hair that went all the way down to her waist, almond-shaped eyes of the colour of charcoal and a cute small nose. Lex was an exquisite girl born from a South Korean man and his Russian wife, Tatyana Kerensky. While Josiah came to live in the US when he was just a baby, Tatyana had arrived in the late eighties to study gymnastics for a students' exchange programme. They met somewhere in New Mexico, or so Josiah had told Lex, and it was instant love.
Their intense romance ended up seven months later with a knocked up Tatyana who was also expelled from the gymnastics programme and Josiah having to quit Law school. They got married, things didn't work out and Lex was left behind when her mother received a one-way ticket back to Russia from her parents for her 25th birthday. Apparently they wanted their daughter back but had no will to meet their son-in-law or four-year old grandchild.
Lex resented her mother for having abandoned her but she had accepted to visit Tatyana in Russia two years ago. She learned then that she had two youngest twin half-siblings named Anna and Alexei. She returned home two days later angrier at her mother than ever.
Lex was a spirited girl, with dreams and hopes for a great future. She was the perfect girlfriend for the last four months. She would definitely please my mother more than Rhea White. But my wolf had claimed Rhea, not Lex. So I would have to tell her that it was over between us.
I'm so screwed. I thought, looking at the girl smiling brightly in front of me. Harry was right. I should've never started dating Lex. What am I going to tell her now?
"Didn't you get my text messages?" I asked trying to sound cool.
"What text messages?" She asked raising her eyebrows.
"The ones I sent you a few days ago. I told you I was going to stay a little longer and…"
"Oh… right… Corky chewed my phone the day you left and I got a new one. I didn't get you messages… sorry." She looked sincere enough. "I thought something bad had happened to you, so I decided to come and rescue you."
"How did you find me anyways?"
"Your phone has a tracking device, remember?"
"Right…" I almost forgot Hunter Motorsports liked to know where the pilots were so they could always know what we were doing. This was actually quite efficient to prevent any secret meetings between pilots and rival teams.
"Was this a bad time to come?"
The worst. I thought.
"No… it's fine but… but what did you tell Josiah?"
"Well… I want to tell you something about dad…"
"What?"
"He's kind of here."
"Here?" I asked in disbelief. "Here where?"
"With your grandfather."
"What?"
"I had to tell him, Will. He would never let me leave and he noticed I was sad in these last few days so… I told him about us."
Shit. I'm dead. Josiah Han was a great mechanic and an even greater shooter.
"I made him promise to behave." She guaranteed. "He was a little upset at first but he came around when I told him we were together for four months already. He wants to meet your parents before he gives us his blessing."
Dear Spirits it sounds like we're engaged or something. I shivered. I was actually considering running away in the moment but then again, that wouldn't solve anything.
We chatted calmly on our way to Granddad Billy's house, holding hands.
Josiah did keep the promise he had made to his daughter and was nothing but friendly while he greeted me and spoke about the latest races our team had entered.
"Jeff's sick but I'll get Toby to cover for him while he's with the flu. They've been hanging on well enough as backup pilots so far." He said eyeing me closely. I felt like I was doing an x-ray.
"We're having a family crisis right now… so we might take a few more weeks off." I said. "If that's okay…"
"Of course. Your grandfather told me about your uncle being missing. I get that your family should come first… take your time."
Lex remained quiet while we were talking. She simply smiled watching the both of us engaging in a comfortable conversation.
I wanted to get rid of them. Desperately. I had tried to signal my grandfather so he could make up some excuse for me to leave or something like that, but either he was ignoring me or he didn't understand.
"Dad… Will was speaking to a girl at the beach and…"
"Was he?"
Josiah looked suspiciously at me. In his eyes I read 'If you hurt my daughter, I'll kill you!'
"Yes, but that's not the point dad. The thing is, she invited me to her wedding. Since I'm Will's girlfriend she wants me to go with him. Right, Will?"
I only nodded, though the last thing I wanted was to go to Rhea's wedding with Lex.
"So I was wondering…" Lex continued. "Maybe I should stay here with Will for a while to meet his friends and…"
"No!" Josiah and I said at the same time.
"Why not?" Lex made a face and turned to me.
"It's not that I don't want you here Lex… It's just that your father doesn't agree and I'm in the middle of a family situation right now. I wouldn't be able to be with you very often so it's better if you return to Seattle with Josiah and wait for me there."
That would give me time to think of a way to break up with her with minimum heartache. Or so I hoped. I knew Lex had feelings for me but she was a pretty girl and there were lots of guys interested in her back in Seattle. Maybe she could forget about me and move on.
"I guess you're right." Lex finally said. "I can wait in Seattle. I'll go shopping for a new dress to Reina's wedding and then…"
"Rhea." I said out on impulse.
"What?" Lex asked.
"Her name is Rhea. Not Reina."
"Oh… right. Anyway, how long will you be here?"
"I'm not sure. It depends how things go. Right now I have to go help everyone who's looking for my missing uncle."
"Can I have a word with you?" Josiah asked me. I felt my heart jumping in my chest. I wasn't afraid of him but he was someone I respected a lot and I didn't want to lie to him.
"Dad…" Lex warned.
"It's fine honey. I just want to speak to William."
"Sure." I said walking outside. We remained under the porch because it was raining again. "What's up?" I asked casually.
"You know that you and Harry are our best backup pilots, don't you?" He said.
"Yes."
"And in three months Jameson is going to leave the team. He wants to spend more time with his family. Which means…"
"You'll need a new pilot soon." I finished for him.
"You and Harry have good chances… Don't screw that up."
"Why would I do that?"
"Because apparently you're a damn idiot who thought that dating my daughter on my back was a good idea!"
Finally the façade was over.
"The idea of keeping our relationship a secret was as much mine as it was hers. She feared for my physical integrity. Lex was afraid you'd attack me or something."
"Maybe I should." He greeted his teeth. "Actually I should kill you. You had no right to mess with my daughter."
"I didn't mess with her and if you kill you'd break her heart. Would you really do that to your baby girl?"
"I hate you William… I really do."
"No. You love me, Josiah. That's why you've come all this way." I smiled confidently at him. "Because she was missing me like crazy and you'll do anything for your little princess."
"You're a lucky bastard, Will. I personally think my daughter would be better off with your brother, but for some stupid reason she likes you better." He shrugged playfully.
"Well, I'm the handsome one." I joked.
"Shut up! I can still change my mind and shoot you." He said firmly. "My daughter must be treated with respect..."
"I've never disrespected Lexie." I stated immediately.
"Shut up and let me finish." He ordered. "Treat her right, don't use her as a trophy, make her happy and never mention sex and my daughter's name in the same sentence and we can keep being friends. But if you hurt my baby girl, I'll rip your balls and feed them to my dogs, is that clear?"
"Yes, sir." I copied the military salutation. Any other guy would be trembling with fear from Josiah's threat but I was just amused. It was noble of him to come here and protect his daughter's honour but if he knew Lex like I did, he'd know that protection was the last thing she needed.
"Because I know what it's like to have family problems, I'll go back to Seattle with Lex but a week from now, we'll be back and I won't leave without having a conversation from father to father with your old man, got it?"
I have a week to think of a way to break up with Lex. I thought. Either that or I'll probably lose Rhea forever.
"I got it." I agreed.
"Now, be a good boy, get inside and tell my daughter that we're leaving."
"Right."
"And keep your hands to yourself."
I did what Josiah asked me because I desperately wanted to get rid of them. During the last few years Josiah, Lex and the rest of the team had been like a family to me and Harry but in that moment I had more urgent matters to attend.
I sighed deeply as I watched Josiah's blue Camaro going down the road.
"What?" I turned to my grandfather who was next to me under the porch and kept staring.
"You're an idiot." He mumbled shaking his head.
"Thank you so much for your support Granddad."
"You should've told the girl that..."
"That what?" I cut him off. "That I claimed another girl as my mate eight years ago and now she's getting married to another?"
"You need to break up with this girl before she ends up getting hurt."
"Tell me something I don't know."
"Do you have a plan?"
"No. Do you?"
"Don't be a smartass, boy."
"You're sounding like Sam, Granddad."
"You better solve this fast."
"I'm heading back to Rhea's house now. Someone has to guard their house."
"I was hoping you could go to your Aunt Rachel's house first." Granddad asked me. "Just to check on Danny."
Apparently, Uncle Paul and Aunt Rachel's second son was going to phase soon.
"Tell your mother she can bring him here. It's not safe for anyone if Danny ends up phasing inside his house with his family there." Granddad added.
"Alright. I'll let her know."
I was going down the stairs when I saw it. A metallic object between the bushes ahead and then a sound like a thunder. Once, and then twice.
I fell on the wet grass, and unable to move I saw Granddad's wheelchair on the porch's floor. He too was lying down, a red stain on his green shirt.
I realised then that the sounds I heard were from a gun and that we had both been hit. Granddad was breathing slowly but he was alive. As for me, after a few seconds, all I saw was black.
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