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 to 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
Interlude
Jacob Black
45. Hunting Season – part 1
I had always wanted to be a father. Sure I didn't think about it often when I was seventeen years old but I knew that one day I would want a family of my own. There is something unbelievably amazing about watching the woman you love carrying your children and knowing that your genes will live on through them. The birth of a child is truly a life-changing event. After you become a father you turn more responsible, more mature and protecting.
I wasn't ready to be a father when Leah got pregnant. We had both recently realized we were falling for each other when she found out about her pregnancy which was a huge surprise since we thought she was barren.
Besides, we had never mentioned having kids before and I always thought I would have some time to prepare myself for fatherhood but if I could go back in time and redo the past, I wouldn't change a thing.
My children were the best thing that had ever happened to me after Leah. I could see a part of me in each one of them. Harry inherited my charisma, William my challenging character, Isaac my altruism, Sarah my audacity and JJ my passion. Physically they all had the Black's traits too: dark hair and chocolate brown eyes.
I was a proud father. But parenthood isn't just about feeling pride and love for your children. It's about helping them build strong and righteous characters, it's about praising their good actions and punishing the bad ones, and mostly it's about setting examples and showing them what's right and what's wrong.
And at that precise moment, I was wondering where the hell I had gone wrong with William.
My 25-year old son was sitting down on the couch next to his cousin. Both had a frown on their faces, both had their arms crossed over their broad chests and both were shooting daggers at me.
My head was hurting and my patience was reaching its limits. I had no idea what to do with those two.
"You do realize that your latest actions could have compromised our secret, don't you?" I wanted them to think about their actions and the consequences for the pack if our secret had been revealed.
"You do realize you're a pain in the ass, don't you Uncle Jake?" EJ retorted.
I guess I was being stupid thinking that one lecture would turn them more responsible.
Quil was right. Compared to EJ, Paul was a saint. I fought the urge to call Isaac in the room and ask him to put an alpha command on my nephew but I could handle a brat like EJ.
"My son's personal businesses with Rhea White are his own. You had no right to interfere." I stated after a deep breath.
"I wanted to help, Uncle Jake." He replied in an angelical voice. "Will is my cousin and I love him dearly."
"Lying son of a…" William groaned from his seat while EJ grinned.
"Will!" I warned him before he could finish his sentence. Another fight would not lead us anywhere and we were indoors which meant that I couldn't have the boys phasing there. They had done enough damages already.
"He's lying! He's just trying to play nice so he doesn't get punished!" Will complained.
"Don't worry. He's not going to get away with this so easily." I promised.
EJ wasn't my son but as a member of the Council and his uncle, he owed me some respect.
"No offense Uncle Jake, but there is anything you can do that can turn things worse for me," EJ said with a cocky grin plastered on his face. The boy had his father's eyes, daring and bold but it was Rachel's audacity that stood out the most in him.
"Yes, there is. I'll just have to consult with your father first." I stated. "Now, I want you to stay away from William and that means no more comments or jokes about Rhea White, especially in front of her fiancé. Get it?"
"Sure. Whatever." EJ groaned. "Can I go now? I'm starving."
I nodded and EJ left immediately. When he was finally out of the room I turned to Will who shifted on the couch uncomfortable.
"I know what you're going to say." He said before I could start.
"Really?" I asked slightly amused. "Okay… so what am I going to say?"
"You're going to say I'm an idiot and that I shouldn't have punched Rhea's fiancé." He looked at me expectantly.
"Close enough."
"I'm sorry I hit him… I was upset and he pushed my buttons."
I carefully observed William. He could tell me he was sorry a thousand times but I couldn't see any traces of regrets in his eyes.
"You're so much like your mother that it's almost scary." Will looked at me confused. "I can always tell when she's being honest and when she's not. The same applies to you. And right now I can tell that you're not sorry for punching the lights out of that boy."
He lowered his head ashamed. Out of our five children, William was definitely the one who had inherited the famous Clearwater's temper. He was a Black on the outside but a true Clearwater on the inside.
"Does that make me a bad person?"
"No, but it makes you kind of an asshole."
We both grinned.
"When he awakes, I want you to apologize," I said. "And try to fake some pain from the punch he gave you."
"I think that's not going to help. His broken hand is probably enough indication that I'm not a regular human."
"In that case, you should start praying he suffers from some kind of amnesia," I told him.
"That's actually quite possible. I do have a really powerful right hook." William said casually.
Just like I thought, he's not regretting what he did.
After Will and EJ's little outburst in my father's backyard, I thought things couldn't get any worse. I was wrong because suddenly Rhea's fiancé, Arthon Brenner had arrived unannounced and hit William in the face.
William didn't even stumble back or bled and because he was still pretty upset about his argument with EJ he wasn't able to control his anger and he fought back. The problem was that he forgot he was punching a human. Art fell to the ground unconscious with a bleeding nose. The angle of his fingers also told us he had probably broken his hand when he hit Will.
"Guys… he's waking up." Seth announced opening the door just enough to fit his head.
"Why should I apologize? He hit me first." William said getting up.
Always challenging me. I thought.
"Do you remember when I explained the difference between what's right and what's wrong? I think you were ten years old." I put a hand on Will's shoulder.
"I'm not a kid anymore, dad." He whined.
"You'll always be a kid to me. My kid, which means that when you fail, I fail."
"And not apologizing to a douchebag who also hit me is considered a fail?" He asked.
"Yes. Because you know deep down that what you did was wrong."
"How many times have you hit Sam in the past?"
"That's not really up to discussion right now." I rolled my eyes. Will's challenging nature could be pretty tiresome. "You could've killed him."
"Fine, I'll apologize. Happy now?"
I nodded.
"Come now, let's go."
"You don't need to come."
"I'm not going to take any chances, Will. It's obvious that I can't leave the both of you alone in the same room." I informed. "I promise I won't interfere… unless needed."
We entered the next room and found Seth helping a dizzy Art getting up. As soon as he saw William, the boy stood tall and told Seth he didn't need his help anymore.
He needs to keep what's left of his pride. Especially in front of his rival. I thought with amusement. Sam and I used to act the same way in the past. Back then I used to be all riled up because I didn't think that Sam had the right to have feelings for Leah when he already had an imprint.
Nowadays though I had come to terms that Sam would always have a special place for Leah in his heart. So I was a lot more permissive with Sam than when we were younger. Besides I knew, for quite some time now, how Leah felt about the both of us and I had nothing to worry about. She was mine. Body and soul. She had no feelings for Sam apart from the pack bond.
William was young though, and impulsive. And it seemed to me that Art wasn't going to let this go that easily either. At least not with only an apology.
"I'm sorry about that." Will pointed to Art's nose which had already stopped bleeding. "And that…" He added pointing now to his right hand. Seth had put a bandage but he had instructed Art to go to the hospital later because three of his fingers were broken.
"Where's Rhea?" Art asked without acknowledging my son's apology. Though I must say if I were him I wouldn't accept it either since it was obvious Will wasn't being honest in the slightest.
"I have no idea." Will replied coldly.
"What did you do to my fiancée?" Art insisted.
I watched the angry look William threw at the blonde man in front of him. If looks could kill Art would be dead.
"I came here to apologize. If you don't want to accept my apologies, fine by me. I have better things to do."
William turned away from Art but he never got to open the door to leave.
"It's not me you need to apologize to. You need to apologize to her. For what you did. For what she went through when you left her heartbroken and pregnant."
After those words, William was in Art's face in an instant.
"You're lying!" He shouted angrily.
"William!" I raised my voice to warn him. He had already lost control once. I couldn't let it happen again.
"Seth, can you take him outside?"
My brother-in-law nodded immediately. He too seemed concerned about William's current state.
"I don't want William alone so stay close to him," I added.
Seth nodded and pulled William with him but he wouldn't budge.
"What the fuck are you talking about? Rhea told me she wasn't pregnant!"
"I guess you don't know Rhea that well, do you?" Art's voice was laced with jealousy.
"I know her better than you do." William spat.
"You! Shut up!" I ordered Art. He obeyed, probably intimidated by my interference. I had tried to stay out of the argument but watching William trembling in anger and breathing heavily had forced me to act.
Strengthening his grip on my son's arm Seth dragged him away as quickly as he could. Once they were outdoors I heard my son's clothes shredding.
Harry and Seth took off after him. Now it was up to me to make sure Art would leave us alone.
"Rhea White had a brief relationship with my son in the past," I told him. He just glared at me without voicing a word.
I wasn't being completely honest. A one-night stand could hardly be considered a relationship but William had claimed the girl that night and a connection between them had been forged.
"It didn't end well but whatever happened between them it's their business and no one else's." I continued. "They're not together and William doesn't know where she is."
"Bullshit." Art whispered. "It's not over between them and I'm sure he's responsible for her disappearance."
He was only half-right.
"We've heard Rhea had an argument with her mother and left La Push."
"Verena told me but Rhea would never leave like this because of a pointless argument about her father. Yes, she hates him, but he's not that relevant in her life that would make her run away and call off the wedding."
"I'm going to repeat what I said, boy. My son has nothing to do with your fiancé anymore."
"Really? In that case, please explain this to me." Art removed what looked like a half-burned piece of paper from his back pocket and gave it to me. It was a very accurate drawing of my son and a russet wolf in the background.
"What's this?"
"Rhea painted it. I asked Verena who this was and she told me it had to be one of the Black twins. Then I remembered Chrissy mentioning the name William Black when she told me about Rhea's first months in the Community College. I put two and two together."
"I've heard Rhea is an artist. She draws and paints a lot of people and a lot of things."
"She has hundreds like this one. In the last months, it was all she could draw and paint. She told me he was just an imaginary character but he's not and there must be a reason why she keeps painting him of all people."
William's claim was probably responsible for Rhea's obsession with him and wolves.
"You're wasting your time here, kid. We have nothing to hide."
"Really?" He lifted his right hand with his broken fingers and smiled defiantly. "We'll see about that." He said and then left.
I was going to have to put an eye on this boy. I didn't believe he would actually find the truth about us and his fiancé disappearance but I didn't want to take any chances after all Isaac and Jay had been able to discover the truth on their own.
Besides with the help of the White family, he could put us in a difficult situation.
"Tough day?" Lance asked when I was leaving my dad's house to join them in the backyard. The smell of food was slowly restoring my appetite.
"And the day is still young." I sighed.
"We'll be leaving after lunch. Do you want some of us to stay?"
"No, it's okay. Besides you have your own crisis on hands."
It was Lance's turn to sigh. His pack had a new member. Prior to marrying Nydia, Dominic had had some fun with many other girls. He had always been a ladies man so it wasn't a surprise when his bastard children started to appear.
It was a shock to Nydia but not to the rest of us. It would be a miracle if their marriage prevailed after this. Now that the boy knew the truth, it was only a matter of time until Nydia found out. Dominic had promised he would speak to his wife soon but a week had gone by and he was still waiting for the right moment.
"What are you going to do Jacob? About this kid? And the missing girls?"
"I'll have Isaac watching Art's every move. I'm sure he won't leave until his fiancé returns. As for the girls, we'll wait until Alice and the others come back."
"Will's not coping with this very well."
"I know. I'll talk to him later." I said. "Kinley is not coping with his problems either," I commented watching Kinley isolated in the farthest corner of the backyard.
"He needs a little more time to accept what doctor Cullen told him."
I nodded. On the day of Old Quil's funeral, Kinley had asked Carlisle for a paternity test. After realizing his late wife was having an affair with an ex-boyfriend for years, he decided to make sure her kids were his. The DNA tests came back negative. Kinley wasn't Willow and Gage's father after all and now he didn't know what to do. He loved the children but they weren't his and he was debating if he should hand the kids over to their grandparents or burden Glenda who had already four children to take care of.
"We never thought we'd have more wolves in our pack," Lance confessed. "Cody and I were ready to quit but now…"
"I know what you mean. Leah and I spoke about quitting a few months ago. Now it's not possible anymore. Not until we find out what's happening."
"If kids in Campbell are phasing, then I guess something bad is coming our way." He advanced.
"Not necessarily. Alex's transformation might be related to Malcolm's presence in the area."
Tanya's mate was now one more vampire hunting in the Tweedsmuir South Provincial Park in Canada. The Denali coven still lived in Alaska but their hunting area included territories outside their residential region for lack of wildlife to hunt, especially during the winter.
"I have a bad feeling about this Jacob," Lance admitted.
"Then be prepared. Train the new wolf and make sure your lands are safe. If you need help, just call us. I can send Sam to help out with the boy. He's good with younger wolves."
"That's not what I heard. I heard your son and Sam fought and your boy won."
I didn't know Lance knew about that but it wasn't a complete surprise. The White pack knew a lot of things about what was going on in La Push because Gwen was Dominic's sister.
"It wasn't a big deal. Will is stubborn and Sam still blames him for that situation with Ella."
"Hey, Lance… Can I steal away my husband for a few minutes?" Leah asked joining us handing me a plate with food.
"He's all yours." Lance joked with a smile.
"That he is." Leah smiled back.
Her smile was replaced by a frown as soon as Lance went to sit amongst his pack mates.
"Do you think it's true?"
"What?"
"About the girl… Rhea… Do you think she was pregnant?"
Just like all the other wolves, Leah had heard my conversation with Art.
"I don't know. Apparently, she told Will that she wasn't but…"
"She could've lied to him." Leah cut me off.
"Art can be lying too."
"Why would he do that?"
"Jealousy can make people do stupid things." I shrugged.
"We might have a grandson or a granddaughter, Jacob. What if she had the baby and gave it up for adoption?"
"You're making a storm out of nothing. We don't even know for sure if she was ever pregnant."
"I'll ask Alice to check it out. If she was pregnant and had an abortion or a miscarriage there must be medical records about it."
"Probably."
"You really need to have a talk with William."
"You're not suggesting I should give him 'the talk', are you? Because if I remember correctly, the twins already know that for years."
"I'm just saying he needs guidance."
"Our son is not fifteen anymore. He's twenty-five years old. He knows how things work. He knows the consequences of one-night stands and the consequences of having sex without protection. He's a big boy. All he needs is to man up and take responsibility for his actions."
"I'm worried about him Jacob."
"Harry's with him. They'll be back soon."
"That's not why I'm worried. I'm worried about him losing control. You saw him minutes ago in the house. He almost destroyed the living room and then he fought with EJ and hit a human. You know what Odessa said about the twins. We have to separate them or they will fight and one of them will die." She whispered so anyone else could hear.
"We can't Leah. Not now. Harry is the only person who can control Will. If we separate them when Will needs Harry the most, we'll have a huge problem on our hands."
"We can't let Odessa's prophecy to come true." She said and I could feel the panic in her words because I could feel it too. It was a cold sensation in the pit of my stomach that wouldn't go away.
When Odessa told me what fate had stored in for the twins twenty-five years ago I couldn't believe it myself. For a while, all I wanted was to make sure her words would never come true.
And seven years later Isaac's birth took a huge burden off of my shoulders since according to the old woman, only a third potential alpha could prevent Harry and William's deadly bout for my position.
I never thought that having more children after Isaac would compromise the twins' fate again. And now we were back at square one.
My plan of splitting the pack had failed. Isaac had his own pack now but the twins were still under my leadership and the prophecy said that one day one would kill the other to take the alpha position.
"I'm still the alpha and I'm still the strongest wolf in the pack. There won't be any fights for my position in the nearest future. I promise I'll keep the boys safe, okay?"
She nodded quietly.
I knew this wasn't enough to tranquilize Leah, not in a million of years, but it was the best I could do for the time being.
"We better go inside," I said.
A huge black cloud had just invaded the sky and it started pouring within a few seconds. Leah and I helped the others taking the food inside. Far away we could already hear the rumbling of thunders.
"Perfect day for a fucking barbeque." I heard EJ mocking while he entered the house.
Fortunately, the continuous remodeling works in my father's house allowed us all to find refuge inside. When I was a teenager the house was so small we could barely fit five people in the living room. Now it even had enough rooms to accommodate guests such as Season's family.
The young girl was watching the backyard through the window searching for some sign of Harry. He and Seth had gone to the forest after William and none had returned so far.
I felt sorry for her. She was a collateral damage of our endless war against vampires and now she was unknowingly involved in this mess. Two innocent girls had been kidnapped by vampires who in reality wanted to take Season. And there was also Aro who Alice had seen coming to the US with an army to kill her. Season's situation with her family was also pretty bad: apparently, her mother and stepfather didn't give a crap about her and her two siblings, whom she was raising. She had a job to support the children financially but her landlord had been obsessed over her for years and was constantly extorting her family with the sole objective of nailing the poor girl when she didn't have anywhere to go or anyone to turn to.
I was silently hoping the police could not arrest him. Because that way I'd be able to hunt him down and make him pay for trying to kill my son.
"He'll be home in a moment," I told Season approaching her.
"What happened?"
"William happened…" I sighed.
"They're pretty close, aren't they?"
"Yes, they are," I confirmed. "When one of them was sick when they were children, the other would refuse to leave his side. When one was grounded the other would stay so they could face the punishment together."
Thinking about that made me wish the twins were still children. When they were kids they were easier to handle. With adolescence and adulthood came more and more trouble.
"I don't think I had the opportunity to thank you for your help." Season said timidly. "I'm used to taking care of myself and protect Ryan and Vanora but I guess we'll be safer here… at least until Tom is arrested."
Of course that her landlord was the least of her problems. Harry wanted Season in La Push because she was being hunted by vampires but because she didn't know about that, Season thought Harry was trying to protect her from Tom Harding. Which was also true. At this point, I believe Harry would do anything for Season.
"It's okay. You're my son's girlfriend which means you're practically family." I said and she blushed lightly.
"I don't want to impose…" She whispered. "I lost my job but I can find one here in La Push. I'll help to pay the bills and I can help around in the house though I've learned Harry's grandfather already has someone who helps him."
"Harry doesn't want you to help with the bills and neither do I or my father. You and your family are guests. Don't worry about it, okay?"
She nodded. I could tell she wasn't comfortable with the idea of staying here for free. She looked like a quiet and nice girl but I could tell she was responsible, had great strength and a huge sense of pride.
"But I don't see anything wrong about you finding a job here." I smiled. "It can be good for you in case you end up staying permanently."
"Stay permanently?"
"That's what people do when they like each other, right? They stay together."
Season blushed again but now in a dark shade of red. There was no doubt that she was in love with Harry which complicated things a lot for them since their relationship was supposed to be fake. However, since Harry also seemed to be in love with her maybe they would be able to work things out. I liked her. She was a decent young girl and Leah also liked Season even though she was too proud to admit it.
"It's still too soon to jump to the conclusion that your son wants us to stay together." She said. The blush on her face was now completely gone.
"I've seen the way he looks at you. I know Harry pretty well."
"I don't doubt that but… I don't remember anything about our three-month relationship. After that car accident, my memories of the time Harry and I spent together are gone which is kind of weird since I remember practically everything else…" She trailed off. "Anyways… three months isn't enough time to get to know each other that well and there are a lot of things about me that he…"
"If your memories are gone, make new ones." I cut her off. "If three months was not enough time then make sure you stay around. Harry has changed because of you so the least you can do is to give him a chance to prove himself." Season met my eyes and nodded. "Didn't I tell you he'd be back soon?"
Harry, Will, and Seth were finally coming towards the house. Harry smiled when he noticed Season was waiting for him by the window. Will was still wearing a severe and concerned expression but he was a lot calmer now. Having Harry by his side was definitely soothing him.
Leah made sure the twins had something to eat once they arrived. She also wanted Will to sleep a few hours but he refused.
"Have you unpacked already?" Harry asked Season, joining us by the large window.
"Not yet." She confessed.
"Then I'll help you. Come on I'll show you your room."
He pulled the girl by the hand and she let herself be dragged away. Then Seth approached me.
"The boy's a wreck." He whispered speaking about William. "I can't tell you for sure, but I think he's planning on leaving La Push to search for the White girl on his own."
I sighed. That was something that Will would do.
"I miss when they were eight years old," I whined and Seth laughed.
In that moment my cell phone vibrated indicating I had a text message. It was from Alice. If she was sending me a text message instead of calling that meant she had found something but didn't want anyone to know.
I found something important. Meet me asap at the border alone. The message read. I showed it only to Seth.
"I'll make up something if someone asks about you." He said.
"Thanks. Can you put an eye on Will for me?"
"Sure."
"You can tell Leah where I went but only if no one hears you."
He nodded.
Since the house was full of people walking around and kids playing and screaming, it was easy for me to sneak out through the back door. I decided to run as a human to avoid being detected by the wolves on patrol. I had the feeling Alice wanted to meet me in private so that Will wouldn't discover what was happening but I couldn't be sure so I wasn't going to take a chance.
Alice was sitting near the stream of water that separated our lands and Cullen's. She jumped from the rock she was sitting on when she saw me arrive. I noticed she was wearing a serious expression.
"I hope you didn't tell anyone you were coming to see me." She said.
"Only Seth. He's my second-in-command."
"Okay. It's just that I said Will I'd contact him as soon as got back but I have information that I don't think he should know right away."
I was right. She just wanted to prevent William from knowing what she had found out.
"So, what do you know?"
"Jean-Pierre was able to isolate the sounds on the background of the call between Will and Rhea's captor and… they were at an airport. We could hear the last part of a call for a flight to New York."
"That's great. We have a chance to get the girl back."
"It's not that easy," Alice informed. "Do you have any idea how many airports there are on the US West Coast and Canada that have flights to New York at exactly the same time?"
"But at least it's something."
"It will take at least two hours checking all the footage Jean-Pierre and I collected from those airports and we can still find nothing. There are always blind spots and vampires are extremely good at disguises." She said. "I don't think William wants to wait two hours."
"He's not very fond of waiting," I admitted.
"We can't allow him to go to Italy on his own. He can start a war and according to my latest vision, the Volturi are innocent."
"Are you sure?"
"Absolutely. Aro hasn't met Gustaf yet."
"But it's been… what? A week since they took him to Italy, right?"
"It's been eight days since he got there but Aro hasn't been in Volterra in two months. His arrival is only due in another month."
"Is that normal? I mean I thought the elders were always in Volterra."
"They used to stay ten months a year in Volterra but now things have changed. Ever since Joham's execution, Caius has been terrified and constantly hunted by Joham's last words about a horde of werewolves."
"But there is no horde, is there?"
"I don't think so. I think Joham only wanted to scare the crap out of Caius but… not all the werewolves that worked for Joham were caught. It's been ten years and no one can assure that the Children of the Moon are close to extinction." Alice explained. "Aro and Caius have been directly involved in hunting parties opposite Marcus who has shown no interest in it."
"So Aro and Caius are out hunting down werewolves?"
"With their special forces, yes. They've been in Asia for the last two months and killed three werewolves. Now they're heading home but they'll spend a month or so in Mazzolla."
"What is that?"
"It's a place near the Italian border with Slovenia. They have a small and secluded castle there where Aro and Caius' mistresses live."
"Mistresses? As in lovers?"
"Yes. While Athenodora and Sulpicia's lovers live in Montegemoli, their husbands' live in Mazzolla. They visit these places once or twice a year and stay there for a few weeks."
"I thought vampires were loyal to their mates."
"And they are. Aro married Sulpicia and nothing can't separate them unless death. He would die for her and she would die for him but after centuries together they had the need to be with other sexual partners."
"So vampires don't mate for life."
"Not like wolves." Alice gave a mischievous smile. "Why? You wish you were like them?"
"I'm pretty sure I'll want to be with Leah forever." I snorted. "How about you, Pixie? Are you bored of Jasper?"
"I'll never get bored of Jasper." She said. "Not all the vampires are as open as the Volturi in that sort of thing."
"Right… now… you were saying Aro and Caius will only meet Gustaf in a month, right?"
"Yes. Then Aro will realize that Gustaf no longer has his tracking powers and he'll read his mind and reach the conclusion that Season erased his gift. He'll summon the other elders and the rest of the coven and they'll come to the US to kill the girl."
"But in the meantime, other vampires are after her such as the Romanians," I stated.
"Yes."
"How do they know about Season's power?"
"I don't know about that yet. Maybe there's a new member of the coven with a special power that allowed them to know."
"And what are we going to do about Rhea White?"
"Right now I think we have to trust the vampire who took her. He said he'd bring her back… eventually."
Alice was dreaming if she thought that Will was going to trust the vampire who had taken his mate. On his first opportunity, he would be on a flight to Italy even if we told him the Italians were not the ones to blame. He wanted blood.
"I can't tell him that. He won't have it."
"You won't have to tell him anything. Leave it to me."
"Are you sure?"
"I can handle your son, Jacob."
"I hope so but for your information, he almost destroyed our living room with his telekinetic power and you don't have Jasper here to help."
"Thank you for having so much faith in me, mutt." She said crossing her arms defensively over her chest.
"Fine. Just make sure he's never out of your sight."
xxxxxxxxxx
The rain had stopped but the air was still filled with humidity. The White pack was gone and Sam and Jared had just arrived to inform us that the searches for Alexis Han had been temporarily called off. The police were confused because they couldn't find any traces of the girl or her kidnapper and to make things worse the rain had probably washed away any existing traces in the forest.
But the bad news kept coming. An emergency meeting had been held to decide the next course of action but before the Chief of Police could actually decide what to do, Arthon Brenner had decided to go to the police station to report the disappearance of his fiancée.
It wasn't uncommon for the police to receive people from La Push asking for help after realizing someone had disappeared. Most of the cases were about kids who wanted to see the world outside the reservation and have some fun. The majority would come back home after a week or when their money would run out. Others could stay away for a couple of years. Only about five percent had vanished without a trace.
But this was different. Rhea White wasn't a kid anymore. She had graduated and was about to get married. Things wouldn't be so bad for us if Arthon hadn't mentioned my son's name to officer Carl Lewis. As soon as William's name was mentioned the Chief of Police had no other choice but to connect both cases.
"Caleb said Will has two hours max to get out of here," Jared informed. "Otherwise he'll be called in again to be interrogated."
"Two missing girls both connected to William…" Sam started. "It doesn't look good to me, Jake. You know they'll suspect about Will's involvement in Rhea and Lex's disappearance."
"And this time not even Charlie Swan's good name can help because they're thinking about calling the Feds," Jared said.
When the twins were kids and Charlie was still running the Police Station, he used to take the boys with him to spend a few hours watching the patrol cars. Harry and Will loved to spend time with him and the other officers were always happy to receive them in the Station. They all knew that Charlie considered the boys his grandsons especially when Bella stopped visiting her father in Forks. Most of them thought Bella had forgotten about her old man because she was married to a Cullen and had become rich. The truth was that Bella couldn't come to see her father in public because people would suspect she wasn't human.
But that was a long time ago, Charlie was now retired and the boys were not innocent little children anymore.
"Where's Will?" Sam asked looking around.
"Went to see Alice."
When Alice and I parted a few minutes ago, she said she would call Will to meet her because she had promised to call him as soon as she came back and she wanted to keep her word. She also assured me she wouldn't allow him to leave La Push after Rhea White. And I trusted Alice.
"If he leaves, he'll look guilty. If he leaves… we'll be under the police's radar until this is over." I concluded. Sam and Jared nodded. "Our secret will be in danger."
"We'll manage like we always do," Jared said. He was one of the most optimistic guys I had ever met in my life. "You better go talk to your son."
I spoke to Harry first. He was the only wolf that had heard my conversation with Sam and Jared for he was the only one at my father's house at the moment. Since the barbecue was over, everyone had gone home. Harry stayed behind with Season and her family to help them unpack.
Hannah was resting in one of the bedrooms with her youngest daughter while Season's siblings and Hannah's oldest girls were watching television. Mrs. Shaw was helping cleaning the kitchen and my father was trying to be helpful as well but he was only managing to upset her. She had told him to stop trying to clean the dishes twice already.
"I can clean the dishes as good as anyone." Dad had told her a few minutes ago.
"You dropped the same spoon four times and I had to wash it again and again."
"It's my house, my spoon… I can do whatever I want." He had rebutted. Thankfully, Mrs. Shaw didn't answer back.
Their friendship still needed improvement but at least they weren't screaming at each other like they used to do a few months ago.
Harry was worried about William's situation. Like me, he also thought that if Will left, everyone would think he had something to hide but we had little options. Staying and being arrested was out of the question. The Feds would dig up and they would order a DNA test on my son and then our secret would be discovered.
I wanted to ask Harry to go with Will. I trusted William but not like I trusted Harry. Out of the two, he was more responsible and less erratic. He would be able to keep Will calm enough for a while but with his girlfriend here in La Push I didn't want to force Harry to choose. It would be unfair.
After discussing things with Harry I went home to talk to Leah. Sarah was in her bedroom pretending to be studying but in fact, she was sulking because we had ordered her to come home since Season's family was now staying at my father's house and all the rooms would be occupied.
She had dared to offer Season her bedroom in our house, saying that it would be much better for Harry to have his girlfriend living under the same roof. She even cried a little, trying to move us and convince us to accept her plan, but it didn't work as she wanted.
Years ago I thought that Sarah was going to be our easiest child to handle because she was a sweet little girl who always said 'please' and 'thank you'. I couldn't have been more mistaken. By the looks of it, Sarah was going to give me bigger headaches than Will. And that was saying a lot.
Leah was in the bathroom when I got home and I immediately noticed the weary expression on her face.
"What's wrong?" I asked.
"Nothing."
I hated when she said that because 'nothing' in Leah-language always meant something.
"Another argument with Sarah?"
"No. She's not speaking to me."
"What are you hiding there?" I put my head to the side to take a peek behind her back.
"Nothing." She tried to move away from me but I cornered her against the door.
"Liar," I whispered. "Tell me what's wrong. Please."
Leah put her head down and handed me a white stick with a pink plus. My heart jumped. I knew what that was and I knew what it meant.
I felt bad for feeling happy at a time like that but how could I not feel happy after learning I was going to be a dad again? Sure it was a terrible time and we had agreed we wouldn't have more children but I couldn't give a crap about it right now. I was going to be a dad again. Leah was having my baby. We were going to have another member in our family.
The Spirits help me if it's a girl. I thought. A shiver went down my spine thinking about having a second Sarah running around. I loved my daughter unconditionally but she was getting me white hairs for sure.
I leaned on to kiss Leah but she pushed me back and met my eyes. I could feel her distress but couldn't exactly tell why she was reacting like that.
Was she scared because her last pregnancy had had complications? Was she ashamed because of our age? Was she worried about my reaction to another unplanned pregnancy?
People say unplanned pregnancies are always unfortunate and stressful but for us it was normal. Leah and I didn't know how to make plans. I mean we did make plans, but usual, y we didn't follow them because something always came up.
"It's not mine." She said suddenly.
Leah kept her eyes locked with mine and I felt the palm of her hands flat against my chest but that wasn't enough to stop the sudden rage that erupted in me because there was only one other person in that house that could've done that test.
"No way…" I muttered. My body was tense and my mind was running at the speed of light. "She can't be pregnant… he said he never touched her!" Now I was shaking violently unable to control my anger any longer. "I'm going to kill Jay! That fucking son of a bitch! She's seventeen years old, Leah! What the hell was the bastard thinking?"
You were seventeen when you got Leah knocked up, you hypocrite. My conscience notified me but I immediately pushed that thought aside. This wasn't about me or Leah. It was about my baby girl.
"Jacob! What the hell are you doing? Lower your voice and stop being an idiot!" Leah said firmly holding my arms. "It's not Sarah's either."
All of a sudden my tremors stopped and I let out a sigh of relief.
"It's not Sarah's? Are you sure?"
"I'm pretty sure."
"Then who…"
"It's your sister's and I promised to be quiet about it." Leah cut me off.
"Oh…" I was unable to fake enthusiasm. Rachel and Paul already had three kids. "Aren't three enough?"
"We have five, Jacob." Leah glared at me. "You shouldn't judge other people like that."
"Yeah but our kids have nothing to do with Paul's! EJ's a nightmare." I said. "Wait a sec… didn't Rachel had a hyster-something years ago?"
"Yes. She had a hysterectomy."
"So how the hell is she pregnant?"
"She's not. You have another sister, don't you?"
"Becca?"
Leah left the bathroom and sat down on our bed. I didn't understand why she was so worried about Rebecca's condition. She was married and Embry was a good husband and a good father.
"Does Embry know?"
"Yeah. She told him yesterday."
"And?"
"He wants her to have an abortion."
"What?"
To say that I was shocked was an understatement. I could not believe Embry would want such a thing.
"A few years ago when Becca and Embry were trying to have another baby the doctor told her she shouldn't have more children because she can die having the baby."
Leah had almost died twice having my children and I knew how bad it felt. Knowing that the person you love is dying because of you makes you feel horrible and hopeless. Fortunately, she was able to recover both times thanks to the wolf gene but Becca wasn't that fortunate.
That was why Embry didn't want her to go along with that pregnancy. She was his wife and imprint and he didn't want anything bad to happen to her.
"She's pretty upset with Embry and I can understand why. Being a mother changes us forever." Leah spoke.
"It changes us too." I said. I knew parenthood affected men and women differently but the concept was the same. "I'm sure this wasn't an easy decision for Em." I defended my best-friend and brother-in-law. "He worries about Becca just like I worry about you."
"I know Jacob. But… for her… it's different. She really wants this baby."
Becca's pregnancy had come in the worst time. There was so much drama happening around us right now that I was surprised no one had had a nervous breakdown so far. This could push Embry to the limit and when a member of the pack wasn't well all of the pack was affected.
I sat down on the bed next to Leah and held her hand in mine. She let her head rest on my shoulder.
"Becca's situation is delicate but… there are other things that need our attention right now." I whispered. She had her eyes closed and I felt her hand gripping mine a bit harder as if she was afraid of my next words.
"What happened?" She finally dared to ask.
"Rhea's fiancé went to the police. He told them Will is responsible for her disappearance. Caleb said Will has to leave the Reservation otherwise he might get arrested."
She sighed.
"We're not having that week off in Paris, are we?" Leah asked sadly.
We had made an agreement after the twins were born when Leah still felt threatened about the possibility of me imprinting. She had made me promise if I found my soulmate I would have to live far away from her and the kids and I couldn't I kiss my imprint in front of them.
I had made her promise to go with me once each year to a place of my choosing, just the two of us, for as long as we were together.
We had gone to twenty-four locations so far. This year it would be our twenty-fifth journey. I had taken Leah to all of the places she had dreamed of visiting when she was younger. Sometimes we'd take three whole weeks off; other times we could only have a couple of days. But we always made every second count.
I'd be lying if I told her I wasn't disappointed. This time our destination wasn't the most appealing one to me – I had yet failed to comprehend why people said that visiting a metal structure in the middle of a town was romantic –, but I wanted to spend time alone with Leah. I had planned on taking her to a lot of places in Paris if we were actually able to leave the hotel room to begin with.
Seven years ago, in Moscow we had spent three days in the hotel room and only two visiting the city. We didn't leave a very good impression to the hotel staff but it had been the most exciting seventy-two hours of our lives, and probably theirs too.
"Yes, we are. We still have two months. We can deal with this and then go." I said pulling her by the hand and kissing her sweetly. Leah responded to my kiss with fervor. "I'm not going to let anyone come between us and our trip to Paris! I'll kill whoever tries to stop us from going."
"You don't even like Paris." She said against my lips.
"The sacrifices I make for you."
We both laughed.
"Jacob? What are we going to do about William?"
"I thought about it and I think he'd be safe with Lance's pack in Campbell. He'll be in another country but amongst our kind."
"And Lance can put an eye on him." Leah added agreeing with my plan. "I guess I better go and pack his things."
xxxxxxxxxx
We found Will with Alice at the Cullens. He was making himself busy, watching the footage that Alice had collected from several airports around the country but it was obvious that they hadn't found Rhea in any of the recorded footage they had been watching.
"The quality of the images is ridiculous! This is the 21st century and it looks like these videos came directly from Ancient Greece or something!" Will said frustrated. He was sitting on the couch, his feet resting on a small table and a laptop on his lap.
"Patience is a virtue, Will." Leah said messing up our son's shaggy hair.
"Did something happen?" Alice questioned, her eyes on the bag I was carrying.
"Yeah… it did. You're going to Campbell for a while." I turned to Will.
"What? Why?"
"Rhea's fiancé went to the police. Caleb believes it's just a matter of time until they connect the missing girls' cases and then they'll come for you."
"Seriously? I'm going to kill that motherfucker!"
"You're not going to kill anyone." I said preventing Will to leave the room. "Soon people will start thinking you killed both girls so you better behave."
"We'll clean your name so you can come back as soon as possible." Leah said.
"And how are you going to do that? Rhea's with a fucking vampire who just vanished into thin air and Lex was taken to the East Coast by those Romanian psychos." He fumed. "And while you try to clean up this mess, I'll be taking some time off with the White pack? Are you insane?"
"It's for the best." I tried to convince him. "If you get arrested they'll take your DNA and they'll know you're not human. Our secret will be in danger."
Will huffed impatiently.
"I'm not going to hide!" He stubbornly said.
"It's temporary." Leah offered. "Lex might come home unharmed tonight and we can find a way to…"
"Alice?" I cut Leah off when I realized Alice had her eyes fixed on the wall in front of her instead of the screen of the laptop she was working on. She was wearing an almost painful expression which indicated she had just had a vision. "What did you see?"
"They're coming." She muttered still recovering from what she'd seen a second ago. "They know they took the wrong girl."
"Who's coming? What the hell are you talking about?" I pressed.
"The Romanians. They're coming for Season."
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Karisan
A/Note 4: If you're confused about the events or about the characters, please feel free to ask.