Disclaimer: Twilight belongs to Stephenie Meyer, not me.

Author/Note 1: This story is the sequel to 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

William Black

52. Closer

Luck was finally on our side. It had not only stopped snowing but we were able to locate Rhea and her captor within the first two hours after arriving in Greenland. Just like the Cullens had suspected, Eva had taken Rhea to a secluded place in the Northeast Greenland National Park.

Unfortunately, this was the world's largest national park with about 375,000 square miles. Since there were only four of us to search the entire park, Carlisle had tried to narrow down the area. Edward and I went north while the Doctor and Emmett went south. For now, we would stay close to the coast.

We were about one mile away from Danmarkshavn when we heard Eva talking on the phone with someone. I soon realized she was talking to the vampire who had called me days ago.

"She's a damn giant dog, like the others! You never said she was a dog!" She complained.

"That's because she isn't supposed to be a dog. You have the wrong girl."

"The wrong girl? What do you mean, I got the wrong girl? You told me to take the boy's girlfriend and I did! I saw them at the beach!"

Was there anyone in the fucking world that hadn't seen us at the beach? Maybe we should get an advertisement reading 'William and Rhea had sex at First Beach for the second time'.

Beside me, Edward suppressed a laugh while reading my thoughts and I growled feeling annoyed.

"It was your fault, Will. You should've been more careful." He whispered. "You were only a few miles away from your pack. What were you expecting?"

It happened... It wasn't planned. I defended myself.

"What do you want me to do then?" Eva's voice captured my attention.

"We need the right girl. You have to go back and get her."

"It won't be so easy now."

"We'll double our offer… though this was actually your mistake."

"You should've told me which twin's girlfriend I was meant to take."

"You better hurry up. The deadline hasn't changed. We are expecting the right girl in three days."

"What should I do with this one?" Eva asked.

"You can kill her for all I care." He stated unceremoniously. I was about to dart off to where Rhea was when Edward stopped me. "Actually, I changed my mind. Don't kill her. I told the boy we would take her back once this was over."

"If I take her with me, she'll slow me down," Eva informed, her voice harsh.

"Make sure she has enough food and water for a week. I'm sure her friends will eventually find her."

Eva turned off the phone and went inside a small house made of wood, probably to check on Rhea. I knew she was there too because I could feel her presence even though we were a mile away.

Because we couldn't get any closer without risking being discovered, I didn't know if Rhea was unharmed but at least she was alive and that gave me a little comfort.

"I think she either has a small aircraft somewhere or a vessel," Edward announced. "Danmarkshavn was a weather station so it probably has a small port and a short airstrip."

So unless Carlisle and Emmett arrive from the north, she'll escape before we can reach her.

Edward nodded.

"We need a distraction maneuver." He said. "We need blood… fresh blood."

Elaborate, please.

"Vampires such as Eva are well trained and more lethal than any member of the Volturi coven, maybe except for the elite members…" He paused. By elite, he meant Scarlett, Jane, and Alec. "All vampires are killing machines but mercenaries are exceptional predators and exceptional hunters. They're flawless in the art of assassination. After all, the majority of their jobs include killing, kidnapping or stealing from other vampires."

I'm not following, Edward.

"But even mercenaries as good as Eva have weaknesses."

Blood. I understood. Blood was the only weakness for a vampire.

"Human blood." Edward corrected.

There are no humans around. At least not close by and the nearest town is many miles away from here. The best we can do is hunting down an animal… though I haven't seen any around so far.

"Musk oxen and polar bears are common around here but not this close to the coast. However, animal blood doesn't have the same effect on vampires as human blood."

Okay. So where are we going to get a human?

Edward didn't answer, he just kept staring at me.

Oh… I see…

I finally understood. I was human. Compared to vampires, that is. So my blood would do the trick.

Did you bring a sword with you? I asked playfully.

"I need you to bleed a considerable amount of blood and fast."

In that case, you have to attack me.

"Do you really know what's going to happen?"

I have an idea. I've seen Harry's condition when he was attacked by Lisa. Plus I've been shot recently, so I'm used to feeling pain.

"The wound will have to be deep so it's going to hurt quite a lot. You'll heal eventually but it will take several minutes… maybe even a half an hour or so."

I'll be fine.

"Okay… Eva will smell your blood and she will come here. I'll be waiting for her and you'll be on your way to get Rhea."

Can you capture her on your own?

"Probably not but I can keep her busy until Carlisle and Emmett arrive. Six minutes is all they need."

Why don't we face her together? I could help you. And then we could both get Rhea.

"I know you well enough William. You don't want to capture her, you want her dead."

Come on Edward… I can…

"I read minds, Will." Edward cut me off. "It's better if you stay out of this." He stared at me with a patronizing look and I had to accept the inevitable. He was right. If I were the one to capture Eva, I wouldn't show any mercy. She would die by my hands and we would never discover who had actually hired her.

I phased back to human so we could proceed with the plan. It would be easier for Edward to wound me in my human form.

"We have to act fast. As soon as she feels the scent of your blood, she'll come here straight away. That means you'll have to be on the other side of those hills." Edward pointed to the hills behind me. "Otherwise she'll realize this is a setup."

"What about you?"

"Don't worry about me. Worry about getting to the other side of those hills with an open wound."

I guess I was worrying for nothing. Edward wouldn't have trouble facing Eva. She was a trained assassin but he could read minds.

"Are you ready?" Edward asked and I nodded. "I know you're not but I'll do it fast. Just know that I wish I wouldn't have to do this to you."

"I know."

Edward grabbed my left shoulder with his right hand to keep me from falling down. Then he lifted my shirt and the next thing I felt were his cold fingers ripping my abdomen open. The cut was deep but clean. It had ripped flesh and muscle but no organ had been hit. The open gash bled to the floor staining the snow red and having the desired effect.

"She's coming," Edward informed. "Take off your shirt and press the wound."

"It hurts like a bitch," I complained.

"Go! And don't phase. If you phase she'll know a wolf is nearby and she'll see this is a trap."

"I'll see you in a few minutes."

Edward nodded and we both parted. I had to run in a semi-circle, to go around a few hills, and reach the small cottage where Rhea was made prisoner on the other side. In the meantime, Eva was running in a straight line towards Edward.

I slowed down a bit to make sure my wound was healing properly. It was vital that Eva kept going south, towards the place where Edward was hiding and didn't realize that someone else was on the move. The gash was still bleeding but not as much as before. Rhea would probably freak if she saw me bleeding like this.

When I reached the small cottage in Danmarkshavn it was snowing again. The cottage had once been painted in dark green and had four windows. The place was in ruins like Mestersvig. There were five more buildings, all made of wood, and a few broken antennas and satellite dishes, confirming that the place had once been a research compound.

I entered the cottage and found Rhea curled up in a corner, wrapped in a white blanket. I could tell she was naked underneath. She was sitting down, hugging her knees, her face down.

"Rhea?" I whispered, trying not to scare her.

She looked up. Her gray eyes were spilling tears and I ran towards her. She didn't move when I embraced her, but she started sobbing.

"Are you okay? Did she hurt you?" I asked worriedly. She didn't seem to be hurt, though.

"I'm dreaming again…" She said between sobs. "I want this nightmare to stop."

"I'm here now. You're not having a nightmare and I'm going to take you home."

For some reason that only made her cry harder.

"I always dream of you, William… and you always leave me in the end."

"I won't leave you now. Look at me, Rhea! Look at me!"

She obeyed.

"I give you my word. I won't leave you." I cupped her face and kissed her forehead. "I need you to get up and put some clothes on, okay?"

Rhea nodded but somehow she didn't seem convinced that my presence there was real. She slowly got up from the floor and she let the blanket fall from her shoulders.

I turned around to give her some privacy while she searched for something to wear but she came to stand behind me and hugged me. I had to fight the urge to turn around and take her right then and there.

"What's wrong?" She asked, running her hands through my chest. "Every dream I have happens like this… You come to me, we sleep together and then you leave me without even saying goodbye."

"This is not a dream, Rhea," I told her. "And you better put some clothes on. This is not the time to do this but you better not push my limits."

Alarmed by my refusal, she freed me and covered herself with the white blanket again.

"Now… are you ready to accept what you really are?" I asked.

"What I am?" She wondered confused.

"You have to understand that we are not like other people. We're different, stronger, faster… we exist to protect people from bloodsucking monsters. The Cold Ones… like our legends call them." I paused. "What you're about to experience will change your life forever but I want you to know that I'll be by your side, okay?"

I pulled her free hand and dragged her outside. The wind hit us but we hardly felt cold. And then we both took our animal forms.

xxxxxxxxxx

It's never easy to accept that the life you've been living has been a lie. It's never easy to know that ancient legends are real and you're a part of them. And it's never easy to realize that reality as you know it is gone and your life will never be the same.

When I first learned about the wolf gene I didn't understand any of this, but I was only ten years old then and only Harry could morph. We were told by our parents that we had to keep it a secret because bad things could happen to our family if we told the truth to anyone outside the pack.

We kept it a secret but we still broke the rules once. Harry had been forbidden to phase unless in the presence of an adult from the pack but I was too eager to see my brother morphing into a wolf so we went to the forest and he phased to show me. I thought it was so cool that I tried to phase for the next week, with no success.

Upon seeing my frustration Harry decided that he wouldn't phase until my gene was activated so we could both be wolves at the same time. Things were easy back then because we were young and couldn't understand fully that this gene was actually a curse. I knew better now. Not that I hated being a wolf, but I knew now that things weren't as cool as I thought they were.

For Rhea, everything was a thousand times worse. First, she was a girl and girls rarely phased into giant wolves. They were not anomalies but they were different somehow. Mom was the living proof of that. When she phased she was older than all the other boys except for her ex-boyfriend, Sam. And like the boys, she also experienced physical changes: she became taller, her body turned more athletic and she ceased to have her period thus becoming unfertile. At least for a while.

Rhea would go through the same. The difference was that she would have my mother to guide her and advise her whenever she felt lost or confused while my mom didn't have anyone to help her out.

Secondly, Rhea had experienced life outside the Reservation and she had obviously liked it. She had a degree in Arts and she had dreams and hopes of opening a gallery and become famous. She also had friends and a fiancé in Seattle, waiting for her to return and resume her wedding plans. Now, all of that was gone. She was stuck in La Push with the pack, forever bound to protect our tribe from vampires.

So basically she would not only have to deal with physical changes and kiss her old life goodbye but she would also be forced to recognize that eight years ago she had been claimed by my wolf. She was mine, her freedom of choice had been taken away from her the moment I had bitten her neck at the beach that night.

"What we feel for each other isn't real, is it?" Rhea asked me while sitting down on the bed. We had returned to the old cottage after witnessing Edward, Carlisle, and Emmett capturing Eva. I had spent an hour getting her to calm down because when she met the Cullens and realized that vampires did exist, Rhea became hysteric.

I had convinced Edward and the others to fly home without us. It would be reckless to put Rhea inside an aircraft with Eva and four more vampires. She was too unstable and could morph unexpectedly destroying the jet and making us crash.

"I've told you before. I had feelings for you before we slept together." I answered truthfully.

"But how do you know those feelings weren't the wolf in you?"

"I can't be sure but I think my human side was also attracted to you. It was not just the wolf inside of me."

"What part of me attracted you? Was it the slutty part?" She questioned in an ice-cold voice.

"I never thought you were a slut."

"But you and your friends called me that all the time."

"We were stupid," I admitted.

"You were a bully."

"I'm not proud of that, Rhea. I would change everything if I could."

"What about imprinting? If you imprint, you can set me free, right? Your cousin said that it's like love at first sight and it's forever so…"

"Alpha wolves don't imprint." I cut her off. "They mate. For life. I'm not alpha yet, but I will be."

"Alpha?"

"The alpha wolf runs the pack. In our pack, that's my dad." I explained.

"And your mother?"

"She's his alpha female. His mate."

"So that makes me…"

"My mate. When I become an alpha, you'll be my alpha female."

"Shit…" She gasped. "How the hell did this turn so damn complicated?"

"It's not complicated. You love me, I know you do. You don't want to marry Art anymore because you know that we belong together."

"I thought I was in love with you but now I'm not so sure." She was obviously confused which was only normal. Sometimes it was hard to tell our wolf feelings apart from our human emotions.

Dad often spoke about letting the wolf and the man become one, but so far I hadn't been able to reach that stage. Actually, within the pack, he and mom were the only ones who had been able to do that.

"What will happen to me now?"

"When you're calm enough, we'll go home. You'll meet the rest of the pack and we'll train you to be a protector, like the rest of us."

"What if I don't want to be a protector?"

"Unfortunately, that's not an option," I said. "It's not going to be easy but you'll have a lot of people helping you out. And you can talk to my mom anytime you want."

"Your mom? She freaking hates me. Why the hell would she want to help me?"

"She doesn't hate you. She hates your aunt."

"Why?"

"Because your aunt is a vicious bitch who enjoys spreading rumors about my mom ever since I can remember."

"My aunt is not a vicious bitch!"

"Yes, she is. The thing is, you weren't living in La Push when she started the rumors about my mother sleeping with half of the male population in the Reservation nor when she said my mom didn't know who was the father of her children because she was a slut. She told everyone that my mom got my dad drunk to force him to sleep with her and when JJ was born she even spread the rumor that he was Sam Uley's bastard child. If that's not being a bitch, I don't what is."

"I agree that Aunt Vanessa doesn't like your mother much."

"That's an understatement."

"But I don't believe she was the only one spreading rumors."

"You're right about that. She wasn't the only one. Your grandmother and her friends helped."

"My nanna is a decent person!" She argued.

"Right…"

"What about granddad? I'm pretty sure he never did anything to your family and it's pretty clear you don't like him either. You always denied him a place in the tribal council."

"Your grandfather thinks he's better than everyone else just because he runs a profitable business."

"So you admit that you're jealous."

"We're not jealous. He makes a profit by smuggling drinks. He's not a saint like you think he is."

Rhea glared at me but she abandoned that topic and moved to a bag that was on the floor. She took out a pair of blue jeans and a yellow sweatshirt and went to the bathroom to get dressed.

"I don't want to keep arguing about our families, Will. I want answers now. Real answers." She said as she came out of the bathroom. "Where the hell are we? Maine? Vermont?"

"Greenland," I said. She stared blankly at me as if I was playing a prank. "I'm not kidding. We're in Greenland."

"For how long?"

"You've been gone for five days."

"Five days? What about my mom? My family? Do they know where I am?"

"No. They think you're having cold feet about the wedding."

"You didn't tell anyone about us, did you?"

"No. Why? Are you having regrets?"

A lot of people knew but I guess it wasn't the right moment to tell her that probably half of the Reservation already knew we had slept together.

"Why was I kidnapped?" She asked dodging my question.

"You were kidnapped by mistake. They want Harry's girlfriend."

"Why?"

"It's complicated."

"So is turning into a giant wolf, and we both seem able to do it effortlessly."

"Point taken…" I sighed. "She has a special ability that works as a threat to them, so they want her dead."

Rhea was silent for a long time. I decided not to press her too much since she needed time to take in everything that was happening.

"So those were the famous Cullens."

"Yes," I confirmed.

"What are they going to do with that woman? I mean vampire… whatever she is. I saw them pulling her legs off."

That was one of the things that had made Rhea freak out. She was still dealing with the fact that she had just seen me morphing into a giant dog and the fact that she was one herself when she witnessed Carlisle, Emmett, and Edward dismembering Eva. Though there was no blood involved, it still causes a certain impact watching someone being dismembered.

"Vampires can reassemble their bodies again. Fire is the only thing that kills them. They dismembered Eva as a precaution. She won't be able to escape that way."

"Are they taking her to La Push?"

"I don't know. But I trust them. They know what they're doing."

"Why?"

"Why what?"

"Why do you trust them? Aren't they vampires too?"

"The Cullens are the good guys. They don't kill people to feed. They drink animal blood."

Rhea made a face, clearly upset by knowing that the Cullens killed animals to feed.

"It's going to be dark soon." She said looking through the window. "Are we going to stay here for the night?"

"It depends on."

"On what?"

"Your condition."

"I'm fine."

"New wolves are hard to control. They're dangerous because their nature is too volatile. We can't simply take a commercial flight because if you get too agitated or angry, you can end up destroying the airplane thus killing everyone."

"There's a boat outside."

"The engine is broken and there's no fuel. The boat must be here for at least ten years, maybe even more."

"What's this place anyways?"

"An abandoned weather station."

"Why did she bring me here?"

"We're not sure but we believe that they wanted to keep you in a secluded place. Somewhere deserted and too far from civilization so that you couldn't escape and ask for help."

Rhea nodded.

"What's going to happen now?"

"I'm waiting for a phone call."

"No, I mean, after we return to La Push. It will be awkward if I start hanging out with you and the other… wolves."

"You can call us shapeshifters if you're not comfortable with the word 'wolves'. But I understand your point of view… it will look a bit weird but you have to meet the pack and you have to train like the others."

"Train to dismember people?"

"Vampires. Bad vampires. It's not the same thing. Trust me."

Rhea went to a small cupboard hanging in one of the walls and opened it. Inside there were a few bottles of water and a blue box with cookies.

"I'm famished." She stated. "Do you want some?"

I wasn't hungry but since I wanted her to come and seat next to me on the bed, I nodded affirmatively.

She kept the bottles and the cookies between us and sat down.

"I had a good life outside La Push." She whispered sadly. "I had plans, you know?"

I nodded again but didn't say anything. There was nothing I could say to comfort her about the life she had just lost.

"After the honeymoon, I was going to finish my Masters in Sculpture. Art was going to talk to one of his friends, who is an artist, and I would eventually have the opportunity to show my work in one of his galleries in New York. And two years from now, we could start thinking about starting a family."

I was unable to stop a growl when she said that.

"So… I assume you would go on with the wedding even after what happened between us, right?"

"Probably." She confessed. "Art's a good guy."

"And he doesn't turn into a giant dog," I added.

"I can't marry him now, can I?"

"I don't think that's wise. You have to master your wolf first. When a new wolf joins the pack, he's usually separated from his family for a few months, to ensure everyone's safety. Even an experienced wolf can sometimes lose control much less a new one."

"I remember your mother trembling when I went to your house with my aunt and my mom. We thought she was having a seizure or something."

"She always gets upset whenever she speaks to your aunt."

"This is a mess…" Rhea sighed, leaning against the bed's headboard.

"It is." I agreed. "But we'll make it through."

"At least nausea and the throwing up stopped." She let out a heavy sigh.

"I'm sorry you have to go through this."

"You said that this is hereditary, so it's not your fault that I have the gene."

"Actually it is… You were leaving La Push when Eva got you. She saw us at the beach and she thought she was taking Harry's girl. Your gene was activated because you spent five days here, with a vampire."

Rhea smiled at me and our eyes met.

"Thanks for coming for me." She said.

"I'm going to prove you that there's more between us than just our wolves' desires." I reached for her hand and I noticed that our temperatures matched. I didn't know if she would accept my feelings one day, especially now that she knew the truth and was under the impression that what we felt for each other was the consequence of our wolf nature, but I was ready to fight for her.

Part of what I felt for Rhea was indeed controlled by my wolf spirit. He seemed to be more at ease now that Rhea was a wolf too. He used to be jealous of Art and scared because if they got married, he would lose his mate, but now he was certain that Rhea would be his.

But my human part was also attracted to her, and to be honest, wolf desires and sex had little to do about it. Rhea was right when she told me that we didn't know each other that well but now I knew why she attracted me so much: she was my opposite. She's a down-to-earth, thoughtful, wise and calm kind of girl and I needed someone like her in my life.

"My wolf made me claim you eight years ago, but he didn't make me fall for you. I don't know what will happen once we go back home, but there's something you should know about me."

"And what's that, William?"

"I always get what I want." I grinned.

"We'll see about that." She grinned back and then she laid down pulling me with her. It wasn't long until we fell asleep. The future was uncertain but there was one thing I knew for sure: Rhea and I were definitely getting closer.

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Karisan