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.

A/Note 4: This chapter was renamed for coherence purposes. It was called Finding Odessa part 2. Nothing else changed.

Alpha

Book IV – The Matriarch

Sarah Black

86. Starting over

"You can't do this Sarah!" Bella said. "Jacob won't forgive me if I let you leave this house."

"It's not your decision," I replied and she lowered her head. "You can't keep me here against my will." I tried not to sound too aggressive.

"Your parents gave us permission to tie you up inside the dungeon if we had to," Emmett announced. "Too bad we don't have a dungeon." He grinned making me smile a little.

"Emmett!" Bella scolded. "I'm trying to convince her staying here." She explained. "Sarah, it's not safe out there, and your parents don't trust Odessa Clearview… you shouldn't have gone to find her in the first place."

"I'm not safe anywhere, Bella. If Levi or another wolf wants to find me, they will. You won't be able to stop them, you know that, right?"

"Of course we will. They're pups and we have battle training."

"And what are you going to do? Kill them all? We all know that you won't do that. They're just innocent people who were thrown into this mess. Most of them are just kids. You won't get your hands dirty with their blood. I know this, and so do they. Meaning they won't be scared of your family, and trust me, a wolf in heat is a damn nasty opponent."

Emmett and Bella exchanged a concerned look.

"She's right," Emmett said sounding defeated. "We won't hurt innocent people especially a bunch of kids, but… we don't think it's wise to trust the old lady, Sarah."

"Who said I trust her?"

"If you don't trust her, why are you going to her?" Bella asked.

"Technically, I'm going to live with Dana Hansen," I said placing what was left of my clothes inside a bag. "Look, I don't need you to understand, I only need you to trust me."

"God!" Bella got up from the bed and started pacing. "The last time a seventeen-year-old told me something like that, he ended up knocking up a girl."

"Staying here won't help me." I tried again. "I appreciate your effort and I'm sure you're all excellent teachers, but… I have to do this."

"Why?" She insisted.

"I'm not sure."

"Of all of Jake's kids, you're the one that resembles Leah the most," Bella said with impatience in her voice. Ever since I had learned the truth about the existence of the wolves and vampires, Isaac had been sharing information about the Cullens and the Quileute's pack with me, so I knew that in the beginning, mom and Bella didn't get along. Now I could see why. They were the opposite of each other.

"I don't know if that's a good thing or a bad thing." I rolled my eyes.

"Right now, it's a bad thing because you're going to do something really stupid that you're probably going to regret later, plus you're going to make Jake and Leah worry about you."

"I'll be fine."

"Sarah…"

"Look… I can't stay here, Bella! I need to do something for me for a change! I can't study nor concentrate for that matter! Everyone knows I'm going to fail the year no matter who my teachers are. And those stupid dreams about Levi will continue. My wolf is constantly forcing me to think about him and it's getting very annoying because I don't even like him. Besides, I just broke up with Jay and I keep thinking about why he imprinted on my cousin… so I can't stay here, alright?"

My anxiety levels would make it impossible for me to have a normal routine and study for my finals, but I had plenty of time to finish school once this was over. And for once in my life, I was following a plan. My plan. Maybe it was not the best plan in the world, but it was a plan of my choosing.

"If you go, we won't be able to protect you, like we promised we would do. Leah and Jacob will be pretty angry with us and for a good reason."

"I can take care of myself, Emmett but… you can still help me. Or at least one of you can."

I wanted to ask Jasper to cover up my tracks. Dad had once mentioned Jasper knew how to hide someone's tracks better than anyone else he had ever met. My family would be informed about my whereabouts but I didn't want anyone else to know. And Jasper's job was to make sure no other wolf could find me.

"I can't believe you're doing this." Season said when I went to talk to her about my plan. "What about us?"

"I don't understand what you're talking about Season? You'll be fine."

"We're only here because you are. You said you wanted company because you didn't want to stay here with the vampires in this big mansion alone… remember?"

"Are you afraid of them? Because I guarantee you they won't hurt you or the kids. They're vegetarians."

"I'm not scared. It's just that now they don't have any reason to let us stay here anymore."

"Of course they do. Do you think they'll throw you out when you're in such a delicate condition?"

Season looked at me a bit upset with my comment.

"What delicate situation?" She asked. "I was staying with a friend. It wasn't that critical."

"Not for you but Harry wasn't very happy about it, was he?"

"Well, I wasn't too happy either. I mean he did lie to me about the alpha couple thing."

"Alpha pair." I corrected.

"Whatever."

"But I wasn't talking about that, Season."

"Then what are you talking about?"

"You're expecting."

Harry was going to be pissed off when he realized that I had told Season she was pregnant, but I knew what I was doing. I was giving him a chance to be on her good side again. If he let this go on, Season would eventually learn that he already knew she was going to have a baby, and she would not be very pleased to know that everyone had known about it before her.

"Expecting what?"

"You know what."

Her green eyes opened in shock when she finally realized what I was trying to tell her.

"No, no, no… you don't know what you're talking about. I've told you that the eggs made me throw up. I'm not pregnant."

"You smell different."

"What?"

"I realized that when I was on wolf-mode. I felt impelled to be near you because my wolf wanted to protect you and the baby. I didn't tell you because I thought you would figure out by yourself."

"I'm not pregnant!" She said again.

"Look, denying it won't change the truth."

"It's not possible."

"So, you and Harry didn't…"

"That's not what I meant… it's just that… I can't have a baby, not when I don't know where Harry and I are right now."

"You're going to give him a second chance, aren't you?"

"I want to… but what if he finds a female… an alpha girl or whatever you call it?"

"He should've told you the truth, but there is a very high probability that Harry won't find an alpha female because there aren't any female wolves except for me, my mom, and Rhea, who's Will's alpha female."

"But there are other girls who can have the gene, right?"

"Yes, but they're all our close relatives."

"I've heard your parents' are relatives too."

"Distant relatives." I corrected. "Harry was an idiot, but he does love you."

"Normally I'm not like this."

"Like what?"

"Like a stupid girl in love."

"You've never loved anyone before, have you?"

"No, not until now."

"It's going to be fine," I said and I grabbed Season's hand to comfort her. When I did that, I saw bits and pieces of her troubled past. She was a small little girl when her father died but she still remembered the color of his casket and the way her mother cried at his funeral. She felt repulsed when her stepfather pushed her against a cold wall and rubbed himself on her. She slept most of the nights on the floor in her siblings' bedroom, with a kitchen knife under the blankets.

This had happened before. It seemed that I had the ability to see old memories of people I touch.

"Harry is not like your stepfather or any other guy you met. He's going to protect you and your baby at any cost. I know that you're scared of him leaving, but my brother is a decent person. You just need to trust him." I added.

"This baby, I mean… if I'm pregnant, it will change everything. I'm in the middle of a custody battle for my brother and sister, and Harry is in the middle of something related to the pack and a war between vampires."

"Are you saying that you don't want the baby?"

That would leave my brother heartbroken.

"No, I'm not saying that." She said unconvincingly. "But I don't know if I'm pregnant. Aside from today's stomach discomfort, I didn't have other symptoms and I took the depo shot recently."

"Carlisle can tell you if you're pregnant or not. He's a doctor."

"A vampire doctor."

"A doctor nonetheless."

"I don't know anything about them and I'm not letting a vampire touch me."

"They're good vampires. Emmett and Rosalie are Harry's godparents. Carlisle's been a doctor for ages. He was a priest or a bishop in Europe… he trained himself to be able to treat people as a doctor. That's how he met Edward. I can tell you all about the other members of the Cullen family and you'll see that you'll be safe. Plus Harry's probably on his way here by now."

"Okay. If you stay with me, I'll let the vampire doctor do whatever he needs to do… to see if I'm pregnant."

Carlisle returned from hunting an hour later with Esme, Edward, and Rosalie. I noticed everyone's looks while I asked the patriarch of the family to have a look at my sister-in-law but no one mentioned a word. Carlisle went upstairs to prepare the equipment and asked me to join him a few minutes later.

A second after I walked into his office Edward joined us. He smiled at me and I couldn't avoid rolling my eyes because I knew he was there to read my thoughts.

"I can do that from downstairs. That's not why I'm here." He explained still smiling. "We have a lot to talk about."

"We do?"

"Allow me, Edward," Carlisle asked his son.

"Of course,"

"You do know that we're your guardians, right? We made a promise to keep you from harm at any cost. We could force you to stay but that would be wrong because we want what is best for you."

"News travel fast," I commented. "Bella told you, didn't she?"

"Just so you know, we're going to have a word with your parents, and Jasper's more than willing to help you," Edward said. "But…"

I knew there was a 'but'…

"What do you want?"

"We don't want anything. We just want you to know that we'll be nearby, and if we suspect you're in danger we'll pull you out of there no matter the circumstances."

They took my safety seriously that much was true.

"Of course we do. If something happens to you, Leah and Jake will never forgive us. We've been friends for years, and you're like family Sarah."

"Okay… so you'll have a word with my parents. Can I ask what will you discuss exactly?"

"Like we said… if you stay here against your will, it's not going to work, so we'll tell them your plan and we'll try to convince them to let you go." Edward explained. "I think Leah will have a fit, but that's just a hunch." He winked at me.

I could see my mother having a fit after hearing the Cullens tell them my intentions. I had seen her throw fits for a lot less.

"So… when will you talk to them?"

"As soon as they get to La Push. They're probably leaving Campbell right now."

"What happened in there?"

"Things are not going so well for the White pack. But I'm sure you'll know everything about it soon enough." Carlisle said. "Now… about the young lady downstairs…"

"She's pregnant, Carlisle, I know she is. Just like I knew Rhea was pregnant too."

"We don't doubt you, we can feel the baby too, and we can hear the heartbeat but Alice has been a little off… that's why I need to have several tests on her. Do you think she'll agree?"

"I think so."

"She doesn't trust us," Edward said.

"I know. That's why I'll be here with her."

Carlisle and Edward nodded in agreement. I could tell Season was nervous when she entered the room. She allowed Carlisle to collect blood and then we waited. I was expecting a river of tears when Carlisle showed her the results of her bloodwork.

"Can you please run the test again?" Season asked when Carlisle told her it was positive.

"I don't think it will make a difference but I can run it again if that's what you want." Carlisle agreed and Season nodded.

And fifteen minutes later she was still not convinced. She thought I was making up everything from the beginning and that the Cullen's were involved in the lie. But her blood tests suggested otherwise.

"Well, you can have an ultrasound," Carlisle suggested. "It's one hundred percent lie-proof."

Season agreed and when she was told she was expecting a baby, she spent almost ten minutes looking at the machine's monitor, completely mute.

"She's in shock, isn't she?"

"Maybe…" Edward conceded.

"Maybe it's better to call Jasper, just in case. I mean his gift can be handy if she snaps. I don't want to put my niece or nephew in danger."

"Talking about gifts… I'm aware that we're not the only ones with abilities in the house."

I wasn't surprised that Edward knew about my weird ability to read peoples' pasts.

"Well, that's new for a change." He smiled. "I guess clairvoyance just became overrated."

"You have a gift?" Carlisle asked interested. "Like the twins?"

"My brothers' have gifts?" That was something Isaac hadn't told me yet.

"Do you think it's because they're Jake and Leah's kids?" Edward asked his adoptive father.

"It's possible. Jake and Leah are both wolves. It makes sense that their children are special."

"What can the twins do?" I asked with curiosity.

"Will can wipe out a whole town if he's unable to control his power," Carlisle said. "He can make objects fly with his mind but he's more used to destroying things."

It kind of made sense. Will had always been temperamental.

"And Harry?"

"Harry is his safety button," Edward explained. "He's like an empath. He can control Will's emotions, therefore he can control William's powers."

"So that's why Will was like a ticking bomb when Harry was away."

"Exactly." Edward nodded. "As for Isaac… we don't know yet, the boy is a surprise."

"He has a gift too?"

"I think he's a shield, like Bella, but it's not the same. We're still studying it."

"And I can see peoples' past when I touch them," I said a bit disappointed. Coming to think of it my gift was useless.

"I wouldn't call it useless," Edward said.

"Seeing the future is way more interesting." I opposed.

"Seeing the past can be a lot interesting too."

"Are you sure this is a baby? Because I can't figure out the image." Season said making all the attention go back to her.

"Yes, it's a baby." Carlisle approached her. "You're about four weeks pregnant so the baby doesn't look like a baby yet. But it will in a few more weeks, I assure you."

"Great! That's just awesome! I should sue the damn company that makes the depo shot. It was faulty. How the hell am I going to tell Harry about this?"

"I don't know, but you're going to find out pretty soon because he's just arriving," Edward said.

Season almost panicked then and there but Jasper saved the evening and calmed her enough to watch my brothers enter the mansion and sit with us in the living room.

I kind of expected my parents to come too but it was just Harry, Will, and Isaac. And soon, they were telling us what had happened and why they had stayed in Campbell for a couple of days. The Cullens came to sit with us.

"They want to quit. All of them. Even Dom." Harry announced. "Lance was upset when they all came to their senses and he realized one of them could have killed their fellow wolves and raped you."

"Kinley was ready to quit but even though he hadn't been phasing for a while, his wolf still felt the pull…" Isaac explained. "They all did. Dominic was supposed to stay behind but he ended up running several miles to find you."

Of course, they all wanted to mate with me. The Campbell wolves were the descendants of a Quileute but none of them was my close relative.

"But the Heiltsuk Council isn't happy with their decision. They want Lance and the others to teach the younger wolves, to prepare them for the future, the only problem is that all the younger members of the pack are Dominic's sons and the pack should be led one of Lance's children." Harry said.

"But Rhett's just a kid. He's only seven."

"Nine." Isaac corrected me.

"Whatever, he's too young to phase."

"Well, actually Harry phased when he was ten but it was a reaction to a potential threat and it was temporary." Carlisle pointed out.

I was impressed. I didn't know Harry had phased at such a young age.

"But even if Rhett phased now… you can't have a nine-year-old leading a pack, right?"

"Of course not," William answered.

"So what's the solution, then? What did they come up with?"

"Well, everyone knows that Jack Russell, the White pack's ancestor, was a Quileute which means that in theory dad was supposed to lead all the wolves including Lance and the others. He just chose not to do it and officialized Lance as the White pack's alpha."

"Are they sending the young wolves over to La Push?"

"No. They agreed to have an acting alpha until someone can be appointed for the position. And it has to be someone of dad's bloodline."

The Cullens all looked at Will. He was the obvious choice. Except for his pregnant fiancé, who couldn't phase for obvious reasons, Will didn't have anyone else to worry about because there weren't any more members in his pack. Besides he was forbidden to go to La Push until the date of his upcoming wedding. He had a lot of spare time to help the young Heiltsuk wolves to train.

"I'm not going," William stated. "No way in hell I'd agree with that when Rhea's staying in La Push with those assholes she calls her family."

"I volunteered," Harry confessed when we all looked at him. "I'll take Levi with me, which means that the Council won't have to decide on a punishment for him. They'll be relieved."

Season was holding her breath. She wanted to speak but something was holding her back.

"It will be temporary. Lance and the others will help and then when one of the younger boys is ready, I'll step down and everything will be back to normal. We're also positive that by then this whole mating-thing will be over." Harry added.

"Has the Council been informed already?" I asked.

"They will be tomorrow morning."

"Do you think they'll agree?"

"We're going to put more miles between you and the wolves that represent a real danger to you," Isaac said. "I'm sure they'll agree."

"What about Levi? Doesn't he have a saying in this?"

"I'm afraid not," Harry replied. "No one wants a rogue wolf around. Levi doesn't have a choice. Either he comes with me or he'll be alone and forced to leave La Push."

I suddenly felt sorry for Levi. It was his life, but everything was being decided without his consent. That's how I knew I was making the right choice. It was my decision and no one else's.

xxxxxxxxxx

It was four a.m. and I couldn't sleep. Harry and Season were arguing for about an hour. The Cullens had discreetly left the house to give them more privacy and I was about to do the same when Will and Isaac showed up.

"Want to go for a walk in the middle of the night until those two make up?" Will asked.

"I sure do," I answered relieved. Harry was trying to convince Season to go with him to Campbell but she was worried about her siblings who were sleeping in the room next to mine.

We walked outside and found the Cullens waiting for us. The moon was high in the clear sky. There were no clouds, only stars.

"Hidden token?" Jasper asked.

"That would be nice, but you have the advantage," William said.

"Not if Bella is the token. Edward can't read her mind and you have the second-best tracker of the packs combined." Emmett announced.

"What's a hidden token?" Isaac and I asked at the same time.

"It's a game we play. Vampires versus wolves." Esme clarified. "Wolves never won so far."

"But there are eight of you and only three of us." Isaac pointed out. "And I don't know if Sarah should phase given the circumstances."

"You don't need to phase to play. Your enhanced senses are active even when you're on human form. You just need to channel them correctly to use them." Carlisle said. "Bella, you have a five-second head start."

"See you later, guys." Bella waved. "Or maybe not…"

"So, we're supposed to find her, right?" I asked unsurely. I had never played that game before.

"The team that finds Bella first, is entitled to a reward." Edward smiled. "If we win, we want Bella's old truck, restored. She's been talking about how she'd like to put that horrible thing in our private museum in our house in Chicago."

"Okay, if we win, we want… you know what? We'll decide later." William said.

"We have to go in different directions," Carlisle said. "We're going left."

William nodded. Jasper counted "3-2-1, let's go!"

And then we were running. We got to the tree line before the vampires but they were faster running between the trees. I thought this would be an easy game, after all, we only had to find Bella's trail and follow it, the problem was that she had run in every damn direction and there were trails everywhere.

"Not that easy, huh?" Will grinned. "One night, it took us three hours to find Alice."

We ran deeper into the forest searching for trails. A misplaced branch, a footprint, a broken twig but Bella didn't make it easy for us. The vampires were having the same problems.

"She's petite and fast. Her feet barely touch the ground." Isaac said. "That's why is so difficult to find her trail."

I thought it was impossible.

"Sarah, you pay attention to the Cullens' position. If they change their course tell me." Will asked me. I guess I wasn't too good at finding tracks.

It didn't take us that much time to find Bella, but it was close enough. When the vampires found her the sun was rising and Will was already complaining he was hungry. All that activity allowed me to take my head off of some problems but in the end, as we made our way back to the mansion, I wondered what I should do next. I had promised Odessa I'd go to the Makah Reservation today to find her.

"You don't need to steal my car again. I can either lend it to you or take you to where you need to go." Alice said walking beside me.

Of course, she knew what I had done. I had been stupid thinking that I could elude a vampire.

"Why did you steal Alice's car?" William asked.

"I went to find Odessa Clearview." I told him the truth. The Cullens already knew so lying wouldn't make any sense.

"What the hell for?"

"I'm going to live with her," I announced.

"What!?" Both my brothers exclaimed.

"I'm going to live with her," I repeated calmly.

"Yes, I heard you the first time. What I want to know is why? That girl is full of bullshit! She told mom she can't reverse the mating thing… So, if she can't help you, why are you doing what she wants?"

Odessa's words were still ringing in my head.

"I'm giving you the chance no one gave me. From the moment I realized I was a pawn in the Spirits' plans, I've tried to fight it. We shouldn't be forced to bend ourselves to anything or anyone. You deserve more than the life they've chosen for you. But if you want to fight, you have to do it now. You have to break the cycle."

"What did she tell you?" Isaac asked.

"She told me who she is. I mean who she was."

"Odessa was the only daughter of a Makah-Native woman named Trinity Clearview, and a Navajo man of unknown identity. Her parents didn't get married. They never lived together. She was raised by her maternal grandparents and her two maternal aunts after her mother died when she was four years old." Edward told everyone. "We investigated her a while ago. She got married at a young age with Raphael Moyer, she had seven children, and after he died in an accident she married Robert Walker with whom she had three more children."

But it was more than that.

Odessa's mother was a sociopath and her father was a good-for-nothing jerk. She was born twenty-three minutes after her still-born twin sister that her mother named Molly. After that Trinity's mental stability worsened rapidly and when Odessa was four, her mother poured down gasoline inside their small house and set it on fire with both of them still there.

"That's all you got?" I asked. Because Odessa had crossed paths with the Cullen family back when she was a 16-year-old teenager and I hadn't asked them about that yet.

"Is there more?"

"Ian Hunter." I replied.

"Who?" Edward questioned.

"They were supposed to get married but Ian was killed by a vampire that you pursued and probably eliminated. She saw the attack. She told me that it was a creature with eyes as black as coal and golden hair that reached his waist, his skin was pale and he had a long nose. She had never seen anyone like that before. He held Ian by his neck and then snapped it effortlessly. Ian was drained of all blood and then Carlisle and Edward came along and the pale monster ran away."

"Harlen," Edward whispered. "I remember. We were after him for almost two weeks. He killed twelve people in Colorado and three in Idaho."

"Didn't we kill him before he reached the coast?" Carlisle asked.

"Yes. But we didn't notice a girl watching us when we found Harlen."

"She was hiding."

"Well, her boyfriend was avenged," Carlisle said.

"Yes, but that didn't solve anything because Ian's death was ruled as an accident. The Makah community assumed he had climbed up a tree and fallen down, breaking his neck. When Odessa said that the fall didn't explain the blood loss and the two small holes on the base of Ian's neck, and told them that a pale creature had killed the boy, they thought she was crazy like her mother." I continued the story. "Eventually everyone forgot about the event, except for Odessa, who decided to investigate the old legends and then learned about vampires and shapeshifters."

"That's why she wants the Makah people to be protected by a pack." Alice realized. "It was because she felt powerless when that vampire killed her boyfriend."

It made sense. Alice was probably right.

"So, she wants the Makah people to have a pack?" Bella asked and Alice nodded. "And how is she going to do that when the Quileutes are the only tribe to have the wolf gene?"

No one could answer that. But that could change soon because I was going to find Odessa again, and I would know her plans.

"So who wants breakfast?" Esme asked with a warm smile.

Thanks for the reviews: Guest(s), CentaurPrincess, brankel1, Mel9kiSihou, Island Mama, Weave the Magic, Kary G, almondbutter, rocklesson86, TheSlytherinQueenbee, nikkieowens, nene82743, Deadman'sGun, bonzgirl, Jazzmatazz30, sia-gomo01, FangsandDaggers, Sagal Farah, chemistrykim, Daughter of the earth, Gizmo60, EvangellaAkriti, Sarah Blackwater, lory77, Beauty Eclipsed, tcpg02, Aiyanna Clearwater, Ebble, riskingit, Ella Tremaine, shadoxwolfpaw, Jaybeecee, MammaNita4, daniela, Candie Marie, etforreal, Joy Lande, Addison Faye, Finley Jean.

I'd also like to thank all the followers of this story and all the readers who added it to their favorites list. Thank you.

Important note: Never in my short life I thought I'd see the world struggling like this. As you all probably know every country in this world is in danger. The enemy is invisible and it's winning, claiming the lives of many people, regardless of their religion, color, gender, age or nationality. In Portugal, the government declared a state of emergency and I'm currently working at home. We can't go out except to do vital things. These are going to be difficult times but I will try to post more chapters. In the meantime, I hope you stay at home, protect yourselves and your families, don't underestimate the danger that Covid-19 represents. Please, be safe. And if you want to talk about this, please feel free to PM me.

Take care,

Karisan.

"To doctors and nurses And all those who fight The heroes that save us By risking their lives We'll give them our love, yeah We'll shout to the skies Brothers and sisters We're here by your side

(...)

Divided we fight but united we stand One day we'll remember the hardest of times When distance meant love and it kept us alive"

(extract from the song Andrà Tutto Bene, by Cristóvam)